chlorosis? novice gardener and sad peppers

xiang

xiang

Excuse the "my plants are dying" first post on the forum, but I fear I'm running out of time.
 
These are all super-hot varieties started in rockwool and transplanted to a potting mix of mostly peat moss and perlite (little/no fertilizer). Lighting is sufficient and my tomatoes seem to be OK under the same conditions. I feed with a water soluble nutrient solution at 1/4 to 1/2 concentration. I was overwatering in the beginning but I've eased up and the problems persist.
 
Leaves are soft and yellowing, with green veins, and some have fallen off. Google suggests it could be related to iron, but if there is iron available, perhaps there's some sort of uptake problem? Will feeding at every watering cause problematic buildup of salts in the medium? Is it possible I'm underwatering in my caution against overwatering? Maybe suboptimal PH from the peat moss content?
 
I have had some issues with temperature control, but the tents are typically in the 80-85F range at 40-60% humidity. I think this is OK for peppers, so I'm leaning toward a nutrient issue, but I'm not sure what variable to adjust without making matters worse - I don't think they'll live much longer in this condition. 
 

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xiang said:
Excuse the "my plants are dying" first post on the forum, but I fear I'm running out of time.
 
These are all super-hot varieties started in rockwool and transplanted to a potting mix of mostly peat moss and perlite (little/no fertilizer). Lighting is sufficient and my tomatoes seem to be OK under the same conditions. I feed with a water soluble nutrient solution at 1/4 to 1/2 concentration. I was overwatering in the beginning but I've eased up and the problems persist.
 
Leaves are soft and yellowing, with green veins, and some have fallen off. Google suggests it could be related to iron, It's not iron deficiency.   but if there is iron available, perhaps there's some sort of uptake problem?  That's very likely, just not the iron part.  Will feeding at every watering cause problematic buildup of salts in the medium?  It can.  Are you watering through so there's a little runoff out the bottom?  Is it possible I'm underwatering in my caution against overwatering?  They look quite dry.  Are you hefting the Solos to get a feel for the water content of the media?  Maybe suboptimal PH from the peat moss content?  Probably not from the peat, but it's possible salts or pH could be a problem here.
 
I have had some issues with temperature control too hot or too cold? , but the tents are typically in the 80-85F range at 40-60% humidity. I think this is OK for peppers, so I'm leaning toward a nutrient issue,  but I'm not sure what variable to adjust without making matters worse - I don't think they'll live much longer in this condition. They don't appear to be at death's door, but sooner rather than later would be good.
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I'd start by popping one out of its container and looking at the roots.  I suggest doing this while they're more dry than wet so the media will stay intact even if the root ball isn't well developed.  Post a picture of the roots - I'm curious whether they're properly developed outside the cubes and throughout the containers.  Are you top watering exclusively?  If your drainage is high and they don't stay damp very long I'd consider interspacing bottom watering periodically by setting them in a container partially filled with water for a few minutes so the media more fully absorbs it.  Do this with plain water though, because with nutes it's a recipe for salt buildup.  
 
Without more information, I'd be leaning toward re-potting them with fresh media - or at least a flush if that's not feasible - but I'm thinking it's likely this may relate to previous watering habits and root development so checking out the roots would help.
 
Thanks for the feedback! These plants had actually been repotted already. It looked like the soil was too dense and soggy, so I added more perlite and peat moss for better drainage. It could also have to do with the small size of the holes in my cups. 
 
You can see the poorly developed roots in the one I pulled. 
 
I ended up moving them all outside to get flushed by the summer showers. This seems to have helped - at the very least they aren't dead yet. I've also top dressed with a bit of organic fertilizer, and I'll limit applications of water soluble nutes. The bigger ones have leaf damage and I think the bugs are chewing on them.
 
Would it be wise to add some lime to balance the PH of my mix? I have a big bag but it's the time release granule type which might not be appropriate for containers.
 
Overall the growth has been a good deal slower than my hydroponic experiments. I assume this is typical but I'm sure there are things I could be doing to improve the health of my outdoor containers.
 
 

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Glad to hear things seem on the mend.  I probably wouldn't worry about the pH without some real evidence of an issue.  The formal studies I've read on the subject suggest the lower pH of peat moss shouldn't have any significant or lasting effect.  I haven't needed to adjust for it when I use it in containers and, without testing, it might be difficult to balance pH anyway.  I expect your issues will be largely solved with development of the roots throughout the containers and you seem headed in that direction.  Once that occurs you'll be in much better shape to tweak nutes and such to get things optimized.
 
xiang said:
Excuse the "my plants are dying" first post on the forum, but I fear I'm running out of time.
 
These are all super-hot varieties started in rockwool and transplanted to a potting mix of mostly peat moss and perlite (little/no fertilizer). Lighting is sufficient and my tomatoes seem to be OK under the same conditions. I feed with a water soluble nutrient solution at 1/4 to 1/2 concentration. I was overwatering in the beginning but I've eased up and the problems persist.
 
Leaves are soft and yellowing, with green veins, and some have fallen off. Google suggests it could be related to iron, but if there is iron available, perhaps there's some sort of uptake problem? Will feeding at every watering cause problematic buildup of salts in the medium? Is it possible I'm underwatering in my caution against overwatering? Maybe suboptimal PH from the peat moss content?
 
I have had some issues with temperature control, but the tents are typically in the 80-85F range at 40-60% humidity. I think this is OK for peppers, so I'm leaning toward a nutrient issue, but I'm not sure what variable to adjust without making matters worse - I don't think they'll live much longer in this condition. 
Click to expand...
Magnesium?

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Certainly the plants are showing multiple nutrient deficiencies including patterning magnesium, but one shouldn't assume that means any particular nutrient is missing in the soil/media.  In this case, xiang states in the OP he was feeding with every watering.  Many if not most deficiencies are a result of the plant being unable to utilize nutrients despite that they are present in satisfactory quantities.  Magnesium patterning is notorious for this.  Salts buildups, pH imbalance, over-watering, and root issues are common causes for what may appear to be a lack of Mg, or another nutrient, and when one of these is the issue adding more fertilizer will do no good.  In some cases it may even make matters worse. 
 
The key is to identify the true source of the problem rather than simply treating an apparent symptom. 
 
xiang said:
 
 
 a potting mix of mostly peat moss and perlite (little/no fertilizer).  I was overwatering in the beginning but I've eased up and the problems persist.
 
Is it possible I'm underwatering in my caution against overwatering? Maybe suboptimal PH from the peat moss content?
 
Click to expand...
Without any compost/worm castings etc, and no eggshells or dolomitic lime, organic dry fertilizer, something to buffer your media , you have a intensely hydrophobic media almost impossible to water correctly.
  Not to mention no WC/compost that is needed.
 
If there are holes in the bottom of your solo cups, water will run right out the bottom without being able to soak the media. You will have to work the water in slowly wetting your hydrophobic media, or bottom water... With nothing added to change it, peat has a ph of 4.5 iirr, not ideal for root uptake. Imo, very bad media mix even for solo cup seedlings. As peat with perlite is not a proper media mix for containers...
 
If you just add a few more ingredients to your 'ph adjusted 'buffered' media, the seedlings should look like this...
 
YPv6qBD.jpg
 
CaneDog said:
The key is to identify the true source of the problem rather than simply treating an apparent symptom.
Click to expand...
 
Hey CD....I have a question about above, while I know the symptom can be manifested by multiple reasons, where should we start in offering advice? Especially if the OP lacking in info given.
 
The reason I'm asking is there's a new one - Plants bent over/curling up
 
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