Peppers diseases and pests
The database lists 5 problems recorded on this crop. 2 of them can cost the whole harvest, and 2 survive in soil or debris into next season — those are the ones that decide your rotation. The largest number are active in June.
Pressure through the year
The number of problems listed as active in each month. Pick a month to see what to sow, plant and harvest then.
Start from what you can see
What actually prevents them
Water at the base of the plant in the morning, never over the leaves. Splashing soil onto foliage is the delivery route for every problem listed here, and morning watering lets anything that does land dry before nightfall.
Applies to: Bacterial Leaf Spot
Mulch the soil surface. A physical barrier between last season's spores and this season's lowest leaves removes the first infection of the year, which is the one that seeds all the others.
Applies to: Bacterial Leaf Spot
Give the plants their full spacing 40×60 cm and keep the centre of each one open. Air moving through the planting dries the leaves faster, and leaf wetness duration is what turns a spore landing into an infection.
Applies to: Bacterial Leaf Spot
Rotate this bed and everything else in the same family on at least a three-year cycle. 2 of the problems below survive in soil or crop debris between seasons, so returning the same crop to the same ground hands them the host they were waiting for.
Applies to: Bacterial Leaf Spot, Tomato Spotted Wilt
Clear and remove the spent crop at the end of the season rather than digging it in. Debris left on the surface is where the persistent problems overwinter, and next spring they start from your own bed rather than from somewhere else.
Applies to: Bacterial Leaf Spot, Tomato Spotted Wilt
Control sap-sucking insects early, before the population is obvious. Several of the problems here are carried plant to plant by aphids or thrips, and once a virus has arrived there is no treatment — only the vector was ever treatable.
Applies to: Tomato Spotted Wilt
Keep watering and feeding even rather than generous. Several problems on this list are not infections at all: they are the plant reacting to a swing in water, temperature or nutrient supply, and consistency prevents them where no spray can.
Applies to: Blossom Drop, Blossom End Rot
Keep affected material out of the compost heap — 2 of these survive a garden heap and come back with the finished compost. Bag it for municipal green waste, which is composted at temperatures a garden heap does not reach.
Applies to: Bacterial Leaf Spot, Tomato Spotted Wilt
Every listed problem
Ordered by how much they can cost you.
Bacterial diseases(1)
- Bacterial Leaf SpotSevere
Small, dark, water-soaked angular spots often with yellow halos that may drop out to leave a shot-hole; scabby raised lesions on fruit; defoliation in severe cases.
- How it spreads
- Rain and irrigation splash
- Compost
- Keep out of the compost
- Conditions
- 22–32°C · humidity ≥80% · wet leaves / rain
- First move
- Treat, then re-check in 5–7 days
Also at risk: Walnut trees
Viral diseases(1)
- Tomato Spotted WiltSevere
Bronzing and inward cupping of young leaves, dark streaks on stems, ringspots and uneven colouring on fruit, and one-sided stunting of the plant.
- How it spreads
- Carried by insects
- Compost
- Keep out of the compost
- Conditions
- Spread by handling, insects or soil — not weather-triggered
- First move
- Remove affected material now
Pests(1)
- AphidsModerate
Clusters of tiny green, black or grey insects on new growth and leaf undersides; curled, distorted leaves; sticky honeydew and black sooty mould; ants tending the colonies.
- How it spreads
- Carried by insects
- Compost
- Safe to compost
- Conditions
- 16–28°C
- First move
- Treat, then re-check in 5–7 days
Also at risk: Lettuce, Cabbage, Beans, Spinach, Kale, Broccoli
Physiological disorders(2)
- Blossom DropModerate
Flowers yellow at the base of the stalk and drop off complete, leaving a bare truss with no fruit set. It happens in waves that match a heatwave or a cold snap a week or so earlier, while the plant itself looks perfectly healthy.
- How it spreads
- Not contagious
- Compost
- Safe to compost
- Conditions
- ≥32°C · dry air ≤40%
- First move
- Watch it before you act
Also at risk: Tomatoes
- Blossom End RotModerate
A sunken, leathery, dark brown-black patch at the blossom (bottom) end of the fruit, often on the first fruit of the season or during dry spells; the rest of the fruit may ripen normally.
- How it spreads
- Not contagious
- Compost
- Safe to compost
- Conditions
- Spread by handling, insects or soil — not weather-triggered
- First move
- Fix the cause, not the leaf
Also at risk: Tomatoes, Aubergines
Why rotation matters here
2 of these overwinter in the soil or in crop debris rather than on the plant. Pulling the sick plant does not remove them: they wait for the same host to come back to the same ground.