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Growing Problems

D

damog

Hi everyone!

First, I'll introduce myself. I live in the Canary Islands (a perfect place to grow peppers througout all the year, or at least that's what I thought). I love hot peppers. I think I can say that I'm addicted to hot food (probably as much as everyone in here) xD A couple of years ago, I tried for my first time sauces made with Bhut Jolokia or Moruga Scorpion. Before that, the hottest thing I had ever eaten was habanero sauce, but then I discovered a whole new hot world above that. At that point, I managed to get some seeds, but when I tried to grow them, I failed because I did not know how to do things. I registered here some months ago, in order to ask for growing tips, but since I read several posts around here, in the end I didn't post anything. I decided to give it a try again, after getting some info, and it seemed to be working fine.

I started my seeds in August, and in September some of them were born. These were 1 Moruga Scorpion Yellow, 1 Scorpion Butch T, 1 Bhut Jolokia and 2 Brain Strain 7pod. I put them under a growing light (I bought a CFL (blue+red) of 150w in a Growing Shop). I decided to do that because in the city where I live, starting at the end of October approximately, although the temperature is quite good (around 25 degrees almost all the year), there are some months (namely November through February) with few sunny days. I planted them in plastic cups, and I transplanted them when they got big enough. My plants have grown well and have survived the winter "without a problem". I have to list some issues that were appearing, though:
  • Some of the leaves were getting yellow and falling off. I read about this, and it seemed that I was overwatering them. When I started watering the plants once in a week this problem started to dissappear. However, sometimes it keeps happening.
  • There was one plant which was growing veeeeery slowly (after two months and a half, all the others had grown several leaves, while this one had only the first two real leaves, after the cotiledons appeared, and then it stopped. I decided to buy a bio-fertilizer, because I thought that it might be because of the soil, and it seemed to work, because the leaves started to grow a bit faster. When I saw this, I thought it was a good idea it on the rest of the plants, and as I said, it worked well.
    
But my main concern is the following:
towards the end of January, I don't know why (maybe weather? temperature?) flowers starting to appear in one of the plants (the biggest one). I was very happy to see that. But then, one week after this, the little pods that were supposed to be the flowers, instead of growing towards the light, started to fall down and dry. The leaves are getting yellow, and shriveling up (I dont know if it is the right word, but according to google translate, it is :P), and some are falling. It is as if the plant was dying. And I can't understand why, because the other plants are seemingly ok.

I have several theories, but I need to check with experienced people what it might be.
 
  1. My main theory is that, starting the second week of February, temperature went down from 25ºC to 20ºC (77F to 68F I think) in the place where I have the plants. But since the rest of the plants seem to be ok, I don't know if this might be the prime reason.
  2. Might it be the growing light? I have read that when the flowers start to appear, they need another kind of spectrum (redder lights). But the light that I have (blue+red) is supposed to be ok? for both growing and blooming.
  3. Growing space: I had them in pots of approx. 5 to 10L (I don't really know what is the pot capacity). Maybe I need to move them to a bigger pot?
  4. Might it be a combination of the three points?
I attach pictures of the sick plant and its flowers, and the others.
 
Flower pods falling:
https://imageshack.com/i/poCAi1zbj
 
Sick plant:
https://imageshack.com/i/plcuqX7fj
 
The full picture:
https://imageshack.com/i/pncksCpMj
 
As soon as the Sun appears again I'm planning to move them outside, but I need to help my chillies to go through the next month!!

I'd appreciate any help you can provide :)

Cheers!
Damog

PS: Sorry for the sizing!! I don't know how to resize them to be smaller!
 
Id say the growlight is working well as the plants are nice and dense and the leaves are a nice size.  Who's make is it? (I'm looking to get one)  90% of problems are moisture related. Too much can lock up nutrients so the plant cant use them.  Next would be over fertilization, be sure to follow the directions closely and IMO the Co. has a vested interest in you using as much as possible so go light if anything.  The one thing you haven't talked about is the soil.  It looks heavy what is it?  Peppers and peat arent really friends (ph to low)  In my experience out of the bag potting soils aren't ideal. They need amending with something like vermiculite at the very least. In the wild there are numerous ways air and moisture get to plant roots, in a pot few if any of those systems are in place so you need light, well draining soil for pots. flowers always hang down and if they're yellowing and falling off it just means the plant isn't ready to handle them, it will eventually so dont worry about that.  Unless its getting over 90f in your grow area that can cause blossom drop.  In the summer my plants drop flowers while others stay on and fruit.
 
Topsmoke said:
Id say the growlight is working well as the plants are nice and dense and the leaves are a nice size.  Who's make is it? (I'm looking to get one)  90% of problems are moisture related. Too much can lock up nutrients so the plant cant use them.  Next would be over fertilization, be sure to follow the directions closely and IMO the Co. has a vested interest in you using as much as possible so go light if anything.  The one thing you haven't talked about is the soil.  It looks heavy what is it?  Peppers and peat arent really friends (ph to low)  In my experience out of the bag potting soils aren't ideal. They need amending with something like vermiculite at the very least. In the wild there are numerous ways air and moisture get to plant roots, in a pot few if any of those systems are in place so you need light, well draining soil for pots. flowers always hang down and if they're yellowing and falling off it just means the plant isn't ready to handle them, it will eventually so dont worry about that.  Unless its getting over 90f in your grow area that can cause blossom drop.  In the summer my plants drop flowers while others stay on and fruit.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Topsmoke, thanks for your answer :)
 
The growlight I'm using is this one: http://purelight.thepurefactory.com/en/catalog/pure-light/cfl-lamps/cfl-125w-greenpower-2700k-6400k
 
Now that you say it, it is possible that it is moisture related. I have checked the soil, and it is still wet after more than one week after the last time I watered the plants.
 
About the soil, I have to say that I bought a bag and used the soil without mixing it with anything (I think that's what you meant with "out of the bag", didn't you?). I suppose it is the typical soil (actually it was the only one they had in the shop), so I didn't think too much about it :( Don't know if peat or other thing.
 
But anyway, if
flowers always hang down and if they're yellowing and falling off it just means the plant isn't ready to handle them, it will eventually so dont worry about that.
Click to expand...
then I'm a bit relieved. I will take care about the watering, waiting for when the soil is not wet anymore (I thought that once a week might be ok, but the last month humidity has increased a bit, and it might be the problem!).
 
But, isn't it too soon (given the size of the plants) for them to be blooming? (flowers are also appearing in the plant in the white pot, which is rather small). I'm thinking about putting that plant in a bigger (final) pot (what would be the right size?). For the soil, I'm reading the post at the top of this section for tips.
 
Again, thank you very much! :P :P
 
Flower drop probable causes:
 
1. Day temp too high >95F
2. Night temp too low <65F or too high >85F
3. Too much nitrogen fertilizer
4. Too much water
5. Low light levels (reduces fertility).
6. Very low humidity (reduces fertility)
7. Poor air circulation (air circulation contributes to pollination).
8. Lack of pollinating insects.
9. Size of pot
10. Too much mineral in feedwater.
11. Too much grower attention/anxiety.
 
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