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A little worried ... Need a experienced eye

Man I'm a little worried, as I've shared I have my plants in rapid rooter style plugs now going on five weeks trying to get them to last til Friday when I finally have the time to pot up. They look overall healthy but they are lime green to yellow, showing signs of cal deficency and shone have the purple tint on their leaves. I just switched from 4100k bulbs to 6500k bulbs ( WOW BTW!! ). I keep the lights about 3 inches from the tops and have been giving them a very dilute mix of nutes such as 10/1 or 10/2 both Pro mix and Calmag mixed in a condiment bottle giving the cubes a good squirt. Doing this to keep em living but am wondering of its too much. I have 2 days to go then each will get its own pot. I keep them a little bit wetter than I should buy am trying to let them dry more. Will they snap out of this once potted? Am I giving too much nuts for this size ? Are they too close to the lights? Here are some pics. Here's tray 3 the biggest ones and the worse looking

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Here's the others

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I am new to growing this kind of volume under lights should I back it off flush em out or what. I just gotta get to Friday
 
+1 to Capsicum...looks like some sort of deficiency or nute lockout to me. Mixed with maybe a little over watering but I don't think that is their real issue. A good potting mix with good nutes should help them out. I am assuming t8 bulbs? 3" should be good on that too. I have switched to a soil with all the nutes the plants need for a while in it. Takes the guesswork out of trying to figure out what they need. I also mist with epsom weekly and mine are kicking.
 
might be nitrogen deficient as well as calcium deficient . I got so scared of over fertilizing my young plants that I let them get nitrogen deficient. I started feeding my seedlings at 1/5 of the recommended dosage on the bottle as soon as they have 2 sets of leaves and they greened right up. Maybe up the dosage of Cal-mag as well. Try it out on a few first to see if it helps, you should see results overnight if it is a deficiency issue.
 
might be nitrogen deficient as well as calcium deficient . I got so scared of over fertilizing my young plants that I let them get nitrogen deficient. I started feeding my seedlings at 1/5 of the recommended dosage on the bottle as soon as they have 2 sets of leaves and they greened right up. Maybe up the dosage of Cal-mag as well. Try it out on a few first to see if it helps, you should see results overnight if it is a deficiency issue.

Think I should go put some water in the trays with some nutes? Or just let em ride it out for 2 days?

Put them in some good potting mix.

Will they wait 2 days?
 
I'm sure they won't be dead in 2 days...but the sooner you get them what they need the better. I'd go ahead and feed, but be careful not to overdo it. Under feeding makes them sick...over feeding fries them! Post the recovery pics once you get it figured out! I struggled with soil for a while trying new things, but once I got them in the good stuff they finally snapped out of their funk...yours will too.
 
I'd hate for you to fry them, so I would just mix a slightly stronger fertilizer than you used previously. As long as you keep them watered they will survive. The only thing I would be concerned about is possible transplant shock. When plants are unhealthy they respond worse to the stress of transplanting.

Just make sure your potting mix is balanced, or your fertilizer is balanced once you transplant. With a larger volume of growing medium, you are far less likely to fry them by over feeding, either with a soil mix or frets.
 
The problem is most likely that the plant can't take up nutrients effectively because of over watering and/or being root bound. There's no way that the medium is lacking in nutrients if you've been feeding them dilute nutrient solutions and CalMag. Pepper plants that size need very few nutrients. I have seedlings several times that size that have received absolutely nothing other than the tiny bit of nutrients in the seed starting mix and they aren't showing any deficiency symptoms. Adding more CalMag or fertilizer is not going to help, and if anything will probably hurt. Those plants don't look that bad and will not be dead in 2 days. Just relax, pot them up in a couple days and take it easy on the watering. Dumping more fertilizer in there isn't going to help.
 
I'm sure they won't be dead in 2 days...but the sooner you get them what they need the better. I'd go ahead and feed, but be careful not to overdo it. Under feeding makes them sick...over feeding fries them! Post the recovery pics once you get it figured out! I struggled with soil for a while trying new things, but once I got them in the good stuff they finally snapped out of their funk...yours will too.

I just went up and mixed 1.5 part Calmag, 1 part Pro Grow and 5 parts water hope it doesn't hurt em .. think that's too much .. I had just squirted them earlier with a 1/10 mix. These cubes are 1x1 1/2 hard to keep balanced.

I'd hate for you to fry them, so I would just mix a slightly stronger fertilizer than you used previously. As long as you keep them watered they will survive. The only thing I would be concerned about is possible transplant shock. When plants are unhealthy they respond worse to the stress of transplanting.

Just make sure your potting mix is balanced, or your fertilizer is balanced once you transplant. With a larger volume of growing medium, you are far less likely to fry them by over feeding, either with a soil mix or frets.

Gonna pot em into 50/50 Happy Frog and Ocean Forest 10% Big Chunk Perlite and a little extra Oyster Shell

The problem is most likely that the plant can't take up nutrients effectively because of over watering and/or being root bound. There's no way that the medium is lacking in nutrients if you've been feeding them dilute nutrient solutions and CalMag. Pepper plants that size need very few nutrients. I have seedlings several times that size that have received absolutely nothing other than the tiny bit of nutrients in the seed starting mix and they aren't showing any deficiency symptoms. Adding more CalMag or fertilizer is not going to help, and if anything will probably hurt. Those plants don't look that bad and will not be dead in 2 days. Just relax, pot them up in a couple days and take it easy on the watering. Dumping more fertilizer in there isn't going to help.

Lol can you tell I'm freaking out just a bit. Ok I'll go back up and dump out what I just put in . Lol
 
Go back to the basics bro. Even if they are root bound and you just kept watering when needed, they would live for a long time. Just bc they yellow up a bit, you font need to freak. Calm down, (I know they are your babies lol. Its like when you have a 6 month old baby and it gets a cold and is crying with a fever...you about call the president to make them get well and you want them well now! Then you see the doctor and they are like...go home....lol) take a load off and just let them be. I mean in the winter time, you bring your plant in, machete its roots and cut it back to a shorty with some nubs on it.....and then give it a little bit of light and water...those bastigles survive like that the whole winter until you let em' go agsin. Its all good buddy we feel your anxiety..we've all been there. You know the prob. Is potting up, so your really trying to componsate for something you know you cant fix till friday...they will be all good. Relax and keep us updated.
 
I don't think transplant shock should be too bad because they are in plugs I can just lift em out and put em in the pot and full around them. I'm gonna leave the nute/water in the tray tonight but empty and flush tomorrow. This purple tint appearing on the leaves is getting more pronounced I've been told this is the light should I move it up. They are not T8's but rather T5's HO?

Go back to the basics bro. Even if they are root bound and you just kept watering when needed, they would live for a long time. Just bc they yellow up a bit, you font need to freak. Calm down, (I know they are your babies lol. Its like when you have a 6 month old baby and it gets a cold and is crying with a fever...you about call the president to make them get well and you want them well now! Then you see the doctor and they are like...go home....lol) take a load off and just let them be. I mean in the winter time, you bring your plant in, machete its roots and cut it back to a shorty with some nubs on it.....and then give it a little bit of light and water...those bastigles survive like that the whole winter until you let em' go agsin. Its all good buddy we feel your anxiety..we've all been there. You know the prob. Is potting up, so your really trying to componsate for something you know you cant fix till friday...they will be all good. Relax and keep us updated.

Yea lol hahahaha! Man you read my mail! Yea I'm a little freaked it's just that so much work goes into em just don't want to screw em up. How about this purple tint from the lights seems to have doubled since I replaced my T5HO 4100K with 6500K should I move em up if so how far they seem to be a bit more intense that the others
Dude you are one funny SOB!
 
I think the light is too intense for them and they are overwatered. I think the leaves can look like cal deficiency when trying to protect themselves from too much humidity, water and/or light. The leaves might be wrinkling from a combination of too much water and too much light intensity.

Edit: Every time I try to feed seedlings that size nutrients they always get burned. I suggest not doing that and back off on the watering and raise the light. Planting them in potting mix isn't a bad idea either.
 
Hey Robin, I use 4 4ft 4tube Hydrofarm HOT5 systems with only 6500k bulbs. I've had my starts 10inches away for their whole life.. 6500kbulbs are very intense as you've seen.. They need to be alot further away than the 4100ks. Hope that helps man. Good luck

Brandon
 
The anthocyanin buildup is a general response to stress and could be caused by a number of things, including phosphorus deficiency, not enough water, not enough oxygen for the roots (too much water), intense light, nitrogen deficiency, cold soil, pathogens, too saline soil, poor root development, etc. There's 50 some pages of information on anthocyanin accumulation in leaf tissue here if anyone is interested: https://www.google.c...3CCIxdA&cad=rja

I wouldn't try to read too much into it or worry about it too much. Raising the light an inch or two might not be a bad idea. If the purple tint isn't from the light it's probably from over watering or the plants being root bound, or possibly too much salt.
 
There anthocyanin buildup is a general response to stress and could be caused by a number of things, including phosphorus deficiency, not enough water, not enough oxygen for the roots (too much water), intense light, nitrogen deficiency, cold soil, pathogens, too saline soil, poor root development, etc. There's 50 some pages of information on anthocyanin accumulation in leaf tissue here if anyone is interested: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC4QFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsharepoint.cahnrs.wsu.edu%2Fblogs%2Furbanhort%2FMedia%2FBSA%2520chapter.pdf&ei=RHtpT62hH6XW0QHl2pWoCQ&usg=AFQjCNGEfEE-SbMGoKraPCSUyKP3CCIxdA&cad=rja

I wouldn't try to read too much into it or worry about it too much. Raising the light an inch or two might not be a bad idea. If the purple tint isn't from the light it's probably from over watering or the plants being root bound, or possibly too much salt.

I think it's from the light as it doubled once I got the 6500 bulbs thanks everyone for your input am a little stressed right not just got a zillion things going on in life and now these little ones are turning on me .. Raising the light only water from underneath with a dilute nutes and re- potting on Friday hope they hang on
 
All good advise...3" is way to close for those little guys with T5's. I think once they get into some good soil and you get the lights set up right they will start to look much better. Several folks that used those plugs have had issues this season. I wonder if they just aren't holding the nutes well, then you are just washing them away when you water them??? Don't stress is the best advice I've heard so far, they're looking pretty good. Leaf curl is slight and not on all of them, and the color doesn't look terrible either. Only other tidbit I got, that BC can attest to, is make sure you understand what nutes are in the potting soil that you get before you feed them again. I haven't been feeding at all and mine look great.

Shane
 
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