Pepper Plants - Leaves falling off!

Well, I had a few aphids invading them so I sprayed them with a solution of dish washing soap and water and it did the trick and they are all gone, but now my leaves drop off when moved, brushed etc. They look really dry but not crispy. What should I do?! The plant looks wilted and really unhealthy where as before it was perfect, healthy, green, luscious leaves.

Gutted about this as they were doing fantastically well, im pretty sure it's linked to the soap! :(

 

Is it just the lower leaves or all of them? I think the lower leaves often get sacrificed as the plant grows. At least that's my (limited) experience of them anyway.

 

No its all the leaves :( , I have just managed to get some pictures so will put them on now.

 

Looks to me like it might have been overwatered ? Ive just killed my office plant by asking someone else to water it a little whilst I was out for a week & coming back to find it looking just like that..

 

So it had nothing to do with the soapy mix? It just seems a bit of a coincidence that I did it 2 days ago and now it's looking like that. Will it come back round to a healthy state? :(

 

It looks too big for its pot to me. Unless its just the camera angle.

 

Possibly, it's a pretty decent pot size. It would not hurt to repot into a bigger pot though. Good job I'm going to the garden Center today!

 

Within a couple of years you'll never need to buy a pot again, as you'll have accumulated hundreds of pots in all shapes and sizes

 

I think I'm already there lol... Got lots of big pots but they have other plants in them!! Just never enough pots lol

 

I raid the pot recycling bin at the garden centre, when the cctv is pointed away from it

 

I managed to save the pepper plants and they are all fruiting well and leaves have all returned to normal. ... Miracles really do happen haha!

 

FWIW I don't use kitchen detergent, only ever horticultural soap. As I understand it Horticultural (or "insecticidal") soaps are made from Potassium and Fatty Acids (traditionally Potash from wood ash and animal fatty acids). This is usually (but not always) not Phytotoxic, but worth trying on a leaf or two the first time you try a particular plant, particularly on "hairy" plants. The chain length of the fatty acids is also important - you need longer ones to be toxic to aphids etc - although too long and that doesn't work either. I also mix in Neem Oil.

Detergents, such as you have in the kitchen, are usually synthetic surfactants made from petrochemicals and more likely to be Phytotoxic. They are less likely to be as effective against insects too.

Sadly Insecticidal soap tends to be quite expensive, and you have to spray repeatedly (compared to a systemic insecticide), at least until the infection is under control

Either way, best not applied when the sun is shining strongly.

 

Good post

Just to add, I always try to spray in the evening, when the sun has gone down, and it's a lot cooler. This helps to stop evaporation