Pepper wilting
There are 3 common causes, and they need completely different responses — so working out which one you have matters more than treating quickly.
2 of them can kill the plant. Rule those out first.
Check these two things first
- Push a finger into the soil, two knuckles deep. Wet soil plus a wilting plant means too much water, not too little — and it is the commonest reason a plant is dying. Dry soil plus crisp leaves means the opposite. The leaves look nearly identical either way, so the soil is what tells you.
- Turn a damaged leaf over. Half of all diagnoses live on the underside: fuzz means downy mildew, fine webbing means spider mites, clusters of insects mean aphids. Nothing on the top of a leaf is as informative.
Most garden problems are cosmetic and resolve without treatment. Reach for a spray last, not first.
The 3 causes, and how to tell them apart
1.Fusarium Wilt
Act nowFungal disease
Yellowing and wilting that often affects one side of the plant, or one branch, while the rest looks fine. Slice the main stem lengthwise near the base and the tissue just under the skin is stained chocolate brown instead of pale green.
How to know it is this one
Cut the stem lengthwise: brown staining in the ring just under the skin confirms it.
2.Verticillium Wilt
Act nowFungal disease
Yellow wedges spreading inward from the leaf edges, often forming a V shape pointing at the midrib. Lower leaves go first. Cutting the stem shows brown discolouration in the vascular ring, usually lighter than fusarium's.
How to know it is this one
V-shaped yellow wedges at the leaf margins.
3.Underwatering
TreatableGrowing conditions
Drooping leaves that feel dry and papery, crisp brown edges and tips, and soil that has shrunk away from the sides of the pot. The whole plant looks deflated, and lower leaves go crisp and yellow before dropping.
How to know it is this one
Leaves dry and crisp rather than soft and limp.
Still not sure?
The diagnostic key adds two more questions — which part is affected and where the trouble started — and those usually settle it.
Run the diagnostic key