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Some garden photos + problem

B

BobsYourUncle

I planted my trinidad scorpions out in the garden today, and thought I'd take a few photos while I was at it. Here's a selection (I'll post URLs, since the pictures are between 200-600KB):

One of the 5 scorpions, still only small...
http://members.optusnet.com.au/bobsyouruncle27/trinscorp.jpg

A very healthy looking dorset naga. I don't think this photo does it justice, it looks really happy.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/bobsyouruncle27/dorsnaga.jpg

My baby serrano tree - it got pretty tall pretty fast, and is now starting to shoot out on all sides.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/bobsyouruncle27/serrano.jpg

My first pod of the season, a very early hot wax.
http://members.optusnet.com.au/bobsyouruncle27/hotwax.jpg

And finally, a problem I'm having with quite a few plants that are in pots instead of the garden bed. Yellowing, upwards-curling leaves, and while they are getting some new growth, it's slow. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong with these, but I hope they can be saved... (I think this is a naga of some sort)
http://members.optusnet.com.au/bobsyouruncle27/unhealthy.jpg
 
Looks like it could be a micro-nutrient deficiency, like sulfur, maybe. Are you fertilizing them, and if you are, what are you using? People laugh at me, but when I plant out, I do the old fashioned thing and put a match and a pinch of Epsom salts in the hole.

You might also check for thrips. Leaves do roll up like a boat with them, but that would have to be a whopping case.
 
Too much water? or a magnesium defiecency -- I say that becuase it, magnesium, is leached and not replaced where as Sulfur is a more rare scenario.

Just throwing it out for discussion
 
LUCKYDOG said:
Too much water? or a magnesium defiecency -- I say that becuase it, magnesium, is leached and not replaced where as Sulfur is a more rare scenario.

Just throwing it out for discussion
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Yeah, but you don't get the leaves curling with magnesium deficiency. Of course, it could be more than one deficiency we're seeing, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to water in a sprinkle of Epsom salts around the affected plants.
 
BobsYourUncle said:
I fertilize them occasionally, with a seaweed based fertilizer. Should I try something else? If so, what? I'm no green thumb...
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Just to make sure it's not a nutritional deficiency, you might want to find a complete fertilizer, one that has all the micro and macro nutrients to give the plants a boost. I don't know any brand names of fertilizers in Australia, but this is one of the few times a quick sip of Miracle Grow would do a pepper plant some good. (Shut up, chileman64!) It's not the kind of thing you want to use all season, but if this is a nutritional deficiency, you'll be able to see rapid improvement and know that's what was wrong.

Maybe Bent or chileman64 could suggest some brands, or you can read the label and see if it lists things like sulfur, iron, zinc, etc. as well as the usual nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.

I would also check very carefully for the thrips, or are you lucky enough down under not to suffer that particular plague?
 
LUCKYDOG said:
I agree that it maybe more than one nutrient problem however, That soil looks awefully wet as well.
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I am not BobsYourUncle, nor do I play him on the web; but I was thinking that he had just watered it in since he was talking about putting his plants out in the garden.
 
You sure you're not me Pam? Yeah I had just watered. I'll have a look for some fertilizer similar to what you suggested, give that a try, see if it helps. That could be the problem, as it's only affecting the plants that are in pots, the ones in the garden bed (different soil) are doing quite well.
 
Pam said:
Just to make sure it's not a nutritional deficiency, you might want to find a complete fertilizer, one that has all the micro and macro nutrients to give the plants a boost. I don't know any brand names of fertilizers in Australia, but this is one of the few times a quick sip of Miracle Grow would do a pepper plant some good. (Shut up, chileman64!) It's not the kind of thing you want to use all season, but if this is a nutritional deficiency, you'll be able to see rapid improvement and know that's what was wrong.

Maybe Bent or chileman64 could suggest some brands, or you can read the label and see if it lists things like sulfur, iron, zinc, etc. as well as the usual nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.

I would also check very carefully for the thrips, or are you lucky enough down under not to suffer that particular plague?
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come on Pam, at least spell my name right :rolleyes:

virtually any good fertiliser should be ok as most have all the micronutrients needed. I do use Epsom salts too Pam and find it to be beneficial for fruit setting - it also 'greens' up the foliage very nicely.

Bobs - I use a little Nitrosol and/or seaweed liquid feed fortnightly-ish when the plants are young uns, then, Phostrogen once the flowers have appeared, it's a tomato food, 1ts per watering can every fortnight or there abouts with the occasional seaweed liquid feed. I got the Phostrogen from Bunnings, it's in an orange box about the size of a box of Epsom Salts.
 
chilliman64 said:
come on Pam, at least spell my name right :cool:
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Hey, I was on hold with a service tech, and had to type fast.

Besides, if you hadn't been lollygagging about, slurping beer and hot sauce, I wouldn't have had to step in and help out one of your countrymen.

So, there.
 
Hey bob is that tree bark I see on the ground? I put my bets on nitrogen deficiency. Most bio-wood materials will soak up nitrogen, unless it’s broken down all the way. I would recommend another kind of mulch, like lawn mower grass clippings.


Benefits from using grass clippings for mulch

1 will keep the soil warm
2 will keep the soil wet
3 will decompose by the end of the season
4 and provide nitrates

We use grass clippings on giant pumpkins, gardens, flowers, anything outside.

Works Great!

Noticed your other plants dont have as much tree bark around them, this may be a clue.
 
scarecrow said:
Hey bob is that tree bark I see on the ground? I put my bets on nitrogen deficiency. Most bio-wood materials will soak up nitrogen, unless it’s broken down all the way. I would recommend another kind of mulch, like lawn mower grass clippings.
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I use pine bark mulch all the time and I don't have nitrogen deficiency problems.
 
Pam said:
I use pine bark mulch all the time and I don't have nitrogen deficiency problems.
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Do you use fully composted pine bark, or big chunks of it not fully decomposed?

I will quote some stuff from this site.

http://www.cliviasociety.org/growing_media.php

"An inadequately composted pine bark will still be a bit reddish, will often smell of pine and will still get hot when in a pile. Plants grow poorly in inadequately composted pine bark media. "

Any bio media that’s not decomposed properly can harm your plants.
 
heres another, great resource.

http://cmg.colostate.edu/gardennotes/216.pdf
check it out talks about grass clippings to..

"When placed on the soil surface as a mulch, wood/bark chips do not tie-up soil nitrogen. However, incorporating wood/bark chips into a soil can create a nitrogen deficiency due to a carbon-to-nitrogen imbalance, and can interfere with seedbed preparation. It takes ten or more years for chips to decompose in a typical soil. The use of fine chips or sawdust as a mulch can tie-up soil nitrogen and can decrease soil oxygen levels. Wood/bark chips are not recommended in vegetable or annual flowerbeds where the soil is routinely cultivated to prepare a seedbed."


BUT...... dont get me wrong there are certain kinds of tree bark that are ok for peppers..
 
scarecrow said:
Do you use fully composted pine bark, or big chunks of it not fully decomposed?
Click to expand...

No, I don't use fully composted pine bark. I've been using it for years, and I don't have nitrogen deficiency problems. The previous year's mulch gets tilled in during the winter every year.


I will quote some stuff from this site.
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Ha! You're teaching your grandmother to suck eggs.
 
Pam said:
No, I don't use fully composted pine bark. I've been using it for years, and I don't have nitrogen deficiency problems. The previous year's mulch gets tilled in during the winter every year.
Click to expand...

Pam said:
Ha! You're teaching your grandmother to suck eggs.
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ooooooook. Lol you must be a very stubborn kind of person.

To be quite honest your know it all attitude really bothers me.

FYI you can learn allot from others, as long as you don’t believe you know it all already.
 
scarecrow said:
ooooooook. Lol you must be a very stubborn kind of person.

To be quite honest your know it all attitude really bothers me.

FYI you can learn allot from others, as long as you don’t believe you know it all already.
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I think you misread a lot of my posts, then. I ask questions and have learned a lot here. Sometimes I make mistakes, and I am quickly corrected by others. I'm a gardening geek, though, and I know a great deal about the subject,from experience, hanging out with genteel Southern gardeners, and reading. And I stopped playing dumb around men when I was about 15.
 
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