Leaf curling, yellowing and drop off (older leaves) for True Thai Chilis

Hello everyone,

It's my first time posting here, though I've scouted this site for answers to things for a while now. Pleased to meet you all!

I'm posting to see if any of you have any light to shed on a problem I am having with my True Thai Chilis - honestly, I am not sure if this is a disease/pest or nutrient issue, but due to the oddness of the curling, I thought I'd put it in this category first and see what response I get...

This (pictures below) is the problem...

* http://pics.livejournal.com/nobudsnoglory/pic/0000w1ha/s320x240
* http://pics.livejournal.com/nobudsnoglory/pic/0000yfey/s320x240

The plant on the right seems to be suffering more than the plant on the left - there were two types (red and orange) of Thai chili planted, and I'm afraid I forgot to label which was which). As you can see, on the right hand plant, the leaves are curling, yellowing and dropping off (older leaves).

Any idea what this might be? I've heard of 'leaf curl virus' but this doesn't look exactly like the pictures of that that I found on the internet either...

Your help would be much appreciated on this. I planted them last year in around September/October indoors, and this has caused me a great deal of head scratching since then!

 

Hi nobuds, and welcome!

My pepper plants often seem to struggle indoors, until they get out to the greenhouse and the open ground in there.

What is the light source for your plants...and how warm is the spot they are growing?

Dropping yellowing lower leaves can also be nutritional, often nitrogen lacking, but address the physiological issues first I believe :-)

 

Hi growest,

Thank you for your reply :) The plants are currently situated on a South West facing large window. The room is often a little chilly (I'd guestimate maybe 3-4 degrees C?) when I walk in there (we tend not to heat it unless we are going into it to do something). So far as light goes... the plants get a full window sill of sunlight... which, right now, I guess, to be honest, doesn't account to much.

They used to be on the South East facing windowsill, but I demoted them to the new spot when they continued not to thrive after a few months (sulking). I didn't even think about temperature... And now, thinking about it, I'm guessing it's way too cold where they currently are. What has been your experience for a clement temperature for chilis, and what about humidity? Recommended light in foot candles? Just out of interest...

My apologies to the forum for miscategorizing this one :) I think I've found my answer, and it's not bugs ;) (I shall do my research better next time)

 

Hi again. Yes the peppers do like fairly warm temps, tho in the low light of winter they would do well to kinda slow down anyway and the cool room you have them in might have been good. Now with lengthening days/stronger sun they will be able to take more optimal growing temps, which I think would be around 10C minimums, with 20s during the day.

Looking again, the containers are getting small especially if the plants start trying to grow very much. I would incorporate some organic fertilizers into the additional soil if potting up into bigger containers. Also watch that water doesn't sit in those saucers for long or the lower roots will tend to suffocate.

If you can keep them going till May/June and have a spot to plant them outside, you may get a big crop later on outdoors. Or maybe you're going the container route, and hopefully still get a decent load of peppers. How many hot peppers does anybody need :-)