HELP: My chilli plants leaves are shrinking and curling upwards

A

azlans

My chilli plants leaves are shrinking and curling upwards...I have googled leaf curls + researched on diseases but none of them looks similar to my situation. Is it sun scald?
 
Here are the photos:
1) A healthy newly planted plant (http://imgur.com/rRDBo7D)
2) My 6 month old plant (http://imgur.com/VMQrK1x)
3) Both plants side by side (http://imgur.com/KlBsV8X)
- You can see that the leaves on my plant are small and curled.
 
Other Facts:
- Soil is brand new
- There are no pests other than the occasional caterpillars.
- I use pesticides once a month and I check them every morning.
- I use premium baileys soil, water every 2 days for 2 minutes.
- It has full sunlight from 10am-4pm (maybe this is the problem?)
 
Any ideas?
 
 
lol its starving to death man.
 
 
first pic is 100% ok imho. its a frutenses clearly... the leaves are naturally slender.
 
second pic has been starving for a LONG time it looks like.
 
start with calcium nitrate solution at 100-200mg/l.
 
you need to develop your soil better man.... i have 0 clue what Bailys is... but im guessing its an organic potting soil of some sort.
 
thats fine, but you have to understand, with organics you need to include shit loads of organic material to develope the nitrogen you need. moreover... you need organic material in your entire bed, not just in the hole you excavated for the transplant. 
 
nothing wrong with trying to go organic... but for now IMHO you need to supply calcium and nitrogen and maby some phosphate via chemical means owing to their immediate availability.
 
 
Hi Azlans, Baileys is a great potting mix plenty of people growing great chillies in this mix. It's not an organic mix as it has some additives like slow release fertilizer and wetting agent.

I agree with Queequeg152 it needs some food, but Baileys does have pretty much everything plants need however I like to add a small amount of dolomite lime and a couple of handfuls of dynamic lifter.

That is quite a lot of sun especially if you are in West Oz so 30% shade cloth would be ideal.

Good luck mate, and give it a few weeks it will come good.
 
Thanks guys. I got power feed from the store and I showed the picture of the plant to the gardener who I bkight the plants from. According to her, it's a warm climate plant and they tend to react like that if it's too cold. We had a really cold autumn/spring so it starts to shrivel up. My plants are grown outdoors. Also, she said if it was starving, it won't have any flowers on it. She has been planting these plants for over 26 years but she did recommend that I feed it more. So that's what I'll do. Let's see what happens in the next couple of weeks! I'll provide follow up photos :) thanks for your help!
 
Where in Oz do you live if you don't mind me asking? My plants that I overwintered are coming back strong already so I'm surprised yours looks like that is all..
 
Yeah, I reckon the sun might be giving 'em a bit of a hiding, aye.
 
My plants pull that exact same stunted crap when the heat/sun is on.
 
Shade cloth for sure and some mulch wouldn't go astray either.
 
Keep those roots as :cool: as possible, man.
 
Fried roots = no takey up of the nuties.
 
Sure, could be other reasons for no nute uptake... or just plain straight-up underfeeding... but seriously, if the sun over that side is as bad as the sun over this side... I still reckon that's your culprit.
 
gasificada said:
Yeah, I reckon the sun might be giving 'em a bit of a hiding, aye.
 
My plants pull that exact same stunted crap when the heat/sun is on.
 
Shade cloth for sure and some mulch wouldn't go astray either.
 
Keep those roots as :cool: as possible, man.
 
Fried roots = no takey up of the nuties.
Click to expand...
Good call, definitely mulch.. the DTAC lupin mulch is great
 
Most of the time, the sun isn't the problem - it's the humidity. Humidity affects the aspiration of the plant's leaves, and therefore, uptake. No water uptake, no nutrient uptake. It's why plants often wilt during the day, and pop up at night.

If you have dry heat, you'll have problems, but of a different nature. Your water will evaporate super quickly, leaving you with inconsistent watering, therefore, inconsistent uptake. Both problems mimic nutritional deficiencies. (it might be there, but plant isn't getting it)

The light, itself, from the sun is really not the problem...
 
solid7 said:
Most of the time, the sun isn't the problem - it's the humidity. Humidity affects the aspiration of the plant's leaves, and therefore, uptake. No water uptake, no nutrient uptake. It's why plants often wilt during the day, and pop up at night.

If you have dry heat, you'll have problems, but of a different nature. Your water will evaporate super quickly, leaving you with inconsistent watering, therefore, inconsistent uptake. Both problems mimic nutritional deficiencies. (it might be there, but plant isn't getting it)

The light, itself, from the sun is really not the problem...
Click to expand...
 
Humidity here is a b*tch, so that kinda makes sense...
 
Although, it does not explain why plants I have growing in the shade/partial shade far out-perform those growing in full sun?
 
The level of humidity does not change, only the amount of sun the plant is getting.
 
(Not trying to argue... in fact, I'm interested in what more you can tell me!)
 
I should mention too that I have touched pots that have been sitting in the sun and literally burnt my hand. What you say may very well be true, but surely that kinda heat can't be good for the roots? I assume they must be literally stewing in the pot.
 
Either way, what your say about heat problems mimicking nutritional deficiencies, I agree with totally and is what I was trying to get at.
 
The sun definitely heats things up. I wasn't speaking to the effects that solar radiation have, with regards to heating up pots, nearby surfaces, etc. Yes, that can be a real problem.

Maybe it would have been better to clarify just by saying that the light levels are not the problem. I guess my mind was going that way, since it was being discussed in another thread...
 
gasificada said:
Sure, could be other reasons for no nute uptake... or just plain straight-up underfeeding... but seriously, if the sun over that side is as bad as the sun over this side... I still reckon that's your culprit.
Click to expand...
Yo!!!
 
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