I think I murdered my small Trinidad scorpion plant

[svtcontour]

Hi guys. I was transplanting a 2.5" to 3" tall trinidad scorpion from one of those 3" wide plastic pots to a larger pot. It had about 5-6 true leaves aside from what it came with as a seedling. Anyway I made the mistake of doing the transplant while the soil in the small pot was still moist. Anyway what happened was that I gently tapped the pot to get the plant out and I was holding it upside down so the soil wouldnt fall all over the place (it was in a perfect pot shape of course) but my hand tilted a little and due to the weight, 60% of the soil separated and fell off, taking the main root along with it. That root was long enough to have reached the bottom of the 3" pot.

What I was left with is surrounding roots which are about 1 to 2" long only. A couple were nearly the same thickness as the main one that snapped off. In any case, I went ahead and moved what I had left into the large pot and watered it real well to make sure all the soil settles nicely around what roots I had left.

Now at this point, is there anything I should or shouldnt do? I'm guessing I should not put it back under very strong lighting for a week to let the roots settle and grow in - if it doesnt die in the meantime. Any suggestions welcome.

 

[bennoz]

chilli plants are pretty hardy. i dont think it will die

when your done potting up, give the plant some support (tie it up to a stick), some food (fert) and some water. dont stress it too much with heat and sunlight and you'l be right

 

[Mister_Al]

The plant will probably be in shock for a few days but I believe it'll be fine. However, I do think you should give it some light, though. Maybe move it away from the fullness of light into a less illuminated area until it gets to growing again.


Alan

 

[Matt Berry]

It will be fine, the worst case scenerio is you may have stunted it's growth a bit. Just think of the people who do cuttings, they just cut off a piece and stick it in the ground, no roots, nothing, yours at least has some roots. I did some experiments last year with some seedlings, where I took some of the ones that were being "culled" and actually pulled them up like weeds. I then planted the now bare root seedling in a new pot to see if it would survive, and guess what, it lived on. They did grow a little slower for a little while, but eventually grew to maturity. I'm telling you, peppers are not as delicate as people make them out to be. They are most vulnerable as seedlings, after that they are kind of hard to kill off (unless over watered, over fertilized, too cold, ect)

 

[svtcontour]

Thanks guys for the help. I feel a bit more at ease now knowing it should be fine. I really want the plant to grow...its my first super hot.

 

[Matt50680]

It seems to me that once the plant is past the seedling stage and has established 2-3 sets of true leaves, they turn into cockroaches, hard to kill. LOL Just keep an eye on it SVT, but dont baby it. I have found that my plants I give the least attention to are doing the best.