Pepper Pests And Diseases

Peppers suffer from a range of different diseases dependent on where in the world the plants are grown. In greenhouses they tend to be more of the disease type where outside pests play more of a role. In most cases they do not cause too much damage.

Aphids can descend on peppers and damage them, the easiest way of removing them is washing them with soapy water, this will diminish the amount and the ladybird population should then take over.

Whitefly can infest the plants and these will cause the leaves to whither, they also transmit other diseases from plant to plant. There are insecticides which will work and also spraying with soapy water will work.

Pepper weevils are small bugs that lay their eggs on the peppers and the larvae feed on the flesh. Birds and other insects do feed on them.

Nematodes cause a root knotting problem and restrict growth. These are microscopic worms and the infested plants should be removed and destroyed. Use a crop rotation to alleviate the problem.

Hornworms cause major problems as these caterpillars can strip the leaves. Pick the caterpillars off the leaves and remove them. Insecticides can help but are not the best method.

Peppers can be attacked by a number of fungal problems that can affect peppers, powdery mildew, a white fungal powdery substance will cover the leaves and destroy the plant. Remove plant and destroy it.

Blossom end rot affects the end of the pepper, remove the pepper, the problem is usually a calcium deficiency sometimes caused by a poor watering procedure, bacterial problems can sometimes be found as spots on the leaves, pick a better or more resistant seed in future. This also is the case for viruses particularly mosaic virus which can destroy a crop, remove the plants and clean the site well, rotate the crop and buy a resistant strain of seed.

For more information see How To Grow Peppers

By Richard Allen -