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black prince stunted?

P

pepper joe

hello guys
this yr was my first time growing black prince peppers,i got my seeds nmci,
plants looks great no blemished leaves its ina 14" wide pot approx 4-5 gallon,
plants grows and flowers great ,but heres the BUT the peppers themselves are only 1/2"-3/4" they been that way for over 6 weeks now,from what i read the peppers should be 1"-1.25"
i use fish emultion every 3 weeks,also spray with epsom slat every 3-4 weeks, maybe not enough fert?

any suggesestions or ideas?

thanks and any advice is appcreciated
joe
 
All my Black Primce plants have pods in the 1/2" to 3/4" range. I believe that is the normal size. Do you have any red (ripe) pods yet?
 
pepper joe said:
hello guys
this yr was my first time growing black prince peppers,i got my seeds nmci,
plants looks great no blemished leaves its ina 14" wide pot approx 4-5 gallon,
plants grows and flowers great ,but heres the BUT the peppers themselves are only 1/2"-3/4" they been that way for over 6 weeks now,from what i read the peppers should be 1"-1.25"
i use fish emultion every 3 weeks,also spray with epsom slat every 3-4 weeks, maybe not enough fert?

any suggesestions or ideas?

thanks and any advice is appcreciated
joe
Click to expand...


Any pictures? "sometimes" the first wave of fruit can be somewhat smaller, fruit grows to a certain size, then ripens, try one , how is it?
 
no pics but ill take some,just another thought i have some fruit is completely round other shaped like a pepper tapered, now whats up with that?
im lost with with these peppers,LOL
 
Normal. My Black Princes have both shapes, too

If they are still black then there is a chance they will grow some more. Once they are red they are as large as they will get.

I just checked my plants, and there are some 1" long pods, but they're old, from the early summer, before the long heat wave started. In very hot weather all chile varieties tend to produce smaller pods. Has it been real hot where you are?
 
most of june and the better part of july was a scorcher mostly in 90's so i had alot of blossom drop at that time, was not until end of july and beggining of aug that all the pepper plants deceided to fruit
well i wait see what happens i figured i did or did not do something,
thanks
joe
 
Joe—Sounds like you are doing everything right. If you are patient and continue to give your plants the same care you have been giving them so far, and your growing season lasts at least a few more weeks, you should be rewarded with some really cool-looking plants. The bright red berries set against the velvety black leaves are one of the prettiest sites in my garden. This photo is from last year, earlier in the season, before many of the pods had ripened. I would estimate their length at around 3/8" to 1/2":

Black Prince 29Oct2010.jpg


Since this photo was taken I've learned from personal experience that these plants respond well to the fairly generous application of nitrogen—I use Liquid Miracle-Gro 12-4-8, 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. If you are already using fish emulsion, however, you probably are doing just right. The nitrogen seems to help make the leaves turn more black, and results in a much bushier plant.

I believe Black Prince was bred primarily to be an ornamental plant, especially considering how tenaciously the pods are attached, and the length of time it takes them to turn from black to red. As you said, they can remain black for over 6 weeks, which makes me think whoever bred them was selecting for that particular habit. At home I have 3 two-year-old plants in large containers, and they are quite attractive on the patio. The trunks have gotten very thick, around 2" in diameter at the base, and the tallest of them is over 6 feet in height. My wife even enjoys them, and she hates my other chile plants!
 
thanks i just did a fert the other night with miracle-gro, i think thats what i was doing for the rest not enough since my habs are sort of stuck also at the 3/4" size, i was busy not over fertilizing that i think i under fertilized, but i think everything will balance out in the next few weeks i should start to see alot of peppers either grow bigger or change colors
some how your peps look bigger then 1/2" close up with camera?
thanks again
 
For me—and very many growers in this community will emphatically disagree—it's better to err on the side of too much fertilizer. My individual plants definitely make more foliage and less fruit than many of those same growers, as you would expect. But I have no choice, because of a rather stubborn BLS problem in this garden. I offset the reduced production per plant by growing 6 to 18 plants of each variety. Thus the obnoxiously large, unmanageable garden, with the production of a normal garden 1/4 its size.

Sorry to sidetrack.

The camera was set on macro, in order to get the up-close sharpness. I think that probably makes the pods look larger-than-life. I did check my current Black Prince plants, and most of the pods are in the 1/2" to 3/4" range. There are a few 1" pods, but they are quite old and shriveled, which makes me think they're from the earlier, cooler days of late May or Early June.
 
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