Advice for my Bishops Crown

drathag

drathag

Hi All,
 
I'm currently growing a bishops crown and it was doing great. The plant is pretty big and plenty of flowers. My problems are;
 
- Only about half a dozen pods have set
- New growth is looking a bit stunted - curly leaves with pronounced veins. Colour is lighter than normal.
- All the leaves are looking a bit lighter in colour
 
It has been getting fed a half strength seaweed tonic one week (Seasol) and a half strength soluble fert the other week (Manutec Bloom Booster. N-P-K: 6.19 - 14.64 - 16.80 (Equiv. to roughly 1-7-6 for U.S. NPK)
 
I also noticed last night, that it seems to be getting potbound. I reckon I could pull the whole thing out and it would leave no medium in the pot. It is in about a 20L pot (approx 5 Gallons)
 
Now of course, we have had some pretty strange weather lately and it could just be that! I'm talking 30C one day, then 43C the next and then down to 24C and a torrential downpour a few days later - its a bit all over the place this year....
 
 
So here's my thoughts - 
 
- I should probably pot it up to a bigger pot or possibly prune its roots? I have no idea if root pruning is a done thing with chillis or not.
 
- Lighter coloured leaves and abnormal new growth - possible nitrogen deficiency? I haven't fed it any nitrogen since it started flowering and probably didn't give it much before then either. There is some nitrogen in the bloom booster but should I give it more?
 
Thanks in advance!
 
Hi, from Adelaide here also
 
Yeah the weather has been pretty messed up. That fertiliser has far too much phosphate in it also, plants don't need much at all
A bigger pot would definitely be ideal. Nitrogen probably won't do it any harm
 
I have some Nitrogen/Calcium/Magnesium that I can drop off to you if you're not too far out the way. I live in Port Adelaide and work in Payneham. Perhaps 10ml and it's 1ml/L so should last the rest of the season
 
Thanks mate, I'll stop using that fertiliser - I can't remember how I got into it in the first place!
 
I have a larger pot so I'll pot it up - I also have some Powerfeed for Veggies at home (NPK 14-1.4-8) so maybe i'll water in a 1/2 strength solution of that in too.
 
Would you recommend mixing in a bit of gypsum to the potting mix for calcium?
 
 
 
That fertilizer is ridiculously out of whack. Get more N than P or K for the entire plant lifecycle. As for the curled growth - it's most likely environmental stress coupled with a deficiency of some sort. (that is a common condition with sudden weather fluctuations) Get it on some good food, and it should snap out.
 
Thanks for the advice Powelly. Shes repotted with some room to move and watered in with some powerfeed. Heres some pics of the new growth and some of the discoloration. I'll update in a week or so
 
A3wRqvfl.jpg

 
OakeNKIl.jpg

 
 
 
 
drathag said:
This is what I'm planning on using;
http://www.seasol.com.au/documents/Product%20Analysis%20-%20Retail%20Powerfeed%20for%20Vegies%20-%20issued%20December%202016.pdf
 
It's done well for me with Tomatoes, Leeks and Cucumbers in the past so I should have just stuck with what I know... Ah well, lesson learnt and hopefully recoverable.
 
 
Click to expand...
I know nothing about this product but it looks to be quite high in nitrogen. I'm assuming that it's organic since it's a seaweed product? If that's the case I'd add some high phosphorus bat guano and some sort of potassium as a top dressing. Potassium sulfate should give it a boost as its a 0-0-50 but I would go really light as a top dressing like maybe just a half teaspoon for that one plant all together.
 
I would repot this pepper plant with good soil+worm casting and give it some amino acid, B-vitamins, humic acid and kelp extract. 
 
It's "organically based" (kelp/seaweed and fish) but not technically certified organic. Probably worth mentioning Australian NPK labeling is different to U.S. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labeling_of_fertilizer )  so 14-1.4-8 is around 14-3.2-9.6 in terms of US NPK.
 
I think I'll see how it adjusts over the next week or so since repotting and go from there. I do have some potassium sulphate so I could try that too at a later time if things need tweaking.
 
 
drathag said:
Thanks for the advice Powelly. Shes repotted with some room to move and watered in with some powerfeed. Heres some pics of the new growth and some of the discoloration. I'll update in a week or so
 
A3wRqvfl.jpg

 
 
Click to expand...
that new growth looks funky..looks like mites
that is more than an N deficiency.

could also be boron, zinc, molybdenum or Magnesium deficiency / a combination of those. all of which effect new growth like that 
 
Screen%2BShot%2B2015-12-15%2Bat%2B12.07.00%2BPM.jpg
 
True, but those charts rarely point people in the right direction. I've found them to often be, quite useless. For them to be accurate, we must first make the assumption that it is actually a SPECIFIC nutrient deficiency, as opposed to an OVERALL nutrient deficiency.
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That is the way plants also tend to look when the weather turns cold, and the ground cools down. It looks rather like dormancy.
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Yes, pests can do this. So can a host of environmental factors. I'm not trying to take anything away from you, but I think far too often, we rush straight into a diagnosis of a singular cause. The reason that I said it "might" be the early stages of nitrogen deficiency,is because when nutrient uptake is restricted, this is often the first visible nutrient deficiency - as it is one of the most mobile.
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Because the OP was using a low N fertilizer, I believe it to be imperative that he/she restore a proper nutrient feeding schedule, and see if the condition first shows improvement - and only then, move on to specific diagnosis.
 
Thanks for the advice everyone. 
 
From a purely troubleshooting perspective, I prefer to change a minimal amount of factors at a time and monitor for results - I work in IT and follow that method everyday.
 
As such, I'm going to monitor what happens after increasing pot size and getting back on a feeding schedule with the product I linked. I'll be doing half strength, weekly applications.
 
As for pests, I have not seen any around this year. I grew a bunch of cornflowers and calendula and it seems to have attracted a heap of hoverflies and lacewings that have kept things under control - this is the first year ever I have grown chillis and tomatoes and not been overwhelmed with whiteflies and thrips so I'm really happy with that result.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
I should have mentioned, that my real theory and looking at the greater issue would be that either the P or the K is locking out one of the trace elements mentioned in my previous post. So adding more of the what it is deficient in, is probably not the fix.
 
I would have to look up which nute interacts with which, im not sure off the top of my head, but I would hazard a guess that the excessive P or K in those ferts you have been using interacts with or "locks out" either Cu, Mg, B, or Mn.
 
 
 
drathag said:
Thanks for the advice everyone. 
 
From a purely troubleshooting perspective, I prefer to change a minimal amount of factors at a time and monitor for results - I work in IT and follow that method everyday.
Click to expand...
I work part of the time in IT, and the rest in Engineering. So, while I understand that thinking, be careful in how you apply it. This is not a case for troubleshooting - this is a case of getting back to a "known good configuration", as quickly as possible. If your plant doesn't recover fully, after selecting a better nutrient, then you troubleshoot. The worst thing you can do to a plant, is to give in to the urge to reactively correct singular issues, as a result of "real-time monitoring". This forum is littered with horror stories of people who spent all season diagnosing, and ran out of growing time.
 
nzchili said:
I should have mentioned, that my real theory and looking at the greater issue would be that either the P or the K is locking out one of the trace elements mentioned in my previous post. So adding more of the what it is deficient in, is probably not the fix.
 
I would have to look up which nute interacts with which, im not sure off the top of my head, but I would hazard a guess that the excessive P or K in those ferts you have been using interacts with or "locks out" either Cu, Mg, B, or Mn.
Click to expand...
Phosphorus excess lockout looks remarkably similar to Calcium excess lockout. (the latter of which, most likely happens almost never)
 
solid7 said:
this is a case of getting back to a "known good configuration", as quickly as possible. 
Click to expand...
 
That makes sense, will keep it in mind! Worst case scenario I have more seeds and will try again next year without using any funky ferts.
 
At least my Aji limons seem happy and have plenty of pods
 
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