Worst year for bells in a very long time

b54red · October 26, 2016

It has been a lot of years since I last had a disastrous season with bell peppers but this year was the worst in a very long time. The year started out pretty good and the plants grew well until mid summer and then bam! one thing after another. First this weird leather skin condition developed on most of my bells. This is only something I have seen once before and it only affected a few fruits but not this year. Second came very hot weather with very clear skies and very high ultraviolet radiation and unbelievable sun scald on any pepper that wasn't totally shaded by leaves. To make things worse many of the leaves actually got sun scald and new growth tips got burned. I finally put up some shade cloth but the damage was irreversible. Despite the drought I kept them watered and fertilized as usual but they hardly grew at all and hoping for better luck in the fall I kept nursing them along getting a few runty bells here and there. More and more of my plants just withered and quit making new growth and blooms til now I only have one pepper plant out of 25 that has even a few fruits on it that might be good enough to eat. The rest of my plants look like skeletal remains with few if any leaves and the ones they do have are droopy, withered and discolored. I thought it might be the bed so I started a dozen or so in another bed with shade cloth but before they got over a foot tall they were hit with the same loss of leaves and droopiness. I suspect the relentless spider mites and whiteflies may have contributed to the problems brought on by extreme heat and drought but most of my tomatoes survived the ravages of these pests albeit with fewer leaves and looking quite bedraggled at times.

Fall is usually the best time for bell pepper production down here but this year is a no go. I talked to a friend of mine and he has had the same problems but not as bad since some of his peppers get shade for part of the day but his production has been miserly also. This time of the year I am usually giving away bell peppers by the bag full but I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and buy any decent peppers at 4 dollars a pound at the grocery store.

Bill

October 26, 2016	#1
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	Worst year for bells in a very long time It has been a lot of years since I last had a disastrous season with bell peppers but this year was the worst in a very long time. The year started out pretty good and the plants grew well until mid summer and then bam! one thing after another. First this weird leather skin condition developed on most of my bells. This is only something I have seen once before and it only affected a few fruits but not this year. Second came very hot weather with very clear skies and very high ultraviolet radiation and unbelievable sun scald on any pepper that wasn't totally shaded by leaves. To make things worse many of the leaves actually got sun scald and new growth tips got burned. I finally put up some shade cloth but the damage was irreversible. Despite the drought I kept them watered and fertilized as usual but they hardly grew at all and hoping for better luck in the fall I kept nursing them along getting a few runty bells here and there. More and more of my plants just withered and quit making new growth and blooms til now I only have one pepper plant out of 25 that has even a few fruits on it that might be good enough to eat. The rest of my plants look like skeletal remains with few if any leaves and the ones they do have are droopy, withered and discolored. I thought it might be the bed so I started a dozen or so in another bed with shade cloth but before they got over a foot tall they were hit with the same loss of leaves and droopiness. I suspect the relentless spider mites and whiteflies may have contributed to the problems brought on by extreme heat and drought but most of my tomatoes survived the ravages of these pests albeit with fewer leaves and looking quite bedraggled at times. Fall is usually the best time for bell pepper production down here but this year is a no go. I talked to a friend of mine and he has had the same problems but not as bad since some of his peppers get shade for part of the day but his production has been miserly also. This time of the year I am usually giving away bell peppers by the bag full but I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and buy any decent peppers at 4 dollars a pound at the grocery store. Bill