Bell pepper Capsicum

DISEASE MANAGEMENT OF BELL PEPPER

Namastey,
Agriculture Review is back with a very important topic i.e. “Disease Management of Bell Pepper.” I have received so many queries through emails, Facebook messages, and WhatsApp. Mostly they were about diseases in capsicum.

So I decided that in this article I will discuss about Disease Management of Bell Pepper. The day before yesterday I saw a pic in a Whatsapp group. A lady has sent a query about the disease in Bell Pepper in Punjab, India.

She is an enthusiastic gardener and has been carefully growing other plants too. Her Capsicum plant grew well but in May when the plant is in the fruiting stage, she started observing deformation in fruits.

I received many similar queries, many of them were facing Blossom-end rot and sunscald disease. All of them applied fertilizer, gave water and necessary components but then too their plants were infected.

Do you Know Why? The answer is very simple, all the materials were not applied in the required amount. Before discussing disease management I am going to discuss common mistakes that can cause diseases easily.

Most of the kitchen gardeners think that disease occurs only due to pest or insect, fungus, bacteria, or virus attack only but it is not the actual truth. Yes they can cause diseases but there are other reasons also that can be controlled and is in your hands.

Read my complete article to understand deeply. There are varieties of plants in the world and different plant requires water, fertilizer, sunlight, soil type etc. essential components in different amount.
Kitchen gardeners do this common mistake, if they are watering their plants in the garden then they will water all the plants equally. (THIS IS WRONG AND WILL LEAD TO PROBLEMS)
Same goes to the application of fertilizers, different plant needs fertilizer in different amount. So if you are already doing gardening then note this important point. Every other plant species needs required materials for growth in different amounts.
For example lack of calcium in capsicum plants can cause Blossom end rot disease. Excess water in the soil can harbor fungal and bacterial diseases. 
Bell Pepper many diseases that occur in their specif stages of total lifespan. Let’s now discuss them in brief but before that if you want to learn “How To Grow Capsicum” then click on the quoted text.


Disease and Management


This disease is common in the early days after the sowing of seeds i.e. the nursery period. In this disease germinated Bell pepper plants show stunted growth, seed decay due to which seedlings become weak and then dies.

Plant starts rotting from the ground level. If not treated then the plant dies. However this disease can occur at the time of transplanting too. If you see dark lesions on your plant stems then it is the sign of Damping-off disease.
Damping-off can also occur in pre germination period causing poor germination rate.


 Phytophthora capsici is responsible for causing root rot disease in Bell Pepper. It can occur if you apply excess water to the plant. It occurs at the early growth stage of the plant.

Roots get damaged inside the soil and the plant dies eventually. The first plant becomes weak and leaves start falling then it dies.

These two diseases occur mostly in the early stages of Bell pepper plant growth. They both show nearly common symptoms.

Bacterial Leaf Blight, Anthracnose, and several Viral diseases are seed-borne which do not affect the plant in the early stages but when they get favorable condition then they affect plant growth and development. 

Management 

Avoid late sowing of Capsicum seeds. You can sow the seeds from Mid March to April, this is an ideal sowing period that prevents disease infestation.

We always suggest you to purchase certified Bell pepper seeds because they are seeds of highly disease-resistant plants which has been further treated to prevent any seed-borne disease. 

Do not cultivate capsicum in the soil which is previously used for the cultivation of potato, tomato and brinjal. 

If you haven’t purchased certified treated seeds then treat the seeds with Captan 50 WP @ 2 gram per Kilogram before sowing.

If you see any symptoms of Damping-off then apply Captan 0.2% solution as a spot application.

3. Wilt Disease

After transplantation of Bell pepper plants, this disease can cause headache for gardeners and agriculturists. They are mostly caused due to fungal attack. Causal organism is Fusarium oxysporum. 

In this disease leaves of the plant get highly affected and then the plant dies. While transplanting, take care that the roots of plants do not get damaged. 

Damaged or injured roots become more prone to this disease as it is caused by soil-borne pathogens. 

Management

Avoid selecting weak seedlings for transplantation, select healthy bell pepper seedlings.

Prevent excess to low moisture in the soil and take care of the drainage. Drainage should be well maintained.

If you see symptoms of this disease like falling leaves from the plants a few days after transplantation then apply 0.3% blitox solution around the affected plant in the soil.

4. Alternaria Blight

If you observe concentric rings on leaves of your capsicum plant then it is the symptom of Alternaria Blight disease. It is a fungal disease caused by Alternaria solani.

It increases with time and spreads if not treated. 

5. Die Back

This disease generally occurs during the flowering stage of the Bell pepper plant and causes flower drop. It is caused by Colletotrichum capsici a fungus.

Dark brown to black band area is observed near to the base of the plant.

Management

To prevent Alternaria Blight and Dieback disease use certified Bell pepper seeds. Prevent conditions around the plant that can harbor fungus.

To prevent Alternaria you can apply Chlorothalonil 72 WP  (Kavach) as a foliar spray soon as you see flowering in the plants. 

To prevent or control dieback disease in capsicum plant spray Ziram 0.25%. If you want to increase the yield too then apply copper oxychloride 0.25%.

6. Sunscald

The appearance of white patches in the Bell pepper fruit in hot weather is the symptom of this disease. This, later on, turn into a leathery soft mass of black color which is powdery in appearance. 

This is caused due to excessive heat and high-intensity sunlight on plants. Fungus growth happens in fruits.

7. Bacterial Leaf Spot

Dark lesions on leaves are seen because of this disease. High temperature and humidity harbors the bacteria. Later on if not controlled then these lesions start appearing on the capsicum fruits which damages fruit value.

8. Blossom End Rot

This disease is caused due to deficiency of calcium in the plant. Capsicum Fruit starts decaying from the blossom end and becomes non-marketable.

Management

You can spray Calcium nitrate @ 3gram per liter twice. The second application should be applied after 15 days from the first application. 

Manage proper drainage in the pot or field to prevent this disease.

Conclusion
I hope you understood all the points discussed in my article on “Disease Management Of Bell Pepper.” You can comment below or can contact me for any queries.

If you are facing any of these diseases then try the points given in my article and tell me your results.

Aditya Abhishek has completed Bachelor Of Science in Agriculture from SDSUV, Uttarakhand. He focuses on learning and delivering knowledge on Agriculture and Home Gardening. He created Agriculture Review as a common platform for all nature enthusiast to learn better practices of agriculture, gardening & shop quality products & services.

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