Pepper people, I desperately need help identifying what is causing my peppers to die, and how to combat/prevent it in the future! These are indoors in a grow tent (grow light/fan), repotted in fresh indoor soil with foliage removed and brought in for overwintering. Can anyone help? Do I have to burn down the house to get rid of the problem? 😬
by Fit-Cancel-8765
4 Comments
No idea what it is but looks fugnal. Typically once fungal diseases of peppers have taken hold there is no way to save the plant, unfortunately. Preventative measures are key! I always pot and repot my peppers in sterile (as sterile as reasonably possible, anyways) mix woth extremely good drainage, like bordering on what I’d use for a more water tolerant succulent or an Aroideae family plant. I bare root plants after pruning and defoliating but before repotting, and hit the whole thing with a hard spray feom a hose, then neem oil and horticultural soap the whole plant, repot, and then water in with a biogungicide soil drench. I like Bonide ReVitalize biofungicide, which is a suspension of Bacillus bacteria that colonize the plant’s roots and prevent fungal pathogens from entering the plant/ gelp the plant fight off potential infections. It works well in my experience. Then I only water when pots get super light and/or leaves just barely begin to droop.
I have had issues in the past with phytophthora killing over wintering peppers so I may be more cautious than most overwintering geowers actually need to be, but it works well for me!
You could just cut the stems with the issues off
It may save itself, it may not
Impossible to tell by a single picture, but this looks like mold to me. Some of the green leaves also appear to have water droplets on them (might just be reflection im not sure). Whats the humidity like in your tent? Improper air circulation might also be the issue. If it really was a fungal disease caused by the soil, the disease would start around the stem/lower leaves first.
I would remove all affected leaves and branches, isolate healthy from infected plants and keep an eye on humidity. Maybe leave the grow tent open for a while for proper air circulation.
Botrytis. Maybe.