pics Garden Pics and a Few Questions

[Aku]

Hey,

I just found this place last weekend and didn't have time to post any pics. But here is our garden this year so far. We started planting maybe 3 weeks ago. Everything is doing pretty well except some hops that didn't get a long with a lawn mower. And our peppers are a little finicky, which is why I started looking for some info and ended up here.

The peppers are doing ok, but I've seen a little yellowing and a little unhappiness. I had some similar problems last year, so there must be something that I'm doing incorrectly.

Anyway here is our garden. You will notice the t post pvc pipe situation. That isn't really for support of the plants(along the rows), we've been having some crazy hail problems in colorado this year. Needless to say we were the only people I knew that ended up with a garden at the end of the summer.

And here are the peppers.

Serranos

The main problem children. Both of these are tobasco peppers. I got them from a greenhouse. They really like their water when I got them. After a few missed waterings the leaves curled up a bit, but didn't turn yellow until they got outside.

Ok, so as you can see some of the peppers are darker green than others(Serranos look great). Others like the bottom ones are not as happy and I'm trying to figure out why. It could be so many things. First, I was lazy this year and didn't amend the soil in the main pepper row very much. I did some last year, but over the winter it seemed to turn back to clay. I added a bunch of compost and tilled it up, but I didn't add any peat or perlite to that row. So, they could be sitting in clay with less drainage than they like. But I don't know.

I could also be overwatering... at the same time if I water less, I think I could easily be underwatering. I think I'm going to keep it at once every two days for 90 mins in the morning(over drip). I doubt it is nutrients because I was putting a little through the fertilizer injector... not to mention that is good compost. I think it could also be soil temp, it been geting down to about 55 at night lately. It was probably colder than that in late may. Also, that end of the row doesn't get as much light at the end of the day because it gets shaded then. But I should stop there.

Anyway, I'd be interested to hear any input. Thanks.

 

[WickedMojo]

I definatley think some added peat would have helped, but Im not 100% sure that nutes might not be a problem either, try mixing up some alaska fish fert and hand watering it to them, I had a similar problem last year because I have very dense sandy soil (which compacts just as clay will) and only tilling in compost and top soil kinda made my plants look like yours and after giving them a weekly dose of some good fish ferts they started greening up and looking better. actually yours look alot better then mine did but it stills seems a bit similar. also that upward leaf curl could be insect related as well.

 

[ditter]

From a long time vineyard owner I know: "Son, it always starts with good soil." You never hear anyone saying, "I think the problem with your plants is that the soil is too perfect." I tend to agree.

Seems like you took a good first step with the compost, but see if you can get it in tip top shape. From there you can always work out watering or nutrient issues.

 

[Aku]

Thanks for the responses guys. That is some solid advice. Much better than I seem to get around town.

From a long time vineyard owner I know: "Son, it always starts with good soil." You never hear anyone saying, "I think the problem with your plants is that the soil is too perfect." I tend to agree.

Seems like you took a good first step with the compost, but see if you can get it in tip top shape. From there you can always work out watering or nutrient issues.

Cool. I definitely plan to put a little more time into soil building. I think I'm going to go much deeper add more compost and a lot of peat and perlite. Too bad I have to wait until next year.

This last weekend, I did an additional row which I did put a lot more time into. These are mostly sweet peppers and a few other types of plants. A few of the peppers are still turning a little yellow, so it leads me to think there might not be any fert getting to any of the plants. Anyway, I'm going to use that row as a bit of a control.

I definatley think some added peat would have helped, but Im not 100% sure that nutes might not be a problem either, try mixing up some alaska fish fert and hand watering it to them, I had a similar problem last year because I have very dense sandy soil (which compacts just as clay will) and only tilling in compost and top soil kinda made my plants look like yours and after giving them a weekly dose of some good fish ferts they started greening up and looking better. actually yours look alot better then mine did but it stills seems a bit similar. also that upward leaf curl could be insect related as well.

I think you've got a good point about the nutes. There is a chance the injector hasn't been working properly. Also, I feel pretty good about the soil in the second row and they've been yellowing a bit(just a bit). So, it is probably missing something. It is always possible that it is bug related, but I haven't seen any damage to those peppers. In fact I've got some Jalapeno's that have gotten mowed a couple times and are looking much better than that.

As far as nutes go... I've got some age old bloom, age old fish and seaweed, age old kelp, straight up fish emulsion(I'd love to use this up). I was thinking about mixing a few of these together and hand watering them for a while. Any suggestions? or should I get something else specific?

 

[Phadrus On Fire]

Honestly, I think peppers are quite resilient as far as soil condition goes.

What I think may be of more concern is your weather out there. Just looked up Fort Collins, CO on the interweb, and it looks like you guys are still dipping below 60 at night, even below 50 on the 3rd of this month. In fact, historically, the average night time low is in the mid 50s for all of June. And for this week you're looking at a range from a high of 91 on the 6th to a potential HIGH of 58 on the 12th. If I know one thing about peppers, it is that they love hot weather.

I might just be too cool for your peppers right now, and that is why you are seeing some unhappiness. Not a definite fact, just my opinion based on limited experience.

 

[Aku]

Honestly, I think peppers are quite resilient as far as soil condition goes.

What I think may be of more concern is your weather out there. Just looked up Fort Collins, CO on the interweb, and it looks like you guys are still dipping below 60 at night, even below 50 on the 3rd of this month. In fact, historically, the average night time low is in the mid 50s for all of June. And for this week you're looking at a range from a high of 91 on the 6th to a potential HIGH of 58 on the 12th. If I know one thing about peppers, it is that they love hot weather.

I might just be too cool for your peppers right now, and that is why you are seeing some unhappiness. Not a definite fact, just my opinion based on limited experience.

I was wondering about that too. It rained a couple nights ago and it got a little chilly. I swear the next day I saw some additional yellowing. It would also make sense why some of the ones on the west side are yellowing a little bit more than the east side as that side gets shaded a little more in the afternoon.

I'm curious what other people do if their climate is less than cooperative. I could see containers, maybe black plastic mulch, covering them at night. I think I might still do a good fertilize on a couple to see how they respond. But you are right. I can certainly tell a difference when we've got a couple really hot days.

 

[chileaddict]

I live in the Seattle area and we have been having an unusually extended period of cooler weather with too much rain. My plants are also pretty unhappy and pale. I just showed them the extended forecast which shows a lot of sun and warm weather coming soon. Shhhhwiiiinnnnnggg! They and the tomatoes will be recovering soon I'm sure.

 

[Aku]

I live in the Seattle area and we have been having an unusually extended period of cooler weather with too much rain. My plants are also pretty unhappy and pale. I just showed them the extended forecast which shows a lot of sun and warm weather coming soon. Shhhhwiiiinnnnnggg! They and the tomatoes will be recovering soon I'm sure.

Good to know. Sounds like my extended forecast has some rain in it. Probably coming from your area. Looks like average lows of 50. Is there a lower threshold where I should start being concerned about my plants?

 

[HawaiiAl]

chile plants grow in the wild, sun, wind, rain, cold weather and some tmes frost, they come back good and strong. I did't have any problems I lived in Denver for 16 years plants grew great, did grow my soil with plenty of fish and sea weed compost and tea. Seed weed has some stuff in it that helps break up the soil and make it fluffy. Make all my own stuff now . Works great for me!