Pepper leaves turn yellow in a greenhouse: what to do to quickly and effectively solve the problem

Yellowing leaves on peppers growing in a greenhouse are a common problem caused by improper care. Yellowness serves as a signal that the bush is under severe stress and needs help. If you act decisively and quickly, pepper can be helped by creating favorable external conditions and adding missing fertilizers to the soil.

Why do pepper leaves turn yellow in a greenhouse?

Yellowing of the leaves of greenhouse peppers is often caused by stress and gardener mistakes: choosing poor-quality soil, a small amount of fertilizer applied, or improper watering.

Sometimes yellowness indicates a viral disease or insect attack. To save the bushes, you need to accurately determine the cause of the color change.

Unsuitable microclimate

Peppers are extremely sensitive to temperature changes. If the air in the greenhouse cools to +12°C or more, the root system ceases to fully absorb nutrients and moisture from the soil. The upper foliage, in order to survive, depletes the lower foliage. As a result, the leaves at the bottom of the bush wither, turn yellow and fly off.

The greenhouse needs to be ventilated up to 3 times a day so that the peppers receive a sufficient amount of oxygen. To avoid hypothermia at night, it must be closed. The humidity indicator plays an important role: dry air causes yellowing of the leaves, and the formation of condensation on the walls of the greenhouse indicates dampness, which leads to rotting of the peppers.

Errors in watering

Peppers are a moisture-loving crop, so the gardener needs to monitor the soil moisture level. The optimal value is 80%.

The main mistakes that lead to yellow leaves:

1. Watering less than once every 4-5 days provokes drying out of the shoots: the leaves crack, lose color and fall off.
2. Using cold water can cause plant death. The roots become overcooled, the foliage turns yellow and falls off.
3. Excessive watering causes a sharp increase in soil acidity. The consequences are rotting of the root system and yellowing of the lower leaves. Often such peppers die.

Unsuitable soil

Most common cause of yellow leaves - incorrectly selected soil type. Main characteristics of soil suitable for peppers:

• minimum salt concentration;
• low acidity - pH <7;
• high percentage of humus;
• low peat content;
• good indicators of moisture and air penetration.

The soil must have a sufficient amount of macro- and microelements. Based on the location of the yellowing, you can determine which mineral the peppers lack:

1. The yellowness of the upper leaves indicates a lack of nitrogen nutrition. An additional symptom is general dullness of the shoots and slow growth. If you do not feed the pepper with nitrogen, the bush will die within 7-10 days.
2. Yellowing and warping at the base is a sign of boron deficiency. In the event of a prolonged lack of this microelement, the peppers will stop setting.
3. If leaves curl and change color around the edges, which means there is a potassium deficiency.
4. The appearance of protruding veins and the yellowness of the leaf core indicates a lack of iron.
5. If the veins remain green and the leaf surface turns yellow, the pepper is not getting enough manganese from the soil.This will be followed by drying out of the lower parts of the bush, and then the upper parts.

Stress after transplant

Replanting is always stressful for a plant, especially if the soil is unsuitable or the pepper has a poorly developed root system. A slight yellowing in the early stages should not be too much of a concern, but it is important to make sure that the bush receives all the necessary nutrients and sufficient moisture.

To make the transplant process less painful, summer residents use various adaptogens and biostimulants (Epin-extra, Zircon, Silk, etc.).

Diseases and pests

Yellowing can be caused by a viral disease - mosaic. A characteristic sign is light yellow spots on the leaves of pepper, which grow and merge over time. At an advanced stage, yellowness spreads to the fruits. Infection occurs through open lesions. Infectious agents can remain in the soil for a long time and infect neighboring plants.

Main carriers:

• aphid;
• soil nematodes;
• ticks.

The cause of yellowing can also be a fungus or the activity of pathogenic bacteria. Insects also cause yellowing of peppers. Warmth, lack of wind and the presence of shade attract pests to the greenhouse. The most dangerous period for peppers is flowering time. Pests land on the leaves and devour them. As a result, the lack of juice gradually leads to the yellowness of the shoots, and then to their death.

Often the main pest For peppers, spider mites act. Characteristic signs of its presence:

• cobwebs under leaves;
• the appearance of small yellow dots on the outside of the leaves;
• yellow leaves fall off after 2 days;
• complete baldness of the bush occurs in 3-5 days.

What to do

Treatment methods vary depending on the cause of yellow discoloration. If the problem is caused by a deficiency of micro- or macroelements, it is necessary to add feeding.

The main recommendations of gardeners are presented in the table:

2-3 days after fertilizing, the drying of the bush slows down. After a week, the process of regeneration and color restoration begins. Pepper slowly absorbs fertilizers, so it makes no sense to expect an immediate effect.

When yellowness is caused by other reasons, use the following recommendations from experienced gardeners:

1. If the problem of yellowing of the shoots is caused by the cold, you need to additionally insulate the pepper with film at night. An alternative is to apply manure liberally. It is important to constantly monitor the temperature in the greenhouse.
2. You need to water the bushes with warm water 3 times a week.
3. To reduce the risk of mosaic infestation, use only quality seeds and regularly disinfect equipment and shoes.
4. If yellowing is caused by stress, it is best to use artificial analogues of natural biostimulants, which enhance the natural protection of plants from aggressive environmental factors. For example, the drug "Epin" is suitable.

When trying to help the plant, it is important not to overdo it. Unsystematic application of fertilizers, additives and constant spraying with drugs has the opposite effect.

Leaves of seedlings turn yellow

Seedlings are more sensitive to aggressive environmental factors than adult peppers, so the problem of yellowing primarily affects young plants. If the root cause is not eliminated in time, the vegetables will die.

Causes

The reasons for yellowing of seedlings and adult bushes are similar:

1. Transplantation into incorrectly selected soil.
2. Insufficient watering.
3. Failure to comply with temperature conditions. Basic rules for seedlings: less than +12°C - the seedlings will not grow, more than +35°C - they will dry out and turn yellow. Optimal indicators are +15…+25°С.
4. Constant exposure to direct sunlight, which leads to burns. Only partial shade or diffused light is suitable for seedlings.

Spider mites pose the greatest danger to seedlings, so they need to be constantly inspected. Small pests are difficult to notice.

What to do

How to help yellowed seedlings? Basic recommendations:

1. Constantly monitor the soil and air temperature.
2. Cover young peppers overnight to protect them from the cold. It is effective to sprinkle the soil with ash to increase the resistance of seedlings to frost.
3. You can destroy the tick using “Akarin” or “Kleschevit”.
4. A popular way to control pests is an infusion: per 3-liter jar there is ½ kg of finely chopped garlic cloves. For spraying, 15 ml of infusion is diluted in 2.5 liters of water.

It is important to conduct a soil analysis to avoid future deficiencies of nutrients.

Prevention measures

The following preventive measures are suitable for peppers to help protect the leaves from yellowing:

• Before planting, seeds and soil are disinfected;
• Only healthy seedlings are planted in the greenhouse;
• when purchasing seeds, choose types of peppers that are resistant to viruses and pests;
• peppers are regularly sprayed with mixtures made from germ-resistant plants.

It is also important to disinfect the greenhouse premises and tools used to care for plants.

Advice from experienced summer residents

To grow healthy peppers and avoid yellowing leaves, follow these tips:

1. Plant the seeds in trenches 8-9 cm deep, maintaining an optimal distance between bushes of 16-18 cm.
2. Mulch the beds with grass and ash.
3. Use a soil containing sand, lowland peat, horse manure and turf soil in a ratio of 1:1:1:2.
4. Before planting bushes, do not add too much fertilizer to the soil. If you follow crop rotation, there will be a sufficient amount of nutrients in the soil.
5. Add potassium and phosphorus fertilizers to the soil during the fall months while plowing.
6. Completely add the required amount of nitrogen to the soil during the growing season of peppers.
7. Before adding fertilizers, analyze the composition of the soil.

Conclusion

Yellowing of the shoots is not a death sentence for pepper, so the harvest can be saved. To identify the cause, determine the temperature in the greenhouse, inspect the bushes for pests and analyze the composition of the soil.

The more regular the inspections, the greater the chances of noticing negative changes in the early stages and preventing crop loss.