Buds not growing

johnnyfive

johnnyfive

Hello,
 
It's been a few weeks now that I've been noticing this behavior of my two Bhut Jolokia plants:
I see that lots of buds are trying to grow but quickly die (while still very small they look dried).
 
Conditions and tech:
- Growing inside a 80x80x180 tent
- HPS 250W (grow+flower lamp)
- Night temps around 23ºC, Day temps around 28-29ºC. HR between 40% and 50%
- I'm using an AutoPot watering system, so, lack of water isn't an issue
- 18/4 light cycle
- Fan that turns on every 30 minutes for 2 minutes (day)
- Upgraded to a cooltube reflector with extractor last week (the temps were +30ºC before) 
- Ventilation is good. (2 extractors, not always on though)
- Measured soil pH yesterday - 6.8
- Both plants (heavily) pruned
- Leaves look healthy
- A few flowers actually appeared a few weeks ago but they dropped
 
What am I missing? Can this be a disease? Help greatly appreciated :)
 
Cheers
 
Type of light is important for indoor growing. Blue light is more for foliage where more yellow helps with fruiting. Nutrients also play a factor in this as well.
 
Ralistin said:
Type of light is important for indoor growing. Blue light is more for foliage where more yellow helps with fruiting. Nutrients also play a factor in this as well.
Click to expand...
 
Sure. Forgot to tell one of the most important aspects:
I'm using a HPS 250W (grow+flower lamp)
 
All seems ok, maybe PH slightly lower. With that said it may be the soil or nutrients in it. Make sure soil isn't always wet. Peppers like their roots to dry out, even to the point when they barely start to wilt. What soil did you use?
 
What am I missing? Can this be a disease? Help greatly appreciated :)
Click to expand...
If you ask me on a Monday, I'd say YEEEEEEESSSS! If you ask me on a Tuesday, I'd say YEEEEEEESSSSSS!

I will answer this question through the medium of dance!


Love the Ray McCooney avatar - Little Britain aside, you should hit your plants with a liquid nutrient.
 
Peppers like their roots to dry out, even to the point when they barely start to wilt.
Click to expand...
Nope, oft propagated myth, totally unnecessary. As long as the proper air/water ratio is maintained in the root zone, they can be constantly wet. (as in the case of hydro, or sub-irrigated planters)

It has been raining heavily for weeks here. My plants are loaded. I was getting worried about deficiencies with all of the rain, so I dumped some Neptune's Harvest on my favorite babies. (wet soil and all) The plants I fed got an immediate kick, even though most of them have the crumple up nubs that the OP speaks of.

Put some quick acting liquid nutes on your plants, as soon as you get the PH confirmed.
 
Ralistin said:
All seems ok, maybe PH slightly lower. With that said it may be the soil or nutrients in it. Make sure soil isn't always wet. Peppers like their roots to dry out, even to the point when they barely start to wilt. What soil did you use?
Click to expand...
 
I'm using COMPO SANA Universal soil and I have a few of fertilizers at home:
 
Hy-Pro Terra 2-5-5 (most used)
Canna PK 13-14 (not using)
Siro Humus 7-2-18
 
It could be as simple as the flowers arent getting pollinated?  Do you have a fan in your growtent?  If not do you shake your plants to stimulate pollination? 
 
 
That would just be my thoughts as your setup seems ok to me, I am sure others will chime in.  Thats all I got
 
 
 
Regards
 
Buzzman19 said:
It could be as simple as the flowers arent getting pollinated?  Do you have a fan in your growtent?  If not do you shake your plants to stimulate pollination? 
 
 
That would just be my thoughts as your setup seems ok to me, I am sure others will chime in.  Thats all I got
 
 
 
Regards
Click to expand...
 
There are no flowers even :| The buds are having quite a difficult time to grow.
 
I guess I just need patience (and fertilizers ;P).
 
There are no flowers even :| The buds are having quite a difficult time to grow.
 
I guess I just need patience (and fertilizers ;P).
Click to expand...
Don't overdo it. If you don't see some sort of quick result (within a couple of days) at half strength, stop and rethink. Don't love your plants to death.
 
johnnyfive said:
Hello,
 
It's been a few weeks now that I've been noticing this behavior of my two Bhut Jolokia plants:
I see that lots of buds are trying to grow but quickly die (while still very small they look dried).
 
Conditions and tech:
- Growing inside a 80x80x180 tent
- HPS 250W (grow+flower lamp)
- Night temps around 23ºC, Day temps around 28-29ºC. HR between 40% and 50%
- I'm using an AutoPot watering system, so, lack of water isn't an issue
- 18/4 light cycle
- Fan that turns on every 30 minutes for 2 minutes (day)
- Upgraded to a cooltube reflector with extractor last week (the temps were +30ºC before) 
- Ventilation is good. (2 extractors, not always on though)
- Measured soil pH yesterday - 6.8
- Both plants (heavily) pruned
- Leaves look healthy
- A few flowers actually appeared a few weeks ago but they dropped
 
What am I missing? Can this be a disease? Help greatly appreciated :)
 
Cheers
Click to expand...
I have found that anytime ambient temps linger above 80F for a few days all my flowers drop. When they get to above 85F many of my leaves begin to drop and the plants go into a type of hibernation until things cool down. Doesn't help that humidity is 70% or worse.
Using my fuzzy math I'd say if you could keep temps below 26C you'd be golden.
23C = 73.4F
26.7C = 80F
29C = 84.2F
Best of luck.
 
Nice tip. 26ºC is the temperature I should aim during the day? What about night?
 
Hawaiianero said:
I have found that anytime ambient temps linger above 80F for a few days all my flowers drop. When they get to above 85F many of my leaves begin to drop and the plants go into a type of hibernation until things cool down. Doesn't help that humidity is 70% or worse.
Using my fuzzy math I'd say if you could keep temps below 26C you'd be golden.
23C = 73.4F
26.7C = 80F
29C = 84.2F
Best of luck.
Click to expand...
 
Here is a list of possible reasons for your flowers dropping. Posted by willard3 in a different post. 
Flower drop probable causes:
 
1. Day temp too high >95F
2. Night temp too low <65F or too high >85F
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/anxiety.
 
http://thehotpepper.com/topic/62323-flower-drop/
 
Looks like one of the plants reacted well to 2-5-5 fertilizer, although, the other one is struggling (I took a few photos of the later). 
I also reduced the day temperatures to ~26ºC (79 F) but still this plant is not growing much.
 
Besides the dried buds, I'm also sharing a few findings: white lines on main stem and damage on a few leaves (as if they're cut due to dried sections). 
 
Help is greatly appreciated, I'm not sure what else to do.
 
 
Dried buds:
img_57f134a0077c0.png

img_57f134a45161c.png

 
White lines in main stem:
img_57f134acb90f7.png

 
Leaf damage:
img_57f1349c8a957.png
 
I believe its the light. Your on an 18/4 light cycle meaning 18 hours on and 4 hours off?
 
HPS lights are wonderful and at times too wonderful. They can produce so much light that it forces the plant into hyper drive growth which will heighten any deficiencies in the plant. What I mean by that is the ratios of nutrients will always be slightly off from what the plant completely needs and will always have a limiting factor. Normally you will never see this because they normally don't grow so fast that it will make the limiting factor apparent. Chances are that you will reach the next scheduled fertilizing dose before it gets to that point. 
 
So in this case I would reduce the lighting schedule to 12 hours on and off and even try less than that at around 8 to 10 hours of lighting per day. This will reduce the nutrient requirements and give it an more even growth. 
 
 Also what is the humidity of the room? Perhaps its too dry for the flowers to maintain itself.
 
BurnTtongue said:
I believe its the light. Your on an 18/4 light cycle meaning 18 hours on and 4 hours off?
 
HPS lights are wonderful and at times too wonderful. They can produce so much light that it forces the plant into hyper drive growth which will heighten any deficiencies in the plant. What I mean by that is the ratios of nutrients will always be slightly off from what the plant completely needs and will always have a limiting factor. Normally you will never see this because they normally don't grow so fast that it will make the limiting factor apparent. Chances are that you will reach the next scheduled fertilizing dose before it gets to that point. 
 
So in this case I would reduce the lighting schedule to 12 hours on and off and even try less than that at around 8 to 10 hours of lighting per day. This will reduce the nutrient requirements and give it an more even growth. 
 
 Also what is the humidity of the room? Perhaps its too dry for the flowers to maintain itself.
Click to expand...
 
The humidity is around 40%. Night temps ~23ºC, day temp ~26ºC. This is a 250W HPS with good ventilation setup. Reducing to 12/12 seems a bit too drastic.
Maybe I should increase fertilization frequency?
 
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