shade Can plants go into shock from handling ? Drainage question , Heat wave coming shade or don't shade

[Redrum801]

The other day I noticed that my pots weren't draining well , the soil would not dry up . I have them in 5 gallon nursery pots and I didn't add any extra holes to them when I transplanted my 12 plants .

So day before yesterday I added some extra holes to the bottom and bottom sides ( didnt want to risk getting root rot ) . I saw instantly that plants started dropping a little , my jays red looked like it had a hangover it was drooping so bad , lol .

They recovered by this morning but some dropped some leaves . It was pretty warm today was it the heat or from the shock from me adding the holes to the pots ??

Also even with the extra holes I added , water won't leak out the bottom when I water my plants . I added perlite (3-1) to all but three plants so I'm confused to how much I'm supposed to water them ?? I wanna make sure I water them enough to encourage root growth but I also don't want to overwater them when I do .

There's a heat wave coming to NYC this week , I've had plants shaded for the most part getting full sun from 5am to about 11am on my back porch for weeks . I recently moved them to where there getting full sun from 5am till about 2-3pm . With temps looking to reach mid 90's should I move them back to where they get more shade or should they be fine ???

Thanks in advance for your replys , Carlos

 

[Nightshade]

Heat wave? Mid 90?! Thats a good day in Vegas a real heat wave is 117 they should be fine

 

[muskymojo]

The dropped leaves are probably from overwatering/poor drainage. Were the leaves yellowing at all?
 
You only need to water when the plants look like they need water (drooping a little). I like to pick up the pots and judge by weight as well. 
 
90's is great pepper growing weather IMO.
 
Good luck!
 
 
edit: What kind of potting mix are they in?

 

[howardsaz9]

Yeah 90 isnt even close to hot.. my plants have gone thru 120 deg without issues..

 

[Redrum801]

Heat wave? Mid 90?! Thats a good day in Vegas a real heat wave is 117 they should be fine

Lol , 117 ?? I haven't heard those kind of numbers since my friend got back from Afghanistan , that's insane . Temps hit anywhere near 90 and I'm on lockdown with the Ac on full blast :p

The dropped leaves are probably from overwatering/poor drainage. Were the leaves yellowing at all?
 
You only need to water when the plants look like they need water (drooping a little). I like to pick up the pots and judge by weight as well. 


 
90's is great pepper growing weather IMO.
 
Good luck!
 
 
edit: What kind of potting mix are they in?

No yellowing at all , plants were drooping this morning because I didn't water them since Tuesday/wednesday , once I watered them some they perked right back up . I've been real carefull not to over water . I added the extra holes just to be safe since the soil always seems to be moist . I was a little rough with them when adding the holes that's why I suspected why they started drooping due to shock , especially the jays red I thought I killed it it was drooping so bad , but by morning it perked right back up . All except three are in miracle gro with extra perlite mixed in (3-1). The three I mentioned are just straight miracle gro , and go figure there the ones growing the best and only ones that show drainage when I water them even just a little , smh .

I'll leave them were there at and check on them before I go to work . Worst case they dry out during day and I'll have to water them at night , which I've been trying to avoid . Been a really wet summer so far in NY . This is only the second week of temps in the 90's . That one week before this the plants loved it but I had to move them into shade because of sun scorch . I suspect because they were pretty young then , hopefully they'll do better this time around . They've been kept under the awning on my back porch facing east so they get that early morning sun . Under the awning they were getting about 6 hours of direct sun , I've moved them to the right side without the awning and there getting about another 4 hours added of direct sun now .

My wife is starting to get jealous I'm spending more time worrying about these plants than I do about her lol :p

 

[PepperWhisperer]

Drooping during the day is just the plant trying to keep cool. Drooping in the overnight is an indication the plant needs more water. If the soil soil is still damp, it probably doesn't need more water. 90 is what we call a pleasant day here and the plants seem to love it too. 100+ and everybody is drooping, plants and animals alike (no such thing as a "dry heat" here).

 

[TOAW]

Likely the plants need to adjust to both the better drainage (grow more roots) and climatize to the nicer temps?

 

[Al-from-Chile]

I added the extra holes just to be safe since the soil always seems to be moist . I was a little rough with them when adding the holes that's why I suspected why they started drooping due to shock ,
 

 
 

 
how did you "add" those holes .... punk?

 

[Redrum801]

 
how did you "add" those holes .... punk?

Lol , Good ole butcher knife did the trick

They were cheap pots so I added slits on bottom sides and poked some holes on the bottom

Drooping during the day is just the plant trying to keep cool. Drooping in the overnight is an indication the plant needs more water. If the soil soil is still damp, it probably doesn't need more water. 90 is what we call a pleasant day here and the plants seem to love it too. 100+ and everybody is drooping, plants and animals alike (no such thing as a "dry heat" here).

The jays red is drooping again tonight like it wants to lay down , weird ? Only plant that does it , I'll add pic later

 

[Redrum801]

Here's the jays red

Heres the slits/holes I added to the buckets

Random pic of my plants on the back porch

The three in the back are the ones that are just planted in miracle gro with no perlite they've been outside 2 weeks longer than the others . A Douglah , chocolate scorpion , and Carolina reaper .

The others are moruga red , jays red , brain strain , butchT/Jonah cross , primo , purple jalapeño , jays peach , Bhut Jolokia , and last one I have no clue what it is my son got it a pepper festival last year .
I'm going to take some day time pics and make a post with the individual pic of each plant sometime this week , to see if I can get some tips on helping them along .

I decided on growing plants to late to start from seed this year , I purchased my first three plants from a seller named greys4sale on eBay . The rest I purchased from Jim Duffy at refining fire chilles , except the red brain strain I purchased that one from THP member cycadjungle

 

[TOAW]

Lol , Good ole butcher knife did the trick

They were cheap pots so I added slits on bottom sides and poked some holes on the bottom

The jays red is drooping again tonight like it wants to lay down , weird ? Only plant that does it , I'll add pic later

I was thinking Psycho.

 

[Redrum801]

^^^^^^ lol

dont want to start another post but go a couple of questions .
 
Is it really necessary to stake the plants ?? i bought some 4' bamboo sticks and wondering if i should do it now or wait till fruit starts showing up ?
 
also just to be clear plants will wilt if they need water , are getting to much sun on the leaves , if the roots get to hot or the plant is sick is that about right ??
 
i check my plants everyday before i head to work , i use one of those cheap moisture thiga-ma-jigs lol , anyway it says the soil is moist but when i do the finger dig the soil doesnt feel wet but its not enirely dry either !
anyway three times this week ive distributed about 1gallon and a 1/2 of water between the 12 plants each time mixed with 1/4 strength miracle gro tommato plant food , but only when i see the plants wilted . plants havent yellowed any and i dont see no signs of fert burn so im guessing its ok . temps have been in high 90's for past 5 days .
 
so i did the math thats about 16 ounces of water mixed with miracle gro tommato plant food 3 times this week for each of the 12 plants give or a take an ounce for each plant .
 
i want to make sure the roots grow nice and healthy and reach towards the bottom is what im doing ok or should i really let them dry out and then give them a good soaking ???

 

[TOAW]

They will also wilt in the heat of the day as a result of keeping them selves cool. If they rebond when it cools down in the evening than they're ok. I've seen alot varity of plants do that on hot days potted or in the ground..
Water in the eve to give the plant time to use it. Let the soil dry out a little. A lot people judge by the reltive wieght of the pots when they get lighter add water.
Stake if needed, pepper plants are wooder than tomatoes, and the fruits smaller lighter so are less likely to need them.
Not sure about ferts there is wide range of opinions. Mainly don't over do it. I like the slow release with some epson salts mixed in the soil when I pot and a little spinkled on top before watering latter in the season.

 

[Redrum801]

Thanks TOAW , I think I will water in the evening . I've been doing it in the morning before work because I read in a couple of posts that doing it at night could lead to root rot . But honestly it would be way easier if I could do it at 9pm when I get home from work .

I keep looking at my plants and I can't get over how much bigger my first three plants are compared to the ones I got from refining fire chiles only 2 weeks later ???? Only difference is the first three were potted in straight miracle gro soil . While the others had perlite mixed in 1 handful for every three of soil .