Pepper plants are wilting then dying. Can anyone help

[Joanne pike]

Hello,
I have pepper plants that are seemingly fine and then the next day I come out and they are wilted or dead. I have Posted a few pictures. It's been rainy and very humid the past two weeks. But this started before then. I've lost about 15 so far. There is a nearby sunflower plant as well as a squash . Thank you for any thoughts

 

[Chuck]

Hello,
I have pepper plants that are seemingly fine and then the next day I come out and they are wilted or dead. I have Posted a few pictures. It's been rainy and very humid the past two weeks. But this started before then. I've lost about 15 so far. There is a nearby sunflower plant as well as a squash . Thank you for any thoughts

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Way too much water. And why do you have all those plastic coverings? You should be using mulch. And please update your profile as to where you live and your hardiness zone

 

[Beth_B]

Would help to know where you live. That black plastic stuff will overheat your soil for sure. Better would be straw or bark mulch which allows evaporation.

My guess is way too much water. That quickly kills plants and is a very common gardening mistake.

Get rid of that black plastic or rubber nonsense and let plants get completely crispy dry between watering.

I am sounding like a broken record. People. Quit freaking drowning your poor plants!!

 

[CrazyConure]

Quit freaking drowning your poor plants!!

People first reaction to wilting plants is to water more, when the reason they wilted in the first place was from overwatering. I'm pretty sure overwatering is one of the most common garden problems. Maybe it would be nice to have a sticky of overwatering? I think that can help a lot of people.

 

[Beth_B]

People first reaction to wilting plants is to water more, when the reason they wilted in the first place was from overwatering. I'm pretty sure overwatering is one of the most common garden problems. Maybe it would be nice to have a sticky of overwatering? I think that can help a lot of people.

I think this is a good idea. Either a sticky or an in-your-face notification upon joining up...READ THIS HELPFUL FAQ BEFORE POSTING QUESTIONS OK THX.

No offense to the OP! I used to drown plants too; I learned from my mistakes as do we all. And it's a very, very, extremely, very common and very understandable mistake.

A sticky or something might help educate newer gardeners right from the get-go.

 

[Becky]

Very good idea! I'll get on to it

 

[Corzhens]

Way too much water. And why do you have all those plastic coverings? You should be using mulch. And please update your profile as to where you live and your hardiness zone

I agree with the mulch and I also question the plastic cover. I only see those black plastic cover in cold places. Anyway, I don't know where you are from but with pepper, I'm sure it's not a really cold place. It's either the pepper is drowned by water or the lack of water that is an effect of that black plastic. When our pepper would have wilted leaves or branches, it is always due to lack of water so we would hastily get the garden hose.

 

[Becky]

People first reaction to wilting plants is to water more, when the reason they wilted in the first place was from overwatering. I'm pretty sure overwatering is one of the most common garden problems. Maybe it would be nice to have a sticky of overwatering? I think that can help a lot of people.

I think this is a good idea. Either a sticky or an in-your-face notification upon joining up...READ THIS HELPFUL FAQ BEFORE POSTING QUESTIONS OK THX.

No offense to the OP! I used to drown plants too; I learned from my mistakes as do we all. And it's a very, very, extremely, very common and very understandable mistake.

A sticky or something might help educate newer gardeners right from the get-go.

I've added a post now - you can view it here: https://www.gardening-forums.com/threads/common-plant-issue-read-before-posting.8886/

 

[MaryMary]

And please update your profile as to where you live and your hardiness zone

Would help to know where you live.

Anyway, I don't know where you are from

First, my apologies to those of you I quoted and dragged your attention to this thread, when really, I just wanted the attention of @Becky.

Becky, this is another common problem. I don't want to make you work too hard for your money but could we maybe have a sticky about this in the Introductions forum?

I don't know why people don't understand that where they live will affect everything from climate conditions to pest control. (Without knowing I live in Ohio, no one can tell me why my coconut trees keep dying! )

I do understand people's desire for privacy, but at the same time it's not like we're asking for an address!

(Oh no! @CrazyConure, here we go! This is a slippery slope... we're getting close to "Forum RULES." )



****Joanne pike****, let me echo Beth_B, there is no offense meant at all in my post. (We really are a friendly bunch, I promise...) It's just that there are an awful lot of threads that I choose not to reply to...because without where the person lives, I don't have enough information. Then someone answers the thread, and it has, "Well, what zone do you live in?"

 

[Joanne pike]

First...i apologize for not following the rules or updating my profile. Thank you all for the suggestions.

This is my first gardening forum and i apologize for not giving more info at the time I posted it, I was in the midst of a few projects but I wanted to get it out there before I forgot .

The black is actually a weed barrier.

I live in lower pa.

We had happened to have an excessive amount of rain for this time for about two weeks but it started before that. I rarely need to water the garden... Maybe once a week of that. It has only happened to the group that is in this particular area. The others that are about 6 feet away from that are not affected and they also have the same weed barrier. The ones that died were all of the same batch that I purchased as seedlings.... Yellow peppers. The Ones a few feet away are orange peppers that were purchased at a different time.

The effect now seems to be spreading to a squash plant nearby.

I pulled most of the affected ones so not to allow anything to spread further in case it was a fungal thing. I will keep things in mind for next year.

 

[Becky]

First...i apologize for not following the rules or updating my profile.

Please don't worry, you haven't broken any forum rules

Sounds like the drainage in the area where the affected plants are may not be up to scratch, which is of course very difficult to do anything about while the plants are growing. Good call re bearing it in mind for next year

It's a shame that you had all that rainfall as your peppers seemed to be doing very well beforehand!

 

[MaryMary]

First...i apologize for not following the rules or updating my profile.

There are no forum rules! My comment about that was directed to CrazyConure, who started a thread in regards to that in the Feedback and Comments forum. That thread can be found here:
https://www.gardening-forums.com/threads/forum-rules.8296/

The only rule is an unwritten one, and it is to be polite to each other. I feel that my post walked right up to the edge and maybe even stuck a toe over the line, and I apologize.

I saw three posts making the point of my pet peeve, and I seized the opportunity. In retrospect, I probably should have sent a PM to Becky and not vented my frustration in the post of a new member.

Again, my apologies.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Even though the postings are a year old now, the posters never mention bugs so I though I would for the topical reader. The plant behavior is exactly that of a bacterial wilt in my opinion, with the temperature and water conditions and later in the season growth indicating the timing is also correct for bacteria and virus carrying bugs to emerge and bite and infect plants, one by one as the swarm moves from plant to plant.