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One of the most common issues when growing peppers is a discoloration of the leaves. One of the most popular questions we get is: Why are my pepper plants turning yellow? There are a few possible reasons for yellowing pepper plant leaves, and thankfully, it is usually fixable.
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In this article, I will share how to diagnose your plant’s issue, and how to solve the problem of yellowing pepper leaves!
So, why are my pepper plants turning yellow?
The most common cause of pepper leaves turning yellow is a nutrient deficiency, typically nitrogen. The lack of nutrition for the plant causes the leaves to lose their green color, usually starting at the base of the plant and moving upwards over time.
Another possible cause of pepper plants turning yellow is inconsistent watering. Over-watering can cause stress to your pepper plants, causing leaves to turn yellow, stunted growth, and lower pepper production.
Finally, extreme temperatures can cause pepper leaves to die and fall off, turning yellow in the process. This is especially common in colder weather below 50°F.
These issues can also cause yellow leaves on other plants, including tomatoes, eggplants, and many other garden veggies. Now, let’s go through the most common causes, how to diagnose, and how to treat each of them.
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1. Nitrogen Deficiency
Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for all vegetative plant growth. It is what helps grow big, strong plants with lots of healthy green leaves. Without enough nitrogen, your pepper plants will suffer in a number of ways. One of the first symptoms of this deficiency is yellowing leaves.
Do my peppers need nitrogen?
There is an easy way to know if your plant needs more nitrogen. The yellowing leaves will start at the bottom of your pepper plant, and move upwards over time. The reason for this is that nitrogen is a “mobile nutrient,” meaning that the plant can move nitrogen from one location to another.
When your plant is running low on nitrogen, it will begin to move the remaining supply from the older leaves upwards toward the newer growth. You will see that larger, older leaves at the bottom of the plant will turn yellow first.
Another sign that it is nitrogen and not another nutrient is that leaves will turn entirely yellow, including the leaf veins. If you notice the veins remaining green while the rest of the leaf is yellowing, it may be another nutrient to blame (likely magnesium or iron).
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Without treatment, the yellow leaves may fall off eventually, while the top leaves will remain green for longer. Learn more about nutrient deficiencies in plants here.
Symptoms:
- Yellowing leaves, starting at the bottom of the plant and moving up
- Leaves falling off
- Stunted plant growth
- Flowers falling off
How to add nitrogen
The easiest way to add nitrogen to your plants is to fertilize. Fertilizer is almost always necessary for an ideal pepper garden, especially in potted plants. With an active nutrient deficiency, I suggest using a liquid fertilizer to instantly feed your plants.
Generally, potted plants should be fertilized every 1-2 weeks, while in ground soil should be amended before planting with slow-release nutrients. I also like to side dress with slow release fertilizer 2-3 times during the season to promote continual growth all season long.
Starting a fertilizing regimen will undoubtedly help your plants grow stronger. However, leaves that have already turned yellow will not turn back to green. Focus on the new growth instead. Learn more about how we fertilize our pepper plants here.
2. Watering Stress
Watering peppers too much or too little can cause major stress to your plant. Water is an essential ingredient for your plant’s success, but getting the amount right is important.
With pepper plants, you want to water just enough to keep the soil moist, but not soaking wet. Whether you are growing in pots or in the ground, make sure there is good drainage. If all of the water is trapped around the root system, the roots can become water-logged and potentially develop rot.
Poor drainage causes an inability for your plants to access oxygen which can cause serious problems. This includes yellowing leaves, but can also lead to overall smaller plants and even death.
On the other hand, pepper plants don’t like to be completely dried out. If you notice that your leaves are wilting before every watering, you may want to start watering a bit more frequently. For example, peppers require significantly more water when the weather is hot.
Check on your peppers daily and feel the soil for moisture. If you are growing in pots, lift the pot to feel its weight. You will get a sense of how heavy a well-watered plant feels, and how a dried out plant feels. If it is feeling light, probably time to water!
Watering tip: It is much better to water deeply and infrequently than shallowly and often. Slow, deep, and infrequent watering encourages a larger, deeper root system that can access water deeper underground.
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You can also use a water meter like this one on Amazon. This device is affordable and tells you the approximate amount of water in your soil. It also measures pH levels (though how well it does this is debated).
Learn more about watering pepper plants in our dedicated article here.
3. Cold Weather and Dying Leaves
Another common cause of yellow pepper plant leaves is abnormally cold weather. Peppers originate from a warm, tropical climate. As the growing season comes to a close and fall is setting in, your plants may stress with the temperature changes.
If nighttime temperatures dip below 50°F, pepper leaves may begin to turn yellow and fall off. This is a natural response by the plant to enter a hibernation state. If temperatures drop below 40°F, you will see a significant drop in leaves, and below 32°F will kill most pepper plants.
If temperature is to blame, the yellow leaves will be randomly spread around the pepper plant with no particular locations more affected than others. This is one way to know it is temperature-related and not a nutrient deficiency.
4. Other Nutrient Deficiencies
While nitrogen is the most common deficiency, it is possible that your pepper plants are turning yellow because of another. Magnesium and calcium are both important plant nutrients that may be lacking.
Treating other deficiencies
I recommend using an all-purpose fertilizer that includes calcium and magnesium, especially for potted plants. For in-ground growth, get a soil test to know what may be missing in your soil, and whether the soil pH is in the optimal zone for pepper plant growth.
Pepper Leaves Yellow Even After Fertilizing
While nutrient deficiency is a common cause for yellowing pepper plant leaves, fertilizing may not appear to solve your problem. If you have determined that it is not caused by one of the issues listed above, what could be the problem?
One potential cause is that once leaves have turned yellow, fertilizer will not change them back to green. Fertilizing will help new growth remain healthy, but yellowed leaves will remain yellow. Another possible cause is water stress.
If you have been fertilizing since the beginning, and are still seeing yellow leaves, then your plants may have difficulty using the nutrients. Different fertilizers contain different types of nutrients. Some are water-soluble, while others are not.
If your soil’s pH is too acidic or overly alkaline, your pepper plants will not be able to use certain nutrients in the soil, even if they are present. Every few years, I send a soil sample away for a professional soil test. This tells us what is in our soil and how to amend it to reach ideal nutrient and pH levels.
I hope this article helps you diagnose why your pepper plants are turning yellow. Pepper plants will give you all sorts of warning signals when they are unhappy, and yellowing leaves is just another sign. Thankfully, there are easy solutions to this problem. Good luck!
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