Calita Red, Habenero.... Leaves turning over, not flowering.. much

dday

dday

Ok, so I got this habenero at a nursery. When I got it, there was some slight yellowing in the leaves but overall it looked good and had lots of buds.
 
I've had it about a month now, and it's showed recovery from the yellowing , and the green is really strong, new leave and height growth and so on.
 
At the beginning some of the buds opened up and produced flowers but I noticed that there has never been any pollen in them. A few produced pods, but then promptly yellowed and fell off.
 
The last week I've noticed that some of the leaves have started to turn over! It's crazy.
 
There is one active flower open, and like the others, it has no pollen in it.
 
Any tips from this awesome pepper forum?
IMG_0389_zps5e9b371b.jpg
IMG_0391_zps6e4847d2.jpg
IMG_0392_zps47a8c5fa.jpg
IMG_0393_zps44632ec1.jpg
IMG_0394_zpsccaa012e.jpg

 
This is a different plant who has also started to turn leaves. Now this one, I can understand. I topped it because it only ever produced 2 pods (huge ones) and I just cut them as they were ripe. Once I cut them, it was so tall and not much foliage so I topped it to let it regrow lower and flush out the bottom of the plant.
IMG_0395_zps85a9164c.jpg

 
Thanks!
 
 
 
How is your soil? Looks pretty dry so perhaps a water problem? Also I think you shouldn't worry too much, it may just be a thing plants do. I remember my plants leaves folded up down the middle once.
 
I've had leaves flipping like that before when there was a strong directional light source...but if you're outside that shouldn't be the case. For the pollen, most likely culprit is the temperature. Too high or too low, affects flower formation and pollen production.
 
Otherwise if the problems might be nutrient related, think other folks here are better qualified to answer than me.
 
Btw, sure your plants are habs? The leaves look more like annums (thin tapered shape, smoothed rather than ribbed texture, upward curvature of the sides). Plus I see a nice looking long pod in the back, although that might just be another variety you grow.
 
filmost said:
How is your soil? Looks pretty dry so perhaps a water problem? Also I think you shouldn't worry too much, it may just be a thing plants do. I remember my plants leaves folded up down the middle once.
Click to expand...
The soil is just dry on the top, if you dig down a CM it's nice and cozy moist, but not soaked.
 
 
 
plaisir8 said:
I've had leaves flipping like that before when there was a strong directional light source...but if you're outside that shouldn't be the case. For the pollen, most likely culprit is the temperature. Too high or too low, affects flower formation and pollen production.
 
Otherwise if the problems might be nutrient related, think other folks here are better qualified to answer than me.
 
Btw, sure your plants are habs? The leaves look more like annums (thin tapered shape, smoothed rather than ribbed texture, upward curvature of the sides). Plus I see a nice looking long pod in the back, although that might just be another variety you grow.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they are outside, the sun starts on the left and moves all the way around to the right, so not very solid directional. The Temperature has been really nice around 23-28c, and the soil is always nice and comfortable when I check it. Maybe it wants hotter! But it's not getting any hotter inside the greenhouse then it already is. On the really nice days I've been moving them out of the green house to get some nice airflow, maybe thats it... dunno.
 
I've only got one that is labeled as a hab, thats the one in the main photos. At least it's labelled as a Calita Red, Habenero from the nursery. Since I haven't seen any pods growing yet, I'm not sure. The couple of pods that started for a few days did look like they could be habs, kinda fat vs the long/skinny pods like the ones you see in the background.
 
I will have to stick a thermometer in the soil and see what it is.
 
This is my first season growing and I'm a complete novice learning as I go. Next year I hope to grow about 50 plants...! Yummy.
 
Thanks for the answers so far guys!
 
I'd let them get droopy before watering again. That 'nice and moist but not soaked' might still be too much. Any fertilization since planting?
 
Plants look healthy :) The leaves on some of my Caribbean Red flipped over as well. I am not too concerned.
 
*Whenever I see yellowing flower stems I pinch them off. Don't want the plant to dedicate any energy to a lost cause ^_^
 
I see your plants are outdoor, still have some protection around (thinking about the weather in Germany, not so weird thing - BTW, which side of Germany are you? ). Is that thing covered too? Because inside the temp could rise high enough, this could cause the turn of leaves, also the flowers to fall. I think it would be useful if you could open that thing around the plants and let them in free air during the sunny days.
 
rghm1u20 said:
I see your plants are outdoor, still have some protection around (thinking about the weather in Germany, not so weird thing - BTW, which side of Germany are you? ). Is that thing covered too? Because inside the temp could rise high enough, this could cause the turn of leaves, also the flowers to fall. I think it would be useful if you could open that thing around the plants and let them in free air during the sunny days.
Click to expand...
 
I'm on the West side of Germany, near Luxembourg.
 
The temperatures here have been nice and yeah, it can get hot in there. I purposely left a lot of gaps in the build of the green house so there was airflow and lots of venting of high heats. Also, on nice days, I lift the entire thing off of the plants to let them breath all day.
 
I'm going to let them dry up really good before the next watering.
Spicy Mushroom said:
I'd let them get droopy before watering again. That 'nice and moist but not soaked' might still be too much. Any fertilization since planting?
 
Plants look healthy :) The leaves on some of my Caribbean Red flipped over as well. I am not too concerned.
 
*Whenever I see yellowing flower stems I pinch them off. Don't want the plant to dedicate any energy to a lost cause ^_^
Click to expand...
 
I have fertilized them about once every 5-6 weeks so far, not heavily but enough to keep them happy.
 
Rheinland, richtig?
Letting the plants complete unprotected will also help pollination (insects and also the wind).
 
rghm1u20 said:
Rheinland, richtig?
Letting the plants complete unprotected will also help pollination (insects and also the wind).
Click to expand...
Yes, thats right :D
 
I still use the green house as a mini block, incase the wind kicks up too much, but the plants are in the wind so they can breath well.
And I've noticed a couple new spiders taking up residence on my plants, eating those pesksy bugs.
 
My best guess is overwatering then :) Really you can wait until they droop before watering. Hell doing so encourages root growth.
 
You might consider hitting them with some calcium if your fertilizer routine doesn't include it.
 
That said, your plants are doing fine by the looks of it. I'd do minimal TLC and let time take care of the rest.
 
I'm going with overwatering too - or more specifically - poor drainage. I've got a plant thats similar and its because it just doesnt use enough water and sits damp for ages. 
 
So, still it's not podding.
 
I let it dry out nicely until the leaves started to fold some. Same deal, it's opening about 1 flower a week or so. No pollen, no pods that last more then a few hours before the thing falls off.
 
I think I just have a bad plant..
 
On the upside, the plant itself is crazy healthy, there is a ton of green on it, it is very full and grows daily. Everything seems prime for a boom of pods.
 
Well, new flower today and there was pollen in it! I might get lucky, but I'm going to cross my fingers that it doesn't fall.
 
So, the first pod is in and it looks like it really is sticking. I've had some others fall off, but it seems like more are going to stay, so maybe it will be good now.
 
I moved it inside and put one of the 15w 225 R/B LED lamps I got for like $35, a fan on low oscillating around it and my incubator under it to help keep the ground warmer... Not sure if this was a help or if it was ok by itself.... but whatever.
 
The plant is still super healthy and had a ton of buds allover who are slowly working their way out.... I just hope that I can get some nice habs from this plant before it's too late.... I might figure out a way to move it inside full time when the cold starts coming.
 
Build up a styrofoam box with a spaceblanket/foil as walls with a LED lamp... but we shall see. I'm very interested in producing peppers from a few plants year round with an indoor LED setup.
 
I will have to create a GLog once I start getting ready to do the indoor thing as well as for when I start for 2015....
 
Since we all love photos....
 
IMG_0063_zps9c4501a4.jpg

IMG_0065_zps29a60c98.jpg

IMG_0068_zps7462f0e3.jpg


I wonder if I should trim out a few leaves to help the light get deeper inside the plant? Thoughts?

Oh, I forgot I've ben fighting an aphid problem... so the leaves are a bit wet since I just gave it a hose down. It seems to really stall them out, as well as me going over the plant a few times a day squishing the other aphids I find.
 
A mild deleafing would be beneficial, though sometimes it is just as effective to stake/spread out the plant. Somewhat depends on your LED, new models have better lenses and greater canopy penetration, though I wouldn't think much beyond 10".
 
Congrats on the first pod :)
 
miguelovic said:
A mild deleafing would be beneficial, though sometimes it is just as effective to stake/spread out the plant. Somewhat depends on your LED, new models have better lenses and greater canopy penetration, though I wouldn't think much beyond 10".
 
Congrats on the first pod :)
Click to expand...
I did a little deleafing to let the light in better, it looks good and there aren't so many overlaps deformed leaves anymore, so it's all good there I think.
 
 
 
plaisir8 said:
not looking too bad! will be looking foward to pics of ripe pods.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the one pod is still going strong but some of the others fell off. So still nothing super yet, I"m happy for 1 at least!
 
The sun came back out here and the temperatures went back up so I"ve put her back outside to soak it up. I still have high hopes for her.
 
Sometimes leaves can flip from too-strong ferts. I have had the problem once with peach ghost scorpions, and I think it was over fertilizing. They eventually stopped doing it and went on to become very productive healthy plants. 
 
Mallory said:
Sometimes leaves can flip from too-strong ferts. I have had the problem once with peach ghost scorpions, and I think it was over fertilizing. They eventually stopped doing it and went on to become very productive healthy plants. 
Click to expand...
I think you are right about the over-fertilizing. It happened just a couple days after I put some fert in the soil, and it has since gone away (the leaf turning) but some of the buds are still dropping off... at least my 1 pod is still happy :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top