Beginner. Need a bit of help.

[Elpicante]

HI you all, I'm a biginner as well and have to sadly report that I just killed 72 of my seedlings. How and why you ask? I got desperate. my lights when out so I went and put them out to get natural light. My intent was for no more than 30 minutes. You I live in Tucson and it was in the high 90 this weekend. I got tasked with a honey do list and forgot. Two hours later I came to see they were ALL dri d up and shrivel. Even the pots were bone dry. The prude to were a combination of peppers, "mixed bag" of super hots. Botttom line is it too late for me to start from ground zero e.i. Seedlings this season?
If I'm in the wrong area to post this let me know and please direct me to the correct forum

 

[msalah]

Is it an issue if im using RO water for the plants?

 

[Powelly]

Is it an issue if im using RO water for the plants?

 
No not at all
I actually did a lot of research on water for plants. RO water is fine. Chlorinated and chlorominated water are also actually fine too - the chlor(am)ine reacts with the soil on contact and will evaporate. 
 
Really I struggle to think of any water that would be bad for your plants however I'd avoid heavy metals and aluminium as much as possible

 

[lek]

I've never been able to do it but hats off to lek they are awesome looking plants

 
i will tell you the secret.   let your pepper plant wilt like this.

 

 

 
water everyday for 4 days and then stop watering for 3 days.  please note that this is double cup method. it will automatically prune the root.  then pepper plant will get more root hair.   if pepper plant has every long tap root then you do it wrong.
repeat this process every week.     
 
water from below when you see the root at the bottom of the cup.
 
 

I agree the plants look fantastic. My point is though, the OP needs to correct his H2O saturation and possible drainage problems 1st and foremost and when the time is appropriate transplant to a large container. I know of NO ONE on the forum that will strive to grow tree sized pepper plants out of a 3oz Dixie cup. It is just not practical. This year after 3 years of steady progression, I am going to grow my plants in 10 and 15 gal pots.

 
that's right. no one will grow tree sized plant in 3oz cup but 3 gallon will be large enough to grow any pepper plant.
 
 

 
I definitely have drainage holes at the bottom of the cups, 4-5 per cup. How would i know exactly if they are not sufficient and i need more?. Also just thought of something, i feel foolish for not realizing this sooner, the bottom of those cups have protruding rims that they stand on. These rims would surely block the water from escaping meaning the water would just pool under the cup and not drain out completely. This could lead to the symptoms i'v been seeing in my plants?

 
stop watering and let it wilt.  then you can water it throughly.    
 
 

The size of a plant is a function of its rootmass. You won't get much bigger plants out of a container that size, indoors, or out.

 
the word big is ambiguous. LOL         expert grower will focus on root hair.

 

[solid7]

i will tell you the secret.   let your pepper plant wilt like this.

 

 

 
water everyday for 4 days and then stop watering for 3 days.  please note that this is double cup method. it will automatically prune the root.  then pepper plant will get more root hair.   if pepper plant has every long tap root then you do it wrong.
repeat this process every week.     
 
water from below when you see the root at the bottom of the cup.
 
 
 
that's right. no one will grow tree sized plant in 3oz cup but 3 gallon will be large enough to grow any pepper plant.
 
 
 
stop watering and let it wilt.  then you can water it throughly.    
 
 
 
the word big is ambiguous. LOL         expert grower will focus on root hair.

Drying a plant out encourages it to seek moisture. No secret. You can even get a plant to grow faster, by not giving it deep waterings at the beginning of its life.
.
BUT... I repeat... Size is a function of rootmass. Your plant will limit its size quickly in small containers, and from that point, put on no more height or girth.
.
I have grown many smaller plants in smaller containers, just because I get them to produce faster, and they take up minimal space. But it is not my preferred method. The pain in the ass of having to water such plants so frequently, is not worth the effort for me.

 

[lek]

Drying a plant out encourages it to seek moisture. No secret. You can even get a plant to grow faster, by not giving it deep waterings at the beginning of its life.
.
BUT... I repeat... Size is a function of rootmass. Your plant will limit its size quickly in small containers, and from that point, put on no more height or girth.
.
I have grown many smaller plants in smaller containers, just because I get them to produce faster, and they take up minimal space. But it is not my preferred method. The pain in the ass of having to water such plants so frequently, is not worth the effort for me.

 
the secret is to automatically prune the root to get more root hair and let pepper plant does exercise.   it will be stronger than ever.  LOL 

 

[Powelly]

Thanks lek, I will try that in an experiment to see 
Currently I get shorter plants but lots of compact nodes