twisting leaves

[scarfguy]

This little phenomenon has been driving me nuts. I've searched the internet for any discussion and I can't find anything...

I'm not talking about the common condition of pepper leaves curling up. We have all had that problem from time to time.  I think all of my peppers have had some curling leaves at one point or another.

I'm talking about the leaf twisting at the stem. This morning I woke up to find a 6" seedling with the bottom two leaves twisted 90 degrees.   Later in the afternoon, I had another look and they had returned to their normal orientation.  It always occurs on the lower mature leaves and sometimes they return to "up-side-up" and other times they stay sideways or even up-side-down.

Anybody else have this issue?

[lynnee]

scarfguy, do you have a light source that the leaves might be seeking? Or could you have a draft that the leaves are avoiding?

My chief experience with twisting leaves came when I rearranged a cucumber vine so that it would go around a Bounty trellis. When I finished, several large leaves were upside down. The next morning, they were all right-side up, aimed at the light.

Upside-down leaves photo:

aerogardenaddicts.com/post/54580/thread

Scroll down a post or so to see the plant's quick response.

[scarfguy]

Well, yes, I have both conditions. Sunlight comes in the window in the early morning.  I try to give the plants a little sunlight when possible but I monitor the temperature at the deck and close the drapes when it exceeds about 80 degrees.  I also have an air conditioner vent right above the plant which could be causing a draft of cold air.

BUT... I've seen this phenomenon, on and off, for quite awhile with various pepper plants, winter or summer.