Could Somebody Take a Look?

N

Newbie

Mixed soil about half peat (sunshine mix) quarter happy frog and quarter oceans harvest.  Planted about a month ago as seedlings from Home Depot.  Watering ever 3-5 days with organic ferts 1x weekly (had just rained a little before pic).  Wind and hail has been rough this spring but some of this new growth looks like more than just bad weather.  Leaves look like something's eating them.  Don't see any bugs other than a fly here and there.  No webs either.
 
Look at second to last pic - leaf at right - see that weird white trail.  Have that on a couple leaves.  Is that something to worry about?
 
Look at last pic, too - all plants are at least upright but this one in foreground is limp
 
Appreciate any and all input.
 
John
 
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Weird white trail is from a leaf miner. You see them from time to time but generally not in large enough numbers to be problematic in this area. 
 
Take a piece of white paper and put it underneath the plant and give it a few good taps, particularly around the new growth or any open flowers if you got them. See if you see any tiny brownish bugs that are tiny and look like this
 
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If so you got thrips. They like to attack the leaves when they are tiny & just forming. Hard to spot since they hang out inside those partially closed new leaves & inside flowers. They cause damage along the edges of the leaves which then look all messed up when they grow larger. I deal with those bastards every single year here in Texas.
 
stop watering so much
-only water when they wilt.  My guess is you will be able to go ~10-14 days in between watering.  Hell with all the rain we have had lately I havent actually "watered" my gardens yet and ive been in the ground since March 1.
 
Let everything dry out.
 
Stop giving nutes so often.  Once a month for a general nute, otherwise only when they need something specific.  With all your watering you are likely flushing out your nutes anyway.
 
Hows the drainage out of the bottom of those pots?  are there holes?
 
TXCG - very helpful - will check it out and let you know. 
 
Rjacobs - I said 3-5 but it is truly only when limp.  Have been moving them in and out of shade to try and harden since I can't bring the pots in.  Use 1.5 gallons across 4 large pots with about 3 tbs of nutes when I fertilize.  There is about 2 inches of river rock in the bottom and there are holes in the pots.
 
Check the NPK ratios in your Happy Frog and Ocean's Harvest. They may run a little on the hot side as far as ferts go. If so, I wouldn't be adding any other nutes as you are asking for fert burn.
 
Too much ferts as mentioned. You really need very little nitrogen, and can overdue other nutes as well. I would flush it one good time, then back off watering and nutes.  You also have too many plants in one pot. Each pot should have 1 plant in it, not multiple plants. What will happen is they will stay small and produce only a few pods, much less than if you had only one plant in that pot.  Too many roots in one pot will leave it drying out too quickly, resulting in other problems.
 
10-14 days between watering is absolutely absurd. Don't , I repeat don't do that.

All this about let the leaves wilt is bullshit.

Plants need water to survive. You're in pots. Guess what? That mix, you know potting mix we use, dries up. And when it dries up the water rushes to the outside of your pot and flows through the drainage holes while absorbing less into the root mass.

Less water absorption, less oxygen, less nutes that get absorbed resulting in a less than perfect plant.

Seriously. I live in FL. The east coast. Its hots as shit. I water every day to every other day. I just a little less.

When is the last time you saw a happy, healthy plant that went 10-14 days between waterings? If it rains, guess what? That's watering.
 
If those are like 10 gallon pots then I wouldn't hesitate to grow 2 peppers in them. 
 
I think the issue is over-fertilizing as well. With all the mixtures you described they probably had enough as is. I wouldn't worry too much about hitting them again until they are a good bit larger. Given enough space and good conditions these plants can get monstrous. Many of my peppers last year were 6+ feet tall.
 
As for watering. Last grow season I had them scheduled for drip every day. My summers are brutal. They did great though.
 
hey john- your just down the road from me, so if you like i will pm you my address and you can see what i am doing with my peppers. give you some ideas on what to do and what not to do.
 
Rickster - that'd be great.  Could drop by this weekend if you're around.
 
Spicy and Aaron TT - they're 25 gallon pots - 27 in. diameter.  I understand the crowding issue but have had great success with square foot gardening in the past.  My last couple grows had 16-20 plants per 4X4 raised beds and 2-3 per 10 gallon pot.  These pots are larger and I have 5-6 in them.
 
The setup below yielded me 64 pounds 2 years ago with a similar watering and fert sched to what I've described.  Like someone mentioned, many of them got to 5 feet that year.   Not being contrary but don't know how to reconcile my past experience with our feedback on this grow.  Do appreciate your input.  Always learning.
 

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