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Bhut Jolokia flowers produce no pollen

F

firemouth

I have a question about my Bhut Jolokia peppers. I have acquired 2 mature plants about 2 months ago. one of them was flowering when i got it and the
2nd was flowering as well as had a couple peppers starting to form. in the two months that i have had them, they have both been flowering nonstop
and the flowers just drop after they are open for a few days to a week. i have tried pollinating them numerous times and what i have noticed is there is no pollen in the flowers. i have tried rubbing them on black paper at different times of day and get absolutely no pollen
the only factor that has been different from the greenhouse I got them from is the humidity level. they were in about 60% humidity and now they are in about 30%.
here are my conditions... they are under a 600 watt hps light. the temp is right at 83 degrees. i fertilize them with Pure Blend Pro Bloom and occasionally use a little epsom salts.
i also have started using superthrive in the water. i usually let the soil dry out pretty good before i water. let me know if any other info is needed.
 
If they are looking super healthly I sugest no chem. ferts for awhile that might snap them in production mode. If they are not getting the right light (they'll look sick and leggy) this might be the problem. If you can place them near a window with good light that could help. The heat sounds right but I would start by giving them some sun and no ferts.
 
i agree with Robby. stay off any ferts if your plant looks healthy. same happening to my habanero plant lots of flowers but no pods yet.(due to high nitrogen fert) be patient
 
i have not tried calmag yet, just epsom salts.
as for the light, is a 600 watt HPS not enough for these 2 plants? theres not much sun here in ohio right now and im sure they would be getting way more light under my light than in my window. i could try placing them closer if you think that would help. they are about 20" away right now. i will cut off my ferts and flush them next time i water. also could you explain the aspirin? i agree though it cant hurt, what dosage should i try?
thanks for all of the quick responses. here is a pic of the plant that is dropping flowers. sorry for the pic, its under the hps. I will post a better under normal light as soon as i get a chance.
 
Aspirin is said to induce the plant into a state of self defence, i have never tried it myself though. One tablet crushed into a couple of litres maybe im not sur but i think it woukd be hard to overdose them on it.
 
just crush an aspirin tablet and mix it into 250ml and spray your plants with it.

Im living in Malaysia, and sterile flowers (flowers with no pollen) is normal for the first week or so. Might i suggest patience, if thats the case?
 
Ya, have patience and hold off on the fertilizers. Chiles actually don't need a lot of nutrients, and they don't go through bloom cycles where they need special flowering formulas. Less is often better
 
Thankyou everyone for all of the advice!! I think you are all on to something with the fertilizer as from what you all say I believe I have been wayyy over ferting them. I will also do a foliar spray with the aspirin.
Kyle
 
Flower drop probable causes:

1. Day temp too high >95F
2. Night temp too low <65F
3. Too much nitrogen fertilizer
4. Too much water
5. Low light levels (reduces fertility).
6. Very low humidity (reduces fertility)
7. Poor air circulation (air circulation contributes to pollination).
8. Lack of pollinating insects.
9. Size of pot
10. Too much mineral in feedwater.
11. Too much grower attention.
 
I'm actuall having the exact same problem with a Naga plant in DWC bucket. Been flowering for over a month and just dropping them off.

Tried lowering the N to almost none about a week ago... still no change. I've grown many pepper plants indoors, and have hand pollinated many, but like the original poster mentioned... this plant is not producing ANY pollen that I can see.

Here's an article that I read the other nite, as I suspect that low humidity may have something to do with it (all other factors seem dialed in);

Humidity and VPD

Original poster also mentioned that his humidity was lower than normal. I have mine in around 26 C with RH around 45 - 50%.

I'm misting plant daily now, with fingers crossed... and looking into getting a humidifier.

Will update here, if this helps(or not).
 
ok after some trial and error i have built a small humidity tent for one of my plants to see if this was the problem and after being in there for a week or so this plant is now producing a good amount of pollen. thanks for all of the help everyone.
 
Wow... I had a sneaking suspicion that humidity may be the culprit with mine as well! :think: I've had the same problem in the past with a fatalii plant indoors.

My naga plant is still dropping flowers, after daily misting. I'm picking up a humidifier tomorrow. If this truly is the answer to the "indoor chinense flower drop mystery", this will be huge, as I've read dozens of these questions on various webpages online, with no real solution, other than for those that are over doing it, with the nitrogen. This is another major issue with chinenses >> nitrogen sensitivity at bloom stage.

Other varieties are much less fickle. I've grown dozens of chile varieties indoors, and the only ones that seem to drop flowers like this are the chinenses. I hope we've solved this mystery... I'm not giving up on mine yet. Heck, at this point, I don't even care about the pepper harvest near as much as solving this mystery!

Good luck with yours... please keep us posted on the results!

KJ
 
of my 2 plants one is in a humidity tent and one is not. the one in the tent now has 7 small peppers on it!!!! the one out of the tent does not even have any flowers anymore. i think the 25% humidity is really taking a toll on the plant. humidity has 100% been the cause of my flower drop/ no pollen production. in the tent the air is at 60% RH.



Jambo said:
Wow... I had a sneaking suspicion that humidity may be the culprit with mine as well! :think: I've had the same problem in the past with a fatalii plant indoors.

My naga plant is still dropping flowers, after daily misting. I'm picking up a humidifier tomorrow. If this truly is the answer to the "indoor chinense flower drop mystery", this will be huge, as I've read dozens of these questions on various webpages online, with no real solution, other than for those that are over doing it, with the nitrogen. This is another major issue with chinenses >> nitrogen sensitivity at bloom stage.

Other varieties are much less fickle. I've grown dozens of chile varieties indoors, and the only ones that seem to drop flowers like this are the chinenses. I hope we've solved this mystery... I'm not giving up on mine yet. Heck, at this point, I don't even care about the pepper harvest near as much as solving this mystery!

Good luck with yours... please keep us posted on the results!

KJ
Click to expand...
 
HI folks,

First time post here.

I am having the same problem with my Naga's not producing pollen. My EC is <600 and the PH is <6 and the flowers look great but they are not producing pollen. I switched over to HPS (450 watt) about a week ago hoping to see more bud's and flowers and that has seemed to help with flower production. BTW I have not experience blossom drop.

I read on this thread that someone used a humidity tent to correct the problem, any idea on how to make one?

Thanks
 
I'm growing some superhots indoors with just window light and have noticed extremely low pollen production for chinense varieties. The annum however rain pollen...
What I've had to do is pick a few flowers off the desired plant and crush the stamen with the back of my thumbnail to release the tiny bit of pollen and then use that to pollenate the flowers if I want pure seed.
If you want pods and don't care about the seed purity, then just collect a ton of annum pollen and pollenate your superhots.
 
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