Leaf spots

I'm sure this is a really obvious problem, but we've just started growing a couple of varieties of peppers and there seems to be some kind of disease spreading through them. I've tried to find out as much as I can online, but I couldn't find a firm diagnosis, which is why I'm coming here.

The leaves have developed small raised spots on the underside. They started off as just green bumps, but as they progress they seem to be turning more white and getting bigger. The symptoms seem to spread through touch - another plant which had no symptoms now has spots on the leaves which are closest (touching) the plant which did.

The spots make a faint sound when stroked, which kind of sounds like dishwashing bubbles when you run your hands through them (i.e. very small liquidy bubbles popping). They don't vanish though.

The description is a bit tricky, so I've uploaded a picture of one of the afflicted leaves, which can be seen below. It looks like the spots develop along the veins, starting from the stem. On this leaf, which is the worst-affected, there are a couple of small discoloured spots (top-centre of the image). I'm not sure if this is related to the spots or some other sort of damage.

The closest diagnosis I've come across is bacterial leaf spot, but I can't find any decent pictures online which look significantly like our case, and I don't want to start treatment for that if it's not the problem.

Can anyone help out? Thanks in advance.

[http://i39.tinypic.com/uvqf7.jpg]

 

Hello!! :D

I have been trying to find the solution to your problem by researching.

Looking at all the information I have found, the problem 'Leaf Spot' leaves brown or red spots on the leaves. Your spots are clearly white!! Also my research identifies 'Leaf Spot' as being Fungal, not Bacterial.

This is difficult...

Firstly I wouldn't spray until you definately know what the problem is. Maybe you could take your plant to a garden centre or experienced grower to find what problem is. In the mean time, remove the affected leaves (Do not put in compost) & keep the plants on the dry side for a few weeks or more if possible & see what happens (This is one of the recommendations if treating 'Leaf Spot' as it is caused by wet conditions). You can spray with Dithane or Supercarb, but it is best to make sure you have the correct diagnosis first.

Hope this helps!! Good Luck!!

 

I'm pretty sure I've seen this on peppers before, but cant remember what the outcome was.

I wonder what the top of the leaf looks like, if its good and green and healthy looking I think I would just keep an eye on the problem and leave well alone.
If however the plants are not growing or look sick, then it might be a good idea to get rid of them.

It looks to me like the leafs reaction to insect attack, scale insect at the crawler stage might be a possibility, but just a guess.

If its bacterial I doubt there would be an easy cure.
I personally dont think its fungal or viral, but I'm no expert.

 

First, thanks for the replies!

Removing all the affected leaves would be a bit catastrophic - just about all the leaves on all the plants are showing signs (not all to the same extent as that picture). It also seems to be on the stem a little bit, so I doubt the plants would recover successfully, even if they could re-grow their leaves.

The top of the leaves are dimpled where the spots are, so it's not completely healthy. The small discoloured spots (not the white ones, the browny ones) are visible from the top and seem to be growing, which is what suggested bacterial leaf spot/blight to me. Perhaps the white spots are just the early phase?

This quote seems to have potential, but there aren't any pictures of the affliction on the site: http://www.oisat.org/pests/diseases/bacterial/bacterial_leaf_blight.html

The plants are still growing, which I suppose is a good sign, but I'm worried that when they fruit it'll spread to that.

I can't take any photos just now, but I'll snap a few more tonight and post them back.

I was thinking it may be parasites, but I couldn't see anything on the plant except the spots.

As for the next step, I think I'll put the plants outside (they're on window sills at the moment), separate them out so they're not touching at all, and let them dry out a bit. I'll also spread the photo around to get some more opinions.

 

Okay, the problem has been identified by someone at my work. It's edema, probably caused by overwatering/poor drainage. I'll sort that out tonight

[FONT=&quot]http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/pepper/msg0317181726509.html[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]http://www.umass.edu/umext/floriculture/fact_sheets/greenhouse_management/edema.htm[/FONT]

Thanks for your help anyway, I'm sure I'll come running when the next thing goes wrong...