Pests
Symptoms Tiny soft green or black insects gather on new growth and the undersides of leaves, making them curl, mottle, and yellow, often with a sticky film and black mold. Worse, aphids spread plant viruses, so they are a bigger threat than their feeding alone suggests.Colonies of small soft-bodied insects, often green peach aphid, cluster on growing tips and leaf undersides, discoloring and mottling the foliage, curling and puckering leaves, and coating them in sticky honeydew on which sooty mold grows. Their most serious harm is indirect: aphids transmit the mosaic and other viruses that mottle, distort, and stunt pepper plants, so an aphid problem is also a virus risk. Cause Small sap-sucking insects that multiply quickly in warm weather, especially on soft growth from too much fertilizer. As they move around they spread viruses, so keeping their numbers down protects against disease too.Several aphid species, predominantly green peach aphid, that suck sap and reproduce rapidly in warm weather and build up fast on soft, over-fertilized growth. As they probe plant to plant they carry mosaic viruses into the crop, which is why aphid control and virus control go together on peppers. Organic treatment Blast them off with a strong spray of water and treat the undersides of the leaves with insecticidal soap, repeating every few days. Ladybugs and other helpful insects eat aphids, so welcome them. Pull out any plant that is clearly stunted and mottled by virus, since it will not recover.Knock colonies off with a strong jet of water and spray insecticidal soap or horticultural oil with thorough coverage of the leaf undersides, repeating every few days. Conserve ladybugs, lacewings, and parasitic wasps, which usually bring aphids under control, and remove badly virus-infected plants, which cannot be cured. Prevention Do not over-fertilize with nitrogen, check the undersides of leaves often, and let helpful insects do their work instead of spraying everything. Keeping aphids down early is the best way to avoid the viruses they spread.Avoid excess nitrogen, which drives the soft growth aphids favor, scout leaf undersides and growing tips regularly, use reflective mulch to deter aphids from young plants, and support natural enemies rather than spraying broadly. Controlling aphids early is the main defense against the viruses they carry.
Symptoms The leaves are peppered with lots of tiny round holes, as if hit by birdshot. It hits young plants hardest and can stunt or kill seedlings, while big plants shrug it off. Touch the plant and you will see tiny dark beetles jump away.Tiny beetles chew small, round, shot-hole pits and holes through the leaves, and large numbers of these punctures can stunt or kill seedlings and young transplants, whose small leaf area is quickly overwhelmed. Established plants tolerate considerable feeding. Brush a plant and the small dark beetles spring away like fleas. Cause Small dark beetles that jump like fleas and chew tiny holes in the leaves. They are most active in spring and hit young plants hardest, so they are mainly a seedling problem.Several flea beetle species that overwinter as adults in debris and emerge to attack the earliest, most vulnerable plants in spring. Large populations concentrate on small transplants, so the damage is an early-season, seedling-stage problem more than a threat to mature peppers. Habanero, set out later into warm soil, is often past its most tender stage by the time beetles peak. Organic treatment Cover young plants with a light row cover until they are big and strong, then take it off when they flower. Setting out larger transplants helps them outgrow the damage. For heavy attacks on seedlings, an organic spray such as spinosad or a kaolin clay coating helps.Protect transplants with floating row cover until they are large and vigorous, removing it at flowering. Set out stout, well-hardened transplants rather than tiny seedlings so plants outgrow the damage, and treat heavy early infestations with spinosad or kaolin clay. Mature plants rarely need treatment. Prevention Cover plants early with row cover, set out larger transplants into warm soil so they grow quickly, and clear away weeds and old plant debris where the beetles hide over winter. A border of nasturtiums can lure them away.Use row cover from transplanting, delay setting plants out until the soil and air are warm so they grow away fast, and clean up crop debris and weeds that harbor overwintering adults. A nasturtium or other trap planting at the bed edge can draw beetles off the crop.
Symptoms A fly lays eggs in young pods, and the maggots feed hidden inside the fruit. An infested pepper often turns color too early and starts to rot from the inside, with the grub tucked away where you cannot see it. Thin-walled peppers like habanero are much less bothered than fat-walled bell peppers.Adult flies puncture young pods to lay eggs, and the cream-colored larvae tunnel and feed inside the fruit for about 18 days; maggot-damaged peppers often color up prematurely and begin to rot from within, with the larva hidden inside. Thin-walled, slender-fleshed types suffer far less than thick-walled bell and pimento peppers, and habanero, with its thin flesh, is a relatively low-susceptibility host. Cause The maggot of a small fly that lays its eggs in young peppers in summer. It mostly attacks thick-walled peppers, so thin-walled habanero is much less at risk, though not completely safe where the fly is around.The pepper maggot, the larva of a small fly that lays eggs in developing pods in mid to late summer. It is most damaging on thick-walled peppers; thin-walled hot types such as habanero are documented as far less affected, though not immune where the fly is active. Organic treatment You cannot save an infested pepper, so pick off and throw away any that rot or color up early, and put fallen fruit in the trash, not the compost. Habanero is rarely hit hard, so cleaning up damaged fruit is usually all a home garden needs.There is no rescue for an infested pod: remove and destroy affected fruit promptly, and drop fallen and culled peppers into the trash rather than the compost so larvae do not complete development in the garden. Where the fly is a known local problem, a well-timed labeled insecticide at first fly activity is the reliable control, but on habanero the low susceptibility usually makes sanitation enough. Prevention Habanero's thin walls already make it a poor target, so the main thing is to clean up any dropped or damaged peppers during the season and move peppers to a new spot each year. Where the fly is a known local pest, covering plants helps.Grow the thin-walled hot types that the maggot largely avoids, clean up dropped and cull fruit through the season, and rotate away from where peppers grew. In areas with a known pepper-maggot history, cover plants or time a labeled spray to first adult activity.
Symptoms A small weevil whose grubs feed inside the buds and pods. Affected buds and flowers turn yellow and drop, pods may fall early or come out misshapen, and inside an infested pepper looks dark and full of grub droppings. It is mostly a warm-South problem and does not survive cold winters.Adults feed on foliage, buds, and tender pods, but the larvae do the real harm: infested buds and blossoms yellow and drop, pods may drop prematurely or grow misshapen, and the inside of an affected pod turns dark and fills with frass. It is chiefly a problem in the warm South (Florida, the Gulf, the Southwest) where the weevil can persist; it cannot overwinter in colder regions. Cause A tiny weevil whose grubs grow up inside pepper buds and pods. It is a warm-climate pest, common in Florida and the Gulf, and often arrives on infested plants. It cannot survive cold winters, so northern gardens rarely see it.The pepper weevil, a small snout beetle whose larvae develop inside buds and pods. It is a serious pepper pest in Florida, the Gulf Coast, and the warm Southwest, moving in on infested transplants or from nearby solanaceous weeds and abandoned pepper plantings; in cold-winter regions it does not establish. A long-season crop like habanero held in the ground into fall gives the weevil more generations to build. Organic treatment You cannot save an infested pepper, so gather up and throw away any dropped buds and pods (in the trash, not the compost) to slow it down, and pull nearby weedy nightshades. In warm areas where it is common, you may need a labeled spray, and always start with healthy, locally grown plants.There is no home-garden cure for an infested pod. Pick up and destroy dropped buds and pods promptly (in the trash, not the compost) to break the cycle, remove volunteer peppers and solanaceous weeds that harbor the weevil, and in endemic areas a labeled insecticide program is often needed for a clean crop. Start with clean, locally grown transplants. Prevention Start with healthy transplants grown in your area, not shipped in from warm regions where the weevil lives, clean up dropped peppers during the season, pull weedy nightshades, and clear out old plants at season's end. Keeping the garden clean is the main defense.Buy transplants grown where the pepper weevil is not established rather than importing the problem, clean up dropped fruit and nightshade weeds through the season, and remove and destroy spent plantings promptly so the weevil has nowhere to carry over. Rotation and garden sanitation are the backbone of control.
Symptoms Whole leaves vanish overnight, leaving just the veins, sometimes with gouged pods, and dark droppings on the leaves below. The cause is a large green caterpillar that hides against the stems, easier to spot by its droppings than by sight. Peppers are a side dish for it compared with tomato, but even a few can strip a plant.Large sections of leaf, and sometimes whole shoots or the surface of a pod, are stripped or gouged overnight, with dark pellet droppings on the leaves below. The culprits are big green tomato or tobacco hornworms, up to three or four inches long, that blend into the stems and are easiest to find by their frass. Peppers are a secondary host, so damage is usually less than on tomato, but a few caterpillars can defoliate a plant fast. Cause Big green caterpillars, the young of large moths, that feed on pepper and tomato leaves mostly in mid to late summer. Even a few can strip a lot of foliage, though they prefer tomatoes.Tomato and tobacco hornworms, the larvae of large sphinx moths, which feed on solanaceous foliage including pepper from midsummer on. Given their size, even a few caterpillars can do conspicuous damage, though peppers are less preferred than tomato. Organic treatment Pick the caterpillars off by hand and drop them in soapy water. If you find one covered in small white capsules, leave it, those are parasitic wasps that will do the work for you. An organic Bt spray works on the smaller caterpillars.Hand-pick the caterpillars, which is effective in a home garden, and apply Bacillus thuringiensis to younger larvae where numbers are high. Leave any hornworm studded with white parasitic-wasp cocoons in place, since the wasps will kill it and breed more. Prevention Turn the soil at the end of the season to destroy the pupae, watch for droppings and missing leaves from midsummer, and welcome the helpful wasps that attack hornworms.Till the soil in fall to destroy overwintering pupae, scout for frass and stripped leaves from midsummer, and encourage the parasitic wasps and other natural enemies that keep hornworms in check.
Symptoms A young pepper plant is found toppled, cut right through at the soil line, as if snipped. It happens overnight, soon after planting. Sometimes the same caterpillars climb up and chew leaves and fruit too.Young transplants are found cut off cleanly at or just above the soil line, felled overnight, with the severed plant lying nearby. Climbing cutworms may also feed on leaves and fruit higher up. The damage strikes right after transplanting, when the loss of a stem at the base kills the whole young plant. Cause Fat caterpillars that hide in the soil during the day and chew through young stems at night. They are worst on new transplants, especially in ground that was recently grass or weeds.Cutworms, the soil-dwelling larvae of several moths, that shelter in the soil by day and sever young stems at night. They are worst on newly set transplants, especially in beds recently turned from sod or weeds. Organic treatment Put a collar around each young plant, such as a cardboard tube or a cup with the bottom cut out, pushed a little into the soil, so cutworms cannot reach the stem. If a plant is cut down, dig in the soil nearby to find and remove the curled caterpillar.Set a collar (a cardboard tube, tin can, or cup with the bottom removed) around each transplant, pushed an inch into the soil, to block cutworms. Check for and hand-pick the curled gray caterpillars in the soil around a felled plant at dusk, and keep beds clear of the weeds and debris they shelter in. Prevention Put a protective collar around each plant when you set it out, clear weeds and debris from the bed ahead of time, and turn the soil before planting to expose the caterpillars. Beds that were recently lawn are the riskiest.Ring transplants with collars at planting, clear the bed of weeds and old plant debris a couple of weeks ahead, and lightly cultivate the soil before planting to expose and disrupt overwintering larvae. Beds newly broken from lawn are highest-risk.
Diseases
Symptoms Small wet-looking spots on the leaves turn brown with a yellow ring, and badly spotted leaves drop off, which lets the sun scald the exposed peppers. The fruit can develop dark, raised, scabby spots. It is worst in warm, rainy weather.Small, water-soaked spots on the leaves enlarge and turn dark brown with a yellow halo, and heavily spotted leaves yellow and drop prematurely; the resulting defoliation exposes the pods to sunscald. On the fruit, small raised blisters develop into dark brown, scabby, cracked lesions. It is one of the most damaging pepper diseases in warm, wet weather. Cause A bacterial disease carried on seed and in old plant debris that spreads in splashing water and on wet hands and tools. It loves warm, wet weather. Starting with clean seed and keeping leaves dry are the main defenses.Xanthomonas bacteria that are seed- and debris-borne and spread in splashing water and on hands and tools, thriving in warm, humid, rainy conditions. Once established in wet weather it moves fast, so clean seed, resistant varieties, and dry foliage are the keys to control. Organic treatment There is no cure once a plant has it, so remove the worst-affected leaves and plants and stay out of the patch when it is wet. A copper spray can slow it down in rainy spells but will not cure it. Keeping the leaves dry matters most.There is no cure once plants are infected; remove badly affected leaves and plants and avoid working among wet plants. Copper-based sprays can slow spread as a protectant in wet spells but do not cure the disease. Focus on limiting splash and moisture. Prevention Use clean, resistant seed and healthy transplants, do not plant peppers in the same spot for several years, water at the soil instead of over the leaves, mulch, and clean up old plants at the end of the season. Do not work among the plants while they are wet.Start with certified disease-free or resistant seed and transplants, rotate peppers out of the bed for several years, water at the soil rather than overhead, mulch to limit splash, space for airflow, avoid handling wet plants, and remove crop debris at season's end.
Symptoms The leaves turn a patchy light-and-dark green, get distorted or crinkled, and the plant is stunted, with mottled or oddly ripening peppers. Several viruses cause this, usually spread by aphids, and none can be cured. Tobacco products can carry one of these viruses to peppers on your hands.Leaves become mottled light and dark green, distorted, sometimes crinkled or narrowed, and the plant stunts; fruit may be mottled, distorted, or ripen unevenly. Several viruses cause this picture (tobacco and cucumber mosaic, pepper mottle, potato virus Y, and others), often spread by aphids, and there is no cure. Tobacco mosaic can also be carried on hands after handling tobacco. Cause A group of viruses spread mainly by aphids, and one of them by tobacco on your hands. There is no cure, so the whole game is prevention: keep aphids down and pull out infected plants before they spread it.A complex of viruses (tobacco mosaic, cucumber mosaic, pepper mottle, potato virus Y, and others) transmitted chiefly by aphids probing plant to plant, and in the case of tobacco mosaic by contaminated hands and tools. Because there is no cure, control is entirely about prevention: manage aphids and remove infected plants. Organic treatment There is no cure. Pull out and destroy infected plants so they do not spread it to the rest. Keep aphids under control, and wash your hands after handling tobacco before touching your peppers. Do not compost sick plants.There is no treatment; promptly remove and destroy infected plants to limit spread to healthy ones. Control the aphids that vector the viruses, and wash hands after any tobacco use before touching peppers. Do not compost infected plants. Prevention Look for resistant varieties, start with healthy plants, keep aphids down, remove infected plants right away, control weeds, and do not handle peppers right after using tobacco. Prevention is the only tool with viruses.Choose resistant varieties where available, start with clean transplants, control aphids early with the measures above, use reflective mulch to repel them from young plants, remove infected plants at first sign, keep weeds that host viruses down, and avoid tobacco contact with the crop.
Symptoms Dark, wet-looking patches form on the stem near the soil, girdle it, and the whole plant wilts and dies quickly, often after heavy rain or in a soggy spot. It can also rot the fruit with white fuzzy growth. It lives in the soil for years and spreads fast in warm, wet ground.Dark, water-soaked lesions develop on the crown and stem at or near the soil line, turn brown, and girdle the stem, so the whole plant wilts and dies suddenly, often after heavy rain or in a poorly drained spot. The disease can also cause dark leaf lesions and a firm fruit rot with white, cottony mold. It persists in soil for years and spreads fast in warm, wet, saturated conditions. Cause A mold-like disease that lives in wet soil and spreads in splashing and running water, attacking plants in warm, soggy conditions. It moves fast once it starts, so good drainage is the main way to keep it out.Phytophthora capsici, a water mold that thrives in saturated soil and spreads in splashing and running water. It survives in soil and debris and moves rapidly in warm, wet weather, especially on heavy or poorly drained ground and in low spots that stay wet, which is why drainage is the central control. Organic treatment There is no home cure once plants collapse. Pull and destroy affected plants and fruit, and fix the drainage right away. Prevention is really the only tool.There is no home-garden cure once plants collapse; remove and destroy affected plants and fruit promptly and improve drainage immediately. Because the pathogen persists in soil, control is preventive and drainage-based rather than curative. Prevention Plant on raised beds or mounds so water drains away, avoid soggy low spots, water at the soil, do not overwater, and rotate away from peppers, tomatoes, and squash. Good drainage is the whole game with this one.Plant on raised, well-drained beds, avoid low spots that stay wet, water at the soil rather than overhead, mulch to limit splash, do not overwater, rotate away from peppers and other solanaceous and cucurbit crops on a long cycle, and keep pods up off saturated soil.
Symptoms Small, sunken, round spots form on the peppers, sometimes in rings, with a pink or salmon ooze in the middle. It usually shows up as the fruit ripens, so habaneros left to color fully orange or red are most at risk in warm, wet weather. It can spot leaves and stems too.Small, sunken, circular lesions appear on the pods, often in concentric rings, and develop moist masses of salmon-to-pink spores in the center. It typically shows up as the fruit ripens (a ripe-fruit rot), and because habanero is nearly always left on the plant to color fully orange or red for full heat and flavor, it is especially exposed in warm, wet seasons. It also spots leaves and stems. Cause A fungus carried on seed and old debris that spreads in splashing water and loves warm, wet weather. It often infects green fruit quietly and then shows up as the peppers ripen, so fully colored habaneros are most at risk.Colletotrichum fungi that are seed- and debris-borne and spread in splashing water, favored by warm, humid, wet weather. Infections often stay latent in green fruit and break out as the pods ripen, which matters for habanero because its heat and flavor develop only once the pod colors fully. Organic treatment Pick off and throw away infected peppers right away, and keep the plants and fruit as dry as you can. A labeled fungicide can protect the rest in a wet spell but cannot cure a rotting pod. In wet weather, pick ripe peppers promptly instead of leaving them on the plant.Remove and destroy infected pods promptly to reduce spore load, and keep foliage and fruit as dry as possible. Copper or other labeled fungicides can protect healthy fruit in a wet season but will not cure infected pods. Pick ripening pods promptly rather than leaving them out in wet weather. Prevention Use clean seed and healthy transplants, rotate your peppers, water at the soil, mulch, give plants room for airflow, and pick ripe peppers promptly in wet weather rather than leaving them to sit and rot.Start with clean or treated seed and disease-free transplants, rotate peppers on a long cycle, water at the soil, mulch to limit splash, space for airflow, remove crop debris, and pick pods as they color rather than holding fully ripe fruit on the plant through wet spells.
Symptoms A tan, sunken, leathery spot appears on the bottom end of the pepper. It is not a disease you can catch or spray: it comes from the fruit not getting enough calcium, which happens when watering is uneven, not usually because the soil lacks calcium. The first peppers of the season are the usual victims.A tan, sunken, leathery patch forms at the blossom end of the pod (the end away from the stem), sometimes mistaken for sunscald. It is not caused by a pathogen: it is a physiological disorder from a local calcium shortage in the fruit, driven by uneven soil moisture rather than by low soil calcium, since calcium moves to the fruit only with a steady water supply. The first pods of the season are most often affected. Cause The developing pepper cannot get enough calcium to its far end, which happens when the soil dries out and then gets flooded. It is almost always an uneven-watering problem, not a lack of calcium in your soil.A calcium-transport problem within the plant: calcium is carried to the developing pod in the water stream, so when the soil swings from dry to wet the fruit is starved of calcium at its far end even if the soil has plenty. Uneven watering, drought stress, and root damage are the real triggers, not a soil calcium deficit in most gardens. Organic treatment You cannot fix a pepper that already has it, so pick off affected pods and focus on steady watering going forward. Mulch and water regularly and deeply, and the later peppers should come in clean. Calcium sprays usually do not help, since the real issue is uneven watering.There is no cure for an affected pod; the fix is cultural and forward-looking. Even out soil moisture with mulch and regular deep watering, remove affected pods so the plant redirects energy, and expect later fruit to come in clean once watering is steady. Calcium sprays are largely ineffective because the problem is water-driven transport, not soil calcium. Prevention Keep the soil evenly moist and never let it go bone-dry and then flood it. Mulch to hold moisture, water deeply and regularly, especially in hot weather, and go easy on nitrogen. Steady watering prevents almost all of it.Keep the soil uniformly moist, never letting it dry out between waterings, mulch to buffer moisture, water deeply and regularly especially in heat, avoid heavy nitrogen and root disturbance that stress uptake, and make sure the bed drains so roots stay healthy. Steady moisture is the whole prevention.
