On Sun, 10 Aug 2008 22:47:55 -0500, "Marie Dodge"
wrote:

I've already mentioned the problems with our Bell peppers this year.
Whitefly and spider mite but these may not be the whole problem. I've look
online and can't find these symptoms anywhere. These peppers came from
three different places, some I stared myself last spring. Within a week of
planting them out their leaves looked "strange." Instead of being smooth and
flat, they started to look like seer-sucker, kind of 'puckery' and the
plants failed to make normal growth.


This is probably aphid damage.


As the weeks passed they made buds but
all flowers and buds fell off along with the bottom leaves. Leaves were
still green when they fell.


You don't say what part of the country you're in, or what your
cultivation techniques are, but too much or too little water, cool
nights (50F) or hot nights (~75F), or too much nitrogen can cause
flower drop. Aphids and spider mites can spread diseases, too which
can weaken the plants cause the flowers to drop as well.



Now over a month later I'm seeing small yellow
spots with dark brown centers and leaves are curling upward slightly.

Are the leaves curling long ways, or tip to stem?

Unfortunately the symptoms you're describing could be for several
diseases from bacterial spot to Cercospora. Could you post pictures on
a site like Photobucket so we can see exactly what you mean?

It's
getting paler between the veins. The plants are tall, spindly, leaves are
sparse and only a handful of peppers were produced from 18 plants. In the
past few weeks the spider mites and whitefly infested them completely and
every spray I used failed to make a difference. Ideas anyone? Thoughts?
Suggestions? What disease can this be?


The problem with spraying is that it kills the insect predators as
well as the pests, and the pests bounce back faster. The best way to
control aphids is to release lady bugs and stand back. They won't
clear out the aphids over night or kill all the aphids, but they'll
keep them under control.

I'm also wondering what you're using for fertilizer. I ask because
aphids are attracted to plants given high nitrogen fertilizers.



By this time other years we'd have so many peppers we'd be giving them
away - and from no more than 6 to 10 plants.

It's been a slow year for my plants; pepper, tomato, and egg plant. I
was hand watering at the beginning of the season because of drought
and watering restrictions, and I think they just needed more water
than hand watering could supply. Once we started having rain, they
took off, and are producing enough to make up for lost time. The
tomatoes and eggplants are coming in thick and fast, and the peppers
aren't far behind.



Penelope

--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"