Indoor chilis not happy

[Akhnaten]

Hi, in the summer I started some indoor chilis (habañeros and thai chilis) in a self-watering planeter. They grew stupendously well and quickly and started to fruit. In the fall I switched them to timed grow lights, which I've had a lot of success with.

I went away for a month and had friends replenish the water, which they did faithfully. However they bloomed and weren't pollinated. Now that I'm back, they're no longer looking so happy. With some yellowing.

At first I thought it was because they weren't pollinated or the grow lights placed too high. They were fed with bone meal before I left so I am not convinced it is lack of nitrogen. Now I am suspicious that it may be a fungal infection, perhaps from a houseplant gifted to me that is no longer there. Any ideas? Pics attached.

[Akhnaten]

For some reason the pics ended up getting posted sideways even though I took them in portrait.

[imafan26]

I had that problem with my pictures too. It depends on how you hold your camera. The only way I have found to fix that is to edit your pictures, resize and post the edited picture. It is a tedious way to do it. If there is a better solution, I haven't found it.

The way the leaves are curling looks like something is sucking on the leaves. Seen any pests? Broad mites cause curling but you can't see them without a microscope.

[Akhnaten]

Hmm, I had an aphid problem with coriander that I solved with garden store pesticide spray. Should I attempt to spray them? I haven't seen any obvious pests. Maybe I should invest in a microscope?

[Akhnaten]

The alternative is that the whole thing is doomed and I need to start over, which is such a pity as it has been going since the summer and was just getting good.

[Akhnaten]

some cell phone closeup leaf pics, grainy.

Look like mite damage? Am attempting the pyrethrin spray now.

[applestar]

To me the leaves look sun scorched... These are indoors? Difficult to tell what that white thing is — probably too big to be a mite. Could be aphid ...looks fuzzy but maybe just blurry

...I’m having a mealybug problem right now, so Everything looks like mealybug to me right now though.

[Akhnaten]

The white thing is just a tear, not a mite, on a white background. A lot of leaves, including still healthy-looking ones, have tears at a position like that close to the leaf stem. That's what makes me think imafan26's theory is correct.

[imafan26]

If it is mites, you will have to sanitize the whole growing space. It is probably broad mites since there is not stippling and cyclamen mites usually are bigger.

Sulfur works best on mites, unless you can get a miticide.

Hot water treatments can also work and worth a try. Soak the plant in 120 degree water for 10 minutes. You have to sanitize the growing area very carefully or the mites will be back. You might have to condition the plants first. I dipped them for shorter times first and observed them and if they did o.k dipped them longer.

https://ucnfanews.ucanr.edu/Articles/Regional_Report_San_Diego_and_Riverside_Counties/Spring_2013__Hot_Water_Treatments_to_Control_Pests/

[Akhnaten]

Not feasible to dip the plants, they're quite large and it's a small apartment. These are growing in a living room/kitchen. The area is cleaned regularly, what does sanitizing here mean?

[imafan26]

It means taking out all the plant and trays from the area. Wiping everything down with basically soap and water. Then disinfecting with bleach and hot water or Physan (it is used to disinfect greenhouse benches.) Don't forget to clean the lights and nearby walls. For good measure you can spray the area with hydrogen peroxide after 24 hours. Make sure only healthy plants go back into that space. Keep the sick plants in a "hospital" space. If they all have the same problem. You will have to repeat sanitation weekly.

If you can't dip them. Then you can only spray them. I can't be sure what it is either. The leaf looks mottled but the damage under the leaf is not typicial of mites. Some thrips will do that, but if would show stippling on the top of the leaves. It could be fungal by the white spots I see on the veins. However, fungal disease is usually more readily seen on the leaves and not so concentrated on the veins. The leaves could have curled from the use of soap. I can't use any insecticidal soap on peppers because it will always cause the leaves t curl. The chilies are lanky. To me, that indicates a light problem. Weak plants get attacked by everything else. Bone meal is mostly phosphorus, some nitrogen and no potassium to speak of. Phosphorus is not very mobile compared to nitrogen. In a self watering container, I rarely fertilize anything because while the water evaporates, most of the nutrients are either in the plants or in the pots. The most I have done is 1/4 strength miracle grow once a month and that was only because I was cutting off the sweet potato leaves. 2 cups of starter fertilizer mixed in the original mix usually carries through the life cycle of the plants.