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health Any pruning experts here ?

alexxn

alexxn

Hello, I have some pruning questions on my Carolina Reaper plant. I'm thinking it wasn't done correctly at some point. The plant is a good 5 feet tall, it looks as though the section that split from the main trunk at the bottom is healthy, the rest is spotty. This is in South Florida, the plant gets full West exposure so lots of Sun. Soil is very sandy and I fertilize 5 or 6 times a Year. Should I trim back or something more drastic ?

Thank You in advance :)
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To me, this looks like a disease of some sort. In any case, it isn’t an issue with pruning. It would be hard to do pruning wrong, as it were; it’s a matter of judgement, knowing the growth you want and the cuts to make to get it, but getting it wrong would typically mean the growth doesn’t match what you wanted… not the plant developing chronic foliage issues.

The new growth at the bottom (and elsewhere, notice) looks better simply because it is young and not yet effected by the disease. How to deal with the disease is another matter, and hopefully others can help you there.
 
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thoroughburro said:
To me, this looks like a disease of some sort. In any case, it isn’t an issue with pruning. It would be hard to do pruning wrong, as it were; it’s a matter of judgement, knowing the growth you want and the cuts to make to get it, but getting it wrong would typically mean the growth doesn’t match what you wanted… not the plant developing chronic foliage issues.

The new growth at the bottom (and elsewhere, notice) looks better simply because it is young and not yet effected by the disease. How to deal with the disease is another matter, and hopefully others can help you there.
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Thank you, hopefully someone will chime in
 
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Last picture. Some leaves are yellow with green veins. This is a clear chlorosis caused by some deficiency. I suspect magnesium. Try watering them with an epsom salt solution (2 tsp/gallon). If it is indeed your problems your plant should green up in a day or two. It really heals very fast. If it does not help the problem is elsewhere. Iron deficiency causes similar symptoms but on new leaves.
 
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Gambleu said:
Last picture. Some leaves are yellow with green veins. This is a clear chlorosis caused by some deficiency. I suspect magnesium. Try watering them with an epsom salt solution (2 tsp/gallon). If it is indeed your problems your plant should green up in a day or two. It really heals very fast. If it does not help the problem is elsewhere. Iron deficiency causes similar symptoms but on new leaves.
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+ 1 on magnesium...

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Gambleu said:
Last picture. Some leaves are yellow with green veins. This is a clear chlorosis caused by some deficiency. I suspect magnesium. Try watering them with an epsom salt solution (2 tsp/gallon). If it is indeed your problems your plant should green up in a day or two. It really heals very fast. If it does not help the problem is elsewhere. Iron deficiency causes similar symptoms but on new leaves.
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No more yellow leaves with green veins, even some flower buds near the top.

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First go check the internets for what a calcium deficiency looks like. If you ran into magnesium deficiency you are likely to have calcium deficienccy at some point too ince those 2 elements behave very similarly in soil. If you happen to have calcium problems you can use calcium nitrate (used as a fertiliser) or calcium sulfate (plaster of paris/gyprock) to solve the problem. Same dosage as epsom salt for the first time. After that for both i would ad 1/4 tsp of salt every time you water. Dosage doesn't have to be precise but keep in mind too much will do far worse than not enough. I personally live very well with miracle gro every once in a while as long as your plants are healthy but others will say its scrap..... whatever you use keep in mind that too much is FAR worse than not enough.
 
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Gambleu said:
First go check the internets for what a calcium deficiency looks like. If you ran into magnesium deficiency you are likely to have calcium deficienccy at some point too ince those 2 elements behave very similarly in soil. If you happen to have calcium problems you can use calcium nitrate (used as a fertiliser) or calcium sulfate (plaster of paris/gyprock) to solve the problem. Same dosage as epsom salt for the first time. After that for both i would ad 1/4 tsp of salt every time you water. Dosage doesn't have to be precise but keep in mind too much will do far worse than not enough. I personally live very well with miracle gro every once in a while as long as your plants are healthy but others will say its scrap..... whatever you use keep in mind that too much is FAR worse than not enough.
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Very good information, I did find a couple of leaves shriveled so I’ll look at the calcium. I really don’t ever water as I live in South Florida and it also gets water from the sprinklers (well water). The irrigation definitely has iron (stains orange) but I’m wondering if I should get a soil sample sent out.
 
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A soil test is never a bad idea. But whatever your results are a great way to enhance your soil is RCW (ramial fragmented wood), also called BRF (bois raméal fragmenté). Basically its just green branches up to 3" diameter that has been chipped. You simply add a few inch of it on top of your soil as a mulch every year (maybe more often in florida since you don't have winter). It will decompose quite fast and create a living soil that is better in every ways, from water retention to aeration to fertility. It should also solve your deficiencies for good but may take a few years to be fully effective. Be warned though that at the beginning you may see a sharp increase in slugs population but eventually predators will chime in and keep them in check (this is normal you are creating an ecosystem it needs some time to balance itself). In the mean time slug baits made of iron phosphate are effective and non toxic to other animals so it is a good option until predators arrive.
 
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Gambleu said:
A soil test is never a bad idea. But whatever your results are a great way to enhance your soil is RCW (ramial fragmented wood), also called BRF (bois raméal fragmenté). Basically its just green branches up to 3" diameter that has been chipped. You simply add a few inch of it on top of your soil as a mulch every year (maybe more often in florida since you don't have winter). It will decompose quite fast and create a living soil that is better in every ways, from water retention to aeration to fertility. It should also solve your deficiencies for good but may take a few years to be fully effective. Be warned though that at the beginning you may see a sharp increase in slugs population but eventually predators will chime in and keep them in check (this is normal you are creating an ecosystem it needs some time to balance itself). In the mean time slug baits made of iron phosphate are effective and non toxic to other animals so it is a good option until predators arrive.
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Where do you get the RCW ?
 
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Well you can can simply trim your trees/hedges, pass all the trimmed branches in a chipper and there you go. You could also ask your city about the chipped wood they produce they may be using it or you could get some for free as it is sometimes just dumped. You ca also ask companie who trim trees/hedges. They often have to pay to get rid of their chippings as it is considered waste so they will be more than happy to dump a load in your yard as it will actually save them money. Be warned though that this option means that you will get A LOT of rcw wich can be a good or a bad thing depending on the surface you plan on treating. Rcw is great as a mulch in pretty much any garden and around fruit trees.
 
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Next best option would be a good dose of compost/composted manure. This will add organic matter to your soil. Problem with sandy soils is that everything gets leached out of it quickly. Organic matter will help retention of useful minerals (nutrients), it will also provide some on its own and also help water retention.
 
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Gambleu said:
Next best option would be a good dose of compost/composted manure. This will add organic matter to your soil. Problem with sandy soils is that everything gets leached out of it quickly. Organic matter will help retention of useful minerals (nutrients), it will also provide some on its own and also help water retention.
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Like a cow manure ?
 
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