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Encouraging fruiting

Hmm Boags

Hmm Boags

Afternoon all. It's been a while since my last post as nothing at all seems to have happened with my plants. I've had a few fruit so far but lots of plants dropping flower.

I've read that in order to encourage more flower production you should harvest fruit as soon as it's ready. It this true? Also what's going on with some of my plants dropping their flower as soon as they pollinate?

Any help welcome.
 
Hey Boags, what kind of pepper is it that's dropping flowers? Some peppers are more sensitive than others. I have found the Bhut Jolokia to be very sensitive, it will drop flowers in a heartbeat whereas some of my baccatuums wouldn't drop flowers if you took a blow torch to them.
 
Pam said:
Not unless the pot doesn't drain properly.
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The way I see it, bigger pot mean more soil which means more water needed and less % of evapotation/transpiration, and less frequent feeding means less available nutrients and oxygen for the roots.
 
POTAWIE said:
The way I see it, bigger pot mean more soil which means more water needed and less % of evapotation/transpiration, and less frequent feeding means less available nutrients and oxygen for the roots.
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The extra soil in the pot just acts as a reservoir. Same amount of water goes through the plant, it just doesn't need to be refreshed as often. Besides,transpiration rate is largely determined by what's going on above ground, not what's below.
 
I don't see it that way. I believe refreshing water(and air and nutrients) more often will make a much stronger plant, and plants in oversized pots usually don't need a reservoir of what will likely become oxygen poor water.
 
POTAWIE said:
The way I see it, bigger pot mean more soil which means more water needed and less % of evapotation/transpiration, and less frequent feeding means less available nutrients and oxygen for the roots.
Click to expand...

Potawie,

Sort of makes sense but transfer the thoughts to a garden or field. The "pot" is nearly infinitive in size, at least the depth. If the plants are in 36" rows, it is hardly necessary to deeply water part of the space between rows and stupid to add fertilizer in the middle.

As far as feeding, we distributed fertilizer in the spring, adding a tiny bit when the plant was transplanted and after 4-5 weeks, applied ammonia nitrate about 3" from each side of the plant. That was it - no more fert the rest of the year. But in decent years we had a great pounds per acre return.

Mike
 
All of these thoughts are good, but I was leaning more in the direction of the plants getting rootbound in smaller pots...my contest nagas that were started last Jan 1 went from the starter tray to a 3" container to a 6" container to a 5 gallon pot and were totally rootbound in July. I mean totally rootbound...I picked one up by the stem before watering one day and the pot slipped off...nothing but a solid mass of roots in the pot. IMO They needed another transplant to be good producers in Sept-Nov...
 
I've never grown much tobacco but with peppers in a field I'm forced to work with what I have, but in a pot I'm able to control more variables and improve on nature.
Transfer your thought to a good hydroponics sytem where oxygen and nutrients are constantly delivered. I like to baby my plants with well-oxygenated water and this oxygen will not last long in big pot or garden and this is where people can run into root-rot problems. I've done lots of experimenting, and I like to encourage quick drainage so as to provide more frequent waterings therefore more oxygen, and therefore bigger, better plants

Edit: AJ, I think we are still talking about pots that are "too big", not repotting rootbound plants
 
POTAWIE said:
Edit: AJ, I think we are still talking about pots that are "too big", not repotting rootbound plants
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OK...:lol:

POTAWIE said:
I've never grown much tobacco but with peppers in a field I'm forced to work with what I have, but in a pot I'm able to control more variables and improve on nature.
Transfer your thought to a good hydroponics sytem where oxygen and nutrients are constantly delivered. I like to baby my plants with well-oxygenated water and this oxygen will not last long in big pot or garden and this is where people can run into root-rot problems. I've done lots of experimenting, and I like to encourage quick drainage so as to provide more frequent waterings therefore more oxygen, and therefore bigger, better plants
Click to expand...

I can see your point and I suppose I did this without thinking, 'cause my plants got nutrients at least once a week this past season...before plantout, they got nutrients every watering...
 
Pam said:
Hey Boags, what kind of pepper is it that's dropping flowers? Some peppers are more sensitive than others. I have found the Bhut Jolokia to be very sensitive, it will drop flowers in a heartbeat whereas some of my baccatuums wouldn't drop flowers if you took a blow torch to them.
Click to expand...

It seem to be the Tasmania Hab that is most sensative. It's also in the biggest pot by a long way so could be some truth in the pot size argument.
 
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