You are looking forward to your first pepperoni harvest, but suddenly your plant makes a bad impression? She may be suffering from an illness. Or have you neglected an important aspect of your care? Here you will find out how to recognize illnesses and how to nurse your pepperoni back to he alth.
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How do I recognize diseases in hot pepper plants?
Hot pepper diseases are often identified by spotty leaves, deformation, bleaching, leaf drop or plant death. Possible causes include viruses, fungi or pests such as aphids, whiteflies or mildew. Prevention and he althy care are crucial for the successful cultivation of hot peppers.
Symptoms of an illness
- spotty leaves
- Leaves deform
- Leaves fade
- increased leaf shedding
- Death of the entire plant
Possible diseases
The hot pepper is actually a very resistant plant. However, there are some diseases and, above all, even more pests that cause damage to your crop:
- Alfalfa mosaic virus
- woodlice
- Emergence or damping-off disease
- Aphids
- Chili Veinal Mottle Virus
- Powdery and downy mildew
- Frost tensioner
- Fusarium wilt
- Cucumber Mosaic Virus
- Potato Y virus
- Pepper Mottle Virus
- Rust disease
- Red Spiders
- Beet curl disease
- Snails
- Weevils
- Tobacco etching virus
- Tobacco mosaic virus
- Sad gnats
- Thrips
- Verticillium wilt disease
- Whitefly
Prevention
If you detect an illness early, there is a good chance of nursing your pepperoni back to he alth. With these measures you are guaranteed to succeed:
- Spraying plants in spring
- do not keep the greenhouse too sterile (otherwise wonderful breeding grounds for parasites will be created)
- attract natural enemies (ladybugs, spiders, etc.)
- Always clean the garden shears well
Tip
If the outside temperatures are approaching freezing point, you will inevitably have to bring your pepperoni into the warm. Use this time to thoroughly examine your plants for pest infestation. If you notice an illness in one of your specimens, you should take appropriate measures and store the plant separately until the symptoms have completely resolved.
It is also important not to carelessly dispose of an infected pepper in the compost so that the parasite does not spread. Use special organic garbage bags for this.
Rescue is not always possible
Unfortunately there is not (yet) a suitable remedy for every disease. In this case, you should not invest money in reconstruction. Sowing or purchasing a new plant is definitely more worthwhile.
Illness or care errors?
Just because your hot pepper looks bad, for example has yellow leaves, is no reason to worry about illness. Sometimes it's very simple care mistakes that cause the appearance. Fortunately, these can be quickly remedied once they are discovered. Possible are
- incorrect watering
- too little light
- Waterlogging
- temperatures too cold
