Oh No!

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Mojave

No he didn't see the grape leaves. Fruits are OK. Never (strangely) had any issue at all with aphids this year. My first year in this area. Is it possible earwigs could have been the vector? They've been my only bug problem.

Earwigs will chew leaves but the damage they may cause is usually insignificant except on small seedlings. It looks like caterpillar damage. I'm not even sure they even like pepper leaves. I've never heard of them being known as vectors for disease.
Since they are omnivores, their beneficial side is they hunt aphids and mites and also feed on dead organic matter . They are most active at night.
I see many of them around my garden during the day when I disturb their dark hiding spaces. I never see any real damage to my plants, so I leave them alone.
For me their beneficial side as pest predators and in nutrient cycling outweighs any minor damage they may cause.

[tlintx]

Originally Posted by Paradajz

if yes to all the questions, it's a virus.
but don't worry, those are good old mites you got there, the pepper sympthoms of those are often miss-diagnosed with viruses.

My peppers in the side yard look similar to Mojave's, with the light yellow patches, as of yesterday. But only one brown spotted leaf. No leaf distortion on those. I assumed it was a nutrient deficiency since the leaves are fairly bright green instead of dark green.

The peppers in the backyard are a much darker green, but the top growth's leaves are exactly as you described -- long, thin, curled. Found a couple of spiderwebs this morning and I've been battling aphids already.

Will this damage/the spider mites cause issues with the fruit or flowering? Should I pull the plants and start over? Is it too big a risk to try and overwinter them inside now?

[Mojave]

You wouldn't believe how bad my earwig problem was. Now that I think about it maybe the earwigs were the reason I've not had any aphid problems, first year in my gardening life I haven't had some kind of aphid aggravation. Not a single tomato worm, grasshopper or much of anything else insect wise.

I have literally killed thousands of earwigs. The worst of it was from about March through July (most of the season). I would place four traps out every night and every morning they were full. I went out every night and would find dozens of them feeding on my pepper leaves. It was nerve wracking, they did a whole lot of damage. Oh, but they did leave my tomatoes alone.

Whatever is happening to my plants, the spreading has slowed and it seems to be hitting the annuums much harder than the others. It looks like about half of my plants might make it through.

[Heritage]

Bill,

I agree with the other opinions - it sure looks like spider mites. There is nothing I see that looks like a 'mosaic' virus in your photos. How did the county extension agent diagnose your plants? Did he do any testing on the samples to verify a virus?

Good luck,
Steve

[Mojave]

Originally Posted by Heritage

Bill,

I agree with the other opinions - it sure looks like spider mites. There is nothing I see that looks like a 'mosaic' virus in your photos. How did the county extension agent diagnose your plants? Did he do any testing on the samples to verify a virus?

Good luck,
Steve

Thanks Steve. No he didn't run any tests, it was a quick look and proclamation.

[Heritage]

Originally Posted by Mojave

Thanks Steve. No he didn't run any tests, it was a quick look and proclamation.

hmmm... The extension agency here will test if they suspect any of the mosaics - they want to eliminate any possibility of TMV since it is so persistent. You might ask if they offer free virus testing. Depending on the extension policy, they might.

Otherwise, I would go by the excellent guide that Ivan posted in post #15. If you pass those steps I wouldn't worry about a virus