Fruiting and Leaf Drop

[PeteyPepper]

Fruiting and Leaf Drop ...Pics Added

I started out with two very healthy, compact and leafy hot portugal pepper plants which were grown from seed. I put these out on May 1st and the growing was slooow due to cool weather. Not until mid-June did the growth rate accelerate and flowering begin. The plants remained rather compact/bushy/leafy. Once the fruits set, I began to notice that the plants started to drop leaves. More and more leaves continued to drop as the plants became laden with fruit. They are still very healty, have dark green leaves but just not as bushy/leaf.

So, my observation is that as the plant became fruit laden it became less necessary to funnel resources into leaf development and dropped what it didn't need.

Anyone else have a similar experience or subscribe to this theory?

 

[teh purple penguins]

pics

 

[PeteyPepper]

Lost about 20 - 25 leaves since fruiting began about a month ago.

Healthy, no?

 

[RichardK]

My Orange Habanero plant lost so many leaves after fruiting it started to resemble a Charlie Brown tree.

Since then, it's loaded with dark green new leaves and tons of flowers.

 

[ABurningMouth]

Lost about 20 - 25 leaves since fruiting began about a month ago.

Healthy, no?

Healthy yes.
If you cut off all the peppers, it will grow new leaves as it's producing new flowers and pods.
The pods are green, so they have chlorophyl in them (until they turn red), to give the plant energy.

 

[cheezydemon]

It looks fine to me. Lower leaves get less efficient as they are shaded by new growth, these are dropped too.

 

[Hotter than hell]

don't worry...i'm not an expert as chiliac, but i think that your plants are loooking better than ours^^

some days the plants are looking a little bit depressive

if the lower leaves will fall down there's no problem, 'cause the plant needs every power to grow high up.

don't take care 'bout this. only problem could be that there are not standing in flower.

 

[Chiliac]

It is true that when they're fruting they're not putting too much energy and effort into leave growth anymore. Dropping that many seems a bit like an over reaction , but judging from your pics, there's no need to worry, as Hth said, they look good (not better than ours, though!!!! )