Washington: Pepper plant leaf curl

Greetings,

I'd like to know what's up with my hot pepper plants. As you'll see in the photos, some of the leaves are curling, AND there is some kind of pattern on the leaves as well.

I am pretty sure the curl is/was due to some teeny white aphids on the front of the leaves. I have no clue about the pattern on the leaves.

These plants came as starts from a local nursery, are in pots in an organic garden mix to which we added lots of Perlite.

Since I am 100% organic, inside and out, (and even filter the chlorine and other contaminants out of the garden water -- AND use a food-quality hose), I use Dr. Earth's 3-3-3 liquid fertilizer concentrate (diluted, of course) and for pests I spray on a weak dilution of TKO Orange.

So, my questions are...

1) what's up with the leaf curl - is this consistent with aphids? and,

2) Why are the pepper leaves developing this pattern?

TIA - drcarl

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PS - since others have asked, and in case someone want to tell me I am making a big mistake or something, here is the TKO concoction I make, the link to the manufacturer, and my source. The Organic TKO is supposed to keep the bugs at bay and act as a fertilizer facilitator for the plant.

At first I used a lighter "Mist" concentration. I have since upped it to the "Plant Spray" mix.

Here's my recipe:

Plant Spray
(PER GALLON OF WATER)
2 Tablespoons of TKO
1 Tablespoon. of White Vinegar
1 Tablespoon of Epson Salts


I make it up in quarter recipe as follows:

1 qt = 32 oz water
1.5 t TKO Orange
.75 t white vinegar
.75 t Epsom salts
and, I also add...
1/2 t baking soda
4 drops Murphy's oil (soap)
15-20 drops colloidal silver

Here's the company info TKO Orange
Here is where I buy mine: Sacred Medicine Sancturary

I think it's too early to know if this combo I put together works or not. It seems that I have very few bugs, generally. The simple "Mist" spray completely saved a neighbor's garden according to her. My roses are still plagued with blackspot.

I should probably apply it more often.

 

Why are you spraying the plants in the first place? Did they have some symptoms of damage from something? I've been growing sweet and hot peppers for over 30 years a bit north of you and don't recall ever having any insect or disease problems that required spraying. Peppers are heavy feeders; so they need nutrients, but they don't seem to be very prone to disease, as long you practice crop rotation. You might try laying off the chemicals, organic or not, to see what kind of results you get.

 

Nice to know that peppers are heavy feeders. I did break out the spray for the peppers because I thought I had aphids, am interested in preventing pasts and mold, understand that TKO facilitates nutrient uptake (good for a heavy feeder), and feel that the other things are is such small quantities and so benign that I figured how could they hurt...(I could be wrong)...It's good to know you grow 'em north of me and will consider your suggestion. *thinking* Sometimes less is best and it's certainly easier! Perhaps I'll take your advice and limit the peppers to food and water unless I see a pest. The powdery mildew problems I had last year were with the Cucurbits (squash, cucumbers), though they were in a different location which may have been more humid and more perfect for mildew development....damn stuff got everywhere fast. Thanks for your input Vitog.