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Sort the symptom by where it shows
When something goes wrong, first ask whether the damage is on the pods, the leaves, or the whole plant. Holes in pods mean caterpillars, black pod tips mean a watering problem, curled leaves mean insects or virus, and a wilting whole plant means a root disease. Use the table to narrow it down, then read the matching section.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Urgency |
|---|---|---|
| Round hole in a pod with droppings around it | Fruitworm caterpillar | High; it moves pod to pod |
| Pod tip sunken, black and rotting | Blossom end rot (calcium not reaching the tip) | Medium; fix watering |
| Curled shoot tips crowded with tiny insects | Aphids | High; they spread mosaic virus |
| Mottled new leaves, stunted plant | Mosaic virus | No cure; remove the plant |
| White stippling on top of leaves, mites beneath | Spider mites | Medium; explode in dry heat |
| Green leaves wilt midday, recover by morning | Bacterial wilt | High; destroy the plant |
| Water-soaked brown patches on pods or stems | Phytophthora blight | High; spread by splashing |
Aphids, and the mosaic virus they carry
Aphids cluster on shoot tips, leaf undersides and buds, sucking sap and stopping new growth. The real damage is that they carry mosaic virus from plant to plant. Infected plants show mottled, puckered new leaves and lumpy pods, and there is no cure. Catching aphids early is the same thing as preventing mosaic.
- Check shoot tips twice a week While picking, look at the growing tips and under young leaves. Aphids start as a few on a tip and reach dozens within a week.
- Rinse off small colonies A spray bottle or a hose on the undersides clears a light infestation. Sticky tape works too when you only have five plants.
- Cut off heavily infested leaves Bag and discard leaves black with honeydew. If you spray, use a product with a preharvest interval you can meet, and reach the undersides.
- Pull any plant with mottled leaves Mottling and puckering on new growth means mosaic. Remove that plant before it spreads, and wash hands and tools before touching the others.
Fruitworms bore into the pods
From midsummer into fall, corn earworm and tobacco budworm caterpillars chew a round hole in a pod and feed inside. One caterpillar does not stop at one pod; it moves on, and left alone it can ruin half the fruit on a plant. Dark droppings around the hole give it away. Sprays cannot reach a worm inside a pod, so you remove infested pods as you find them.
- Pick holed pods, worm and all Remove any pod with a hole at once, split it, and crush the caterpillar. A holed pod left on the plant is a launch pad for the next one.
- Watch the buds too Young caterpillars start on buds and tiny pods. A bud with a hole that is turning brown means check the pods nearby.
- Net out the moths Once fruit sets, a fine insect net draped over the stakes keeps night-flying moths from laying eggs. On a potted plant it does not block much air.
Spider mites thrive on a dry balcony
Spider mites multiply fast in the hot, dry weeks of summer on balconies and under eaves where rain never reaches. The upper leaf surface shows pale stippling; flip the leaf and tiny mites move about. Bad infestations bleach and drop leaves, and pods stop sizing. Mites hate water, so wetting the undersides is both prevention and cure.
- Spray the undersides when you water On hot mornings, hose or shower the undersides of the leaves along with the soil. This alone changes how fast mites build up.
- Remove stippled leaves Leaves already bleached will not recover. Cut them off; it also opens the canopy to air.
- Rotate any miticide Mites develop resistance quickly. If you spray, coat the undersides and use a different class of product the second time.
Blossom end rot and sunscald are not diseases
A pod tip that looks water-soaked, then sinks and blackens, is blossom end rot. It is not an infection; calcium failed to reach the tip because of drought stress or root damage, and it is almost guaranteed in a small pot that swings from dry to soaked in midsummer. A pale, leathery patch on the shoulder of a pod is sunscald from over-pruning that exposed the fruit to direct sun.
Neither recovers. Pick affected pods early to relieve the plant, then fix the watering and the amount of leaf cover so the next pods are spared.
| Symptom | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Black, sunken pod tip | Dry-to-wet swings, damaged roots | Steady morning and evening watering; larger pot |
| Pale, leathery pod shoulder | Over-pruning exposes pods to sun | Prune no more than a quarter to a third at a time |
| Small, curved pods | Underfeeding, overdue picking | Pick large pods and feed |
| Split pods | Heavy watering after drought | Keep the watering interval even |
Adding lime for blossom end rot is slow to act. Fix the watering routine and pot size first, and only then add a little garden lime if it persists.
Bacterial wilt and blight come from soil and splash
Bacterial wilt shows as green leaves wilting in the afternoon and recovering overnight for a few days, then the whole plant collapses. The bacterium lives in soil, which is why reusing mix that grew tomatoes, eggplant or peppers is risky. Cut a stem and stand it in water and a milky ooze streams out. Phytophthora blight strikes in long wet spells, leaving water-soaked brown patches on pods and stems that rot; it spreads by rain splashing from the soil.
- Pull and bag a wilted plant There is no cure. Remove the whole plant and bag it. Do not reuse the soil for any pepper, tomato or eggplant, and scrub and sun-dry the pot.
- Cut out blighted pods and branches fast Remove pods and branches with brown patches before it spreads. Strip the lowest leaves to improve airflow and never water on rainy days.
- Mulch to stop splash A layer of straw or bark on the soil surface cuts splash from rain and watering, which is the main route for blight. It also evens out drying.
- Fresh mix next year For containers, fresh potting mix every year is the best prevention. If you reuse old mix, give it to crops outside the nightshade family.