growing lemon chili, please help

B

bazilika

Hello everyone, I would really appreciate some help with my young chili plants that are not doing well.
 
Last week I've put 7 of small plants into bigger pots. I was following instructions on the package, they were about 6 weeks old at the time. Still small, just a couple of tiny leaves. And for a couple of days it seemed to go well. Now one of them is completely withered, 3 have brown ends of leaves. A couple of them are kind not growing upward but to the side. But this might be due to how I've clumsily placed them in the soil, I don't know. I keep them on the balcony where there is a lot of sun, from 12.00-17.00 direct sun, since I don't have a roof on my balcony.
I might have messed up the re-potting. But maybe I am over- or under watering them. I'm not sure which to be honest, that's the problem!! The pots have holes at the bottom and they are quite deep. But I've been giving them just a little bit of water every morning since the soil was dry on touch. But yeah I've made a mistake not checking how moist it is a finger deep for example. I figured I can't really over water them since the excess water should just fall through.
 
It might also be just the earth, I bought just general earth for plants, no idea if that's an issue as well.
 
They are so small and I'm freaking out a bit. Don't care about the fruit, I just want them to live :)
 
bazilika said:
I figured I can't really over water them since the excess water should just fall through.
 
It might also be just the earth, I bought just general earth for plants, no idea if that's an issue as well.
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First statement first - moisture won't just fall through, because one of the jobs of your media (which hopefully isn't actual soil) is to act as a sponge to absorb and retain moisture. Every media has a specific PWT, or perched water table. That is, there is a certain percentage of the media that will hold water tight. If you add more than the PWT can hold, it will displace the excess. If you add less, well, it stays. Have you ever noticed how you can run water into a sponge, and even after some runs out, you can squeeze it, and more comes out? That's the idea of a PWT. It's a saturation zone. So the finger test is critically important, if you're new to growing. It's generally something like the bottom 30% of the container, regardless of shape or volume.
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As for the second statement... No soil in containers. It needs to be a mix. Peat based mix, preferable for a newbie. For containers, one needs a mix that holds structure, provides drainage, yet moisture retention, and retains nutrients. It's a very good subject to cover before taking the next serious step in growing. (note: there is a sticky thread in the Growing Hot Peppers forum)
 
Thank you very much for replying!
 
@JoynersHotPeppers I've had them outside since they came out of the earth. I've only put them inside a couple of times during the heavy rain. But maybe the sun did become stronger in the last couple of days. Maybe I can put them in a shadier part of the balcony for a while during the midday at least. I've put the after and before picture. Don't know if you can see much, but I would appreciate the input on everything I can do differently. This time or in the next. (Just the big black one and two small brown ones have chili plants.)
 
@solid7 So I should put my finger as far as the bottom 30% of the pot? And only if it is completely dry there, I should water it? Just to prevent further mistakes.
 
Supposedly I have a mixture of:
- earth
- compost
- Peat substitute made of wood fibers
- oat hulls
 
But it doesn't say how much of what I have :(. Maybe the mixture is too heavy. I'll drive to the bigger store at the end of the week. Perhaps this year I at least learn how to get the plants to survive the first month. If they don't have a mix specifically for chilies, or peat based mix, can I ask for a mix that they have for tomatoes or is that completely off the track?
 
I've read through a couple of pages on the forum. Man this is science ... I might have picked the wrong plants to start with. I was hoping for a plant that looks good and needs occasional watering and trimming. When I went to the store and told them, what kind of balcony I have, they went straight for the chilies. They should have warned me :)
 
 
 
 
 

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No, peppers are easy. LOL
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It's very common for people to love them too much, or plant them in the wrong mix. My explanations were overly technical. Some people like to know all they why's, and some people just want to know how to make it work. I try to give the best of both worlds. :)
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To me, that mix doesn't actually look too bad, but the color of your plants is off. I definitely suspect that you might have a little too much water, but I can't be for certain. YOu don't need to test moisture all the way down to the bottom, but maybe the top couple of inches. Use a finger, or a wooden stick. Like checking a cake when you bake.
 
I would have started them inside the house in a small pots, once they had filled up the small pots with roots then they can be transplanted to a bigger container. You can also buy one of those mini greenhouse things and put the containers inside there for some protection from the elements with some shading added.
 
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