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Growing good pepper seedlings is like playing Russian roulette. Even if a gardener creates the most ideal conditions for young plants, problems may still arise with them. After all, pepper is a very capricious crop that reacts painfully to even the most minor changes or errors in care. But he cannot show his dissatisfaction, so he shows the gardener in every possible way that he feels bad: his leaves turn yellow and curl, and then the stem also droops. Below we will talk about the reasons for this behavior of pepper seedlings, as well as first aid measures for young plants.
Why do pepper seedlings turn yellow?
Yellowing of leaves is a normal reaction of any plant to some problems or disruptions in its growth, and pepper seedlings are no exception to the rule. At the same time, it is important not to miss this signal for help and immediately begin life-saving measures. And to do this, you need to know why such a situation might arise in the first place.
But if yellowing begins on the middle and top sheets, then this is a reason to sound the alarm.
Below we will look at the most common causes of yellowing leaves in peppers, as well as ways to help diseased plants. It is important to understand that after carrying out certain procedures, yellowed leaves will not turn green. But the other leaves, and the plant itself, will feel much better.
Problems with the root system
In pepper plants, especially young seedlings, the root system is the weakest point. Most often, the cause of yellowing leaves is precisely problems with the roots of young plants. Moreover, yellowing of leaves causes not only death or poor development of seedling roots, but also their excessive growth. In this case, the roots are so tightly intertwined that the process of supply of nutrients in the intertwining areas is disrupted and the roots begin to die. In addition, the root system of seedlings can be damaged by excessive loosening of the soil.
If the leaves of pepper seedlings begin to turn yellow, the first thing to do is check their root system. To do this, the plant must be pulled out of the pot or planting container as carefully as possible and the roots inspected. If there are few of them or they are dark in color, then the root system dies. To help the plant, you need to use root formation stimulants. If the roots are white, but strongly intertwined, then you need to very carefully try to straighten them.
Nitrogen deficiency
If the root system of the pepper is healthy, then yellowing of the leaves may be caused by a lack of nitrogen. Of all the substances necessary for optimal growth of young plants, pepper is especially sensitive to nitrogen.Pepper absorbs this substance from the ground, so when it runs out of nitrogen, the plants begin to get sick.
The simplest and most effective thing that can be done in case of yellowing of leaves due to lack of nitrogen is to apply nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Most often, urea and ammonium nitrate are used for these purposes.
After all, an excess of this substance can also be destructive for young seedlings. Therefore, you should not use such fertilizers often, much less exceed the recommended dosages.
A solution for feeding young seedlings with urea or ammonium nitrate is prepared quite simply. To do this, a tablespoon of fertilizer is diluted in 10 liters of settled water. The solution prepared according to this recipe turns out to be very weak, so it is suitable not only for watering plants, but also for spraying them.
In addition to urea and ammonium nitrate, Azogran can also be used. It should be used only according to the instructions: 1 granule per plant.
Violation of conditions of care
Yellowing of leaves as a reaction to poor care conditions is not a rare occurrence. Young pepper seedlings are quite capricious, so they can rebel even after a slight deviation from their usual care.
Most often, pepper leaves can turn yellow due to a sharp drop in temperature. This could be a draft or targeted hardening of seedlings. The lower limit of permissible temperature for seedlings of this capricious crop will be +12 degrees. If the temperature drops below, the leaves will first begin to turn yellow, and then the plant itself will wither.
After this, hardening can be resumed, but the night temperature will have to be kept between +15 and +18 degrees.
In addition, yellowness on the leaves of pepper seedlings may be associated with a violation of the watering process. Moreover, this can be either a lack or an excess of moisture. In order to prevent this, seedlings should be watered only as needed, when the top layer of soil dries out. For newly emerging shoots and young seedlings, watering once every 5 days will be sufficient. More mature seedlings require a little more water, so watering should be done every 3 days.
Reaction to transplantation to a permanent place
The final result of growing pepper seedlings is planting adult plants in a permanent place, be it a greenhouse or open ground. But even when all the difficulties with young seedlings have already been overcome, you may encounter yellowing of the leaves.
In most cases, this happens when a gardener plants overgrown seedlings in a permanent place. Its roots have already entwined the entire planting container and they have nowhere to grow. And here, in the open ground or greenhouse, new lands open up in front of the roots of the plants where they can grow. And they actively begin to spread, taking away all the strength from the leaves. And plant leaves, deprived of essential nutrients, begin to wither and turn yellow.
In this case, feeding plants with mineral or organic fertilizer can help. But it is best to plant the seedlings in a permanent place a little earlier, while their root system has not yet occupied the entire planting capacity.
Pest infestation
Pepper seedlings are the best treat for pests such as aphids and spider mites. At first, it is quite difficult to guess the presence of these uninvited guests. While their colonies are very small, they are difficult to notice with the naked eye. But with the growth of their population, the following characteristic signs can be noticed on pepper seedlings:
- the presence of a web between adjacent leaves, as well as on the stem of the plant;
- yellowing of the leaf or part thereof, as well as curling of the leaf plate.
If these signs are present, you cannot delay processing the seedlings. After all, these pests are quite voracious and can easily destroy young plants. In order to get rid of these insects there are several time-tested natural recipes:
- Onion tincture. In order to prepare such a tincture, you need to take a liter of water and a glass of onion peels. They must be mixed together and left to infuse for a day. Young seedlings should be treated with onion peel tincture every 5 days until the pests recede.
- Garlic tincture with dandelion. For this tincture, you need to mix 1 glass of garlic and dandelion, and then pour 10 liters of water over them. This solution should infuse for 3 hours, after which all seedlings should be sprayed with it.
But natural remedies are only good if aphids and spider mites have not yet proliferated greatly. If their colonies have reached an impressive scale, then it is worth turning to chemicals with insecticidal action for help. Many gardeners speak well of Aktar and Bi-58.
You also need to take care of personal protective equipment such as gloves and a respirator in advance.
The best way to prevent these pests is to inspect the seedlings. After all, when there are few insects, it is much easier to get rid of them.
The considered causes of yellowing of pepper seedling leaves in most cases appear as a result of improper care of this sensitive seedling. In order to avoid the most common mistakes, we recommend that before planting this crop, you watch a video about the features of its cultivation:
