Pepper is a fairly common vegetable that many vegetable growers grow in their gardens. When growing young seedlings, various problems may arise. For example, very often the leaves of pepper seedlings curl. To get rid of this problem, you need to understand the reasons for its occurrence and decide what to do if the pepper leaves curl.
Why do the leaves of pepper seedlings curl?
Before you start treating the bushes, you need to decide why the leaves of the pepper seedlings are curling.There are several common causes for this problem.
Uneven development of leaves
Uneven leaf growth in sweet peppers is one of the most common causes of the disease. In this case, the midrib begins to actively enlarge, causing the leaflets to quickly begin to lengthen. At the same time, the dimensions of the leaf plate cannot develop at the same speed. As a result, because of this, all the leaves on the bushes begin to deform.
This reason for the leaves curling in a boat is the most harmless, since the development of the plant does not stop. In just a few weeks, all the curled leaves will restore their normal shape.
Not enough nutrients
Another reason why pepper leaves become very curled is a lack of microelements in the soil. To ensure that peppers in the greenhouse and garden do not have any problems with leaves and growth, it is necessary to periodically feed the soil. If this is not done, the amount of potassium in the soil will decrease and this will lead to the leaves of the peppers in the greenhouse beginning to deform.
At first, each leaf does not curl very tightly. The bottom leaves will begin to curl first. Over time, the disease will begin to progress and spread to the entire bush.
Pests
Often leaves turn inside out due to insect attack. At the same time, due to pests, the leaves of peppers may begin to curl even in a greenhouse, and not just outside. If the leaves begin to curl due to certain pests, then you need to immediately eliminate the problem.
It is quite simple to understand that the disease was caused by pests.To do this, you should carefully examine each bell pepper bush. There should be other symptoms besides curled pepper leaves. For example, the leaves may turn partially yellow and some cobwebs may appear between them.
All these signs indicate that the pepper leaves began to deform precisely because of insects.
Many vegetable growers are concerned about the cause of pests in greenhouses. Most often they appear due to the fact that before planting plants, people forget to treat the soil or treat it too poorly. In untreated soil, pest larvae begin to develop and actively spread to plants already in mid-April. If you do not treat the bushes and get rid of insects, the pepper will die.
Ways to fight
To get rid of leaf curl in peppers, you should familiarize yourself with the most common ways to combat this problem. For each cause considered, different treatment methods are used.
Lack of microelements
If leaf curl is caused by an insufficient amount of nutritional components, then first you should find out what exactly the pepper needs. There are cases when the plant does not have enough phosphorus, which is why each leaf curls up and begins to gradually change its color. To solve this problem, you need to spray the soil and bushes with a special solution. To prepare it, about three grams of saltpeter are consumed per liter of liquid. If there is no saltpeter, then it can be replaced with ammophos.
Potassium deficiency can be eliminated in two ways:
- Sprinkle the area where the hot pepper grows with wood ash. The substance crumbles under every plant where there is at least one leaf turned up.The layer of wood ash should not be very large, so it should be no more than 3-5 mm. When the ash is scattered on the site, the soil must be sprayed with heated water. This method is recommended to be used so as not to fertilize the area with saltpeter in the future.
- All bushes where the leaves turn upward are fed with potassium nitrate. This method is several times more effective than the previous one. To prepare a working solution, 100 g of saltpeter is mixed with 10 liters of warm water. To stop the leaves from curling, half a liter of the prepared mixture is poured under each bush. Before using saltpeter, you need to water the area.
The effect of using fertilizers will be noticeable within a few days. All leaves of pepper seedlings, curled towards the top or down, will gradually begin to level out and take on a natural shape.
Pest Control
If greenhouse peppers suffer from pests and this is why their leaves turn up, then it is worth familiarizing yourself with the main methods of combating parasites. These methods include:
- Bleaching powder. You can combat leaf curling with bleach. Before using it, you need to prepare a special working solution. To do this, mix 200-300 grams of lime in ten liters of water. The prepared mixture is thoroughly mixed and infused for about 2-3 hours, after which it can be used to water the bushes of young seedlings.
- Dry wormwood. When the leaf on the seedlings wrinkles due to pests, it is recommended to use a decoction prepared from dried wormwood. To create it, you need to boil the plant for about 20-30 minutes. Then the liquid cools and filters. After this, 5-10 liters of water are added to the solution.If desired, you can add 20-80 grams of soap to make the mixture more sticky.
- Yarrow. Sometimes, if the upper leaves curl, a decoction of yarrow is used. With its help you can protect seedlings from insects. To prepare the solution, chopped yarrow leaves are poured with hot water for 2-3 days. Then the mixture is filtered and mixed with five liters of water and 30 grams of soap. In just a few days it will be possible to completely get rid of leaf curling in pepper seedlings.
- Onion infusion. Many vegetable growers use onion infusion if the leaves of the bushes are curling due to insects. To prepare it, onion peels are poured with 2-3 liters of hot water and infused throughout the day. Treatment with onion infusion is used once a week for a month.
Conclusion
People who have been growing peppers for more than one year often experience that their leaves curl. To solve this problem, you need to understand why the leaves of pepper seedlings can curl. This is the only way to understand what can curl the leaves of a plant and how to cure them.
