Critter, cold or ?

[geeme]

My plants went wildly back into bloom a couple of weeks ago, and they're still at it even though I've got plenty of little pods starting. They've also started new branches, which I wouldn't have expected at this time of year. The thing is that the summer has wound down here, and we're nearly at 50F almost every night now. I've read others' posts indicating that sometimes near the end of the season the pods aren't all that strong, but I don't know how late in the season they're actually referring to. My question relates to having some flowers that have come off the plants - they're coming off at the branch, it's not just the petals coming off. My thoughts are a) could be a critter, as something has been digging in one of my pots again, b) could be the wind, as we've had quite a bit of it lately, but also c) could be related to the timing of the weather. (And, of course, all three could be coincidentally happening at the same time.)

What experience have you had with this with your own plants, and any suggestions for what might be causing it (any of the three I've already named, or something else?) I'm not talking about a whole lot of flowers coming off, or I might suspect some kind of nutritional deficiency. I'll see if I can get a pic of one of them tonight, otherwise I'll take one and post tomorrow.

 

[logchief]

I'm a noob grower, but have experienced a lot of flower drop. The flower stems start lightening up to a pale green or yellow and drop with the flower still intact, instead of the flower wilting and seeing the expansion of the base as a set pod. There are several threads on flower drop here with a variety of causes, search "flower drop". I haven't figured it out by any stretch of the imagination, but it is mainly happening to my chinese, annums are doing great setting pods.

 

[geeme]

Here's pics of my LTR Cayenne. Moved the plants into the garage since we had a thunderstorm earlier, and heavy winds tonight, so sorry for the high flash pics. First, the plant maybe a month ago, before I cut off the pods and most of the leaves. (Leaves cut off to fight spider mites.) Next, the plant tonight - you can see all the new leaves that came in after the pruning, plenty of new pods, plenty of flowers, and plenty of buds.

Here's a close-up of the base. You can see two of the dropped flowers, plus two of the dropped buds:

Finally, a shot of the top:

If you look at the pic of the lower section of the plant, and know that the earlier pods from this plant got as long as 10", you'll know the pods at the bottom have no chance since they're too close to the soil. Part of me is curious to see how nature works that out, part of me is saying to cut them off now. I'm going to at least wait and see what works out for the first couple to hit the soil, but will then will likely cut the rest in that section off. (I'm a curious person - nothing else to it!)

Anyhow, logchief, thanks for pointing out the flower drop threads - I'll check them out and see what I can find.

 

[AjarnV]

Some flower drop is normal. I'm probably getting 25% as many, many pods are forming. Cheers

 

[gasificada]

As long as you are getting some pods, I personally wouldn't be stressing too hard. I have a Siam Hot Yellow flowering like crazy atm with each and every single one dropping. While I know there could be numerous reasons for this, in my case, I am quite certain the problem is poor draining soil. I haven't watered the thing in over 3 weeks now and it still shows signs of over-watering.......

 

[geeme]

As long as you are getting some pods, I personally wouldn't be stressing too hard. I have a Siam Hot Yellow flowering like crazy atm with each and every single one dropping. While I know there could be numerous reasons for this, in my case, I am quite certain the problem is poor draining soil. I haven't watered the thing in over 3 weeks now and it still shows signs of over-watering.......

As you can see, my plants are in ceramic pots - I pretty much have to water them at least every other day, but in reality they get watered almost every day (the cayenne really wants every day, as by the 2nd day it's leaves get very, very droopy.) I water them until the water runs out the pots, then I continue to water them a bit more to ensure the soil is thoroughly soaked. I've read other posts where people talk about the need to let the soil dry out, and possibly they are talking about this because their plants are in plastic pots or in the ground. So I'm wondering if your plants are in the ground or in containers, and of the later, what kind of containers. I specifically did not choose plastic pots because I found in the past that I'm a poor judge of when plants need watering when in plastic. Perhaps you have a similar issue?

But admittedly, I'm thinking that your not watering your plant in over 3 weeks (assuming it's also not getting any rain) and not seeing any change may really mean you've got some other issue going on. Would you post a pic?

 

[Moshman]

In my most recent experience, I couldn't get any flowers to set on my Bhut Jolokia and it was really frustrating. Upon reading several threads on flower drop, I bought some cane mulch and now my plants are all setting fruit. I would attribute this to temperature, as I had read in the threads I researched, the soil was too hot and so I had to insulate it with mulch. Possibly on the other side of the scale (hot/cold), if your temperatures are 50f at night now, the cold is causing them to drop and bringing them inside for the night may change things.

 

[geeme]

That seems to be a thought worthy of further consideration.

 

[Pepperfreak]

I just checked all of my plants and I don't see much flower drop at the moment. My plants are all producing what i call dwarf pods. It's like they are getting ready for the frost.

 

[geeme]

I just checked all of my plants and I don't see much flower drop at the moment. My plants are all producing what i call dwarf pods. It's like they are getting ready for the frost.

Thanks for weighing in. I don't see "much" either, but I was surprised to see flowers and buds coming off from the stem, as I don't recall seeing that earlier in the season. Live and learn, live and learn!

 

[napalmxv3]

The temps and wind combination lately is definitely affecting my plants. The peppers are likely in most of our cases (ohio folk) produce some or many dwarfs. I've only had a few dwarf which is typical but not very many. I've experienced a bit of flower drop which with night time temps in the 50's and daytime's in the lower to mid 60's in some cases is to be expected.

We've certainly had some freaky weather lately, and my assumption is, the plants aren't liking it too much.

 

[geeme]

So now PF and Napalmxv3 have both used the term "dwarf pods", which is a new one on me. How do you know they're "dwarf" instead of just "babies"? In reading the article on TheChileMan.org regarding over-wintering, he mentions leaving immature pods on the plant over the winter, and indicates they'll start growing/maturing again in the spring, if the plant successfully overwinters. Have you tried that out?

My definition of "dwarf" means the pods can't get any bigger (or at least, not much bigger), while "immature" indicates potential for future growth. This is the distinction I'm making above.

 

[napalmxv3]

Dwarf pods you know are dwarf because they ripen while still small. If you leave em on, they'll soften with age.

 

[geeme]

Dwarf pods you know are dwarf because they ripen while still small. If you leave em on, they'll soften with age.

Hence, no potential for future growth, so I agree with the term. I guess the question now is whether the pods that are on my plants will prove to be dwarves or simply immature. Guess time will tell!