I moved to Germany 3 years ago and Germans dont appreciate that Heat. So finding peppers is not always so easy. So Im growing my own supply. The strange thing is my jalapeños have just stopped growing. The plant is about 4 inches tall. It has leaves and looks perfectly healthy but has not grown any taller or anymore leaves at all in nearly a month. I give it water every evening. It sits next to a window and gets about 4-5 hours of sun everyday. I can move it outside right now as it is still a bit too cold in Germany at this time. So whats going on? Any ideas? How can I get it to continue to grow?
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Jalepenõ plant has stopped growing...
- Thread starter Noodles
- Start date
Noodles said:
I'm leaning toward Rickster's diagnosis
But I'm concerned about the wet & compacted stuff it's growing in + your watering habits, "I give it water every evening".rickster said:
Are you using garden soil? Or a good quality potting media?
Noodles said:
That's what I thought. Click here.> What is the Difference Between Potting Soil and Potting Mix?
▼▼▼▼Note how airy & loose my potting mix looks?▼▼▼▼▼
So should I replant plants that have been in potting soil in potting mix or leave them in the soil?The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
That's what I thought. Click here.> What is the Difference Between Potting Soil and Potting Mix?
▼▼▼▼Note how airy & loose my potting mix looks?▼▼▼▼▼
CaneDog
Extreme Member
[SIZE=10.5pt]Cool that your bringing you own heat to Germany with you.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Plants at that size can appear to grow slow, but just a couple inches growth is probably doubling its mass. And it doesn't really look unhealthy.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]I'd say 4-5 hours sun daily is too little light to see it grow fast. If your house is warm, it would be surprising not to see it stretch and lean with that little sun. Cooler temps with less sun is less likely to result in stretch, just slow growth. If you can, I'd supplement their light with grow bulbs and give it at least a 12 hour day, preferably a few hours more. That will usually add a little heat too, which they'd probably appreciate. Growing pepper starts in a window (no supplemental light) at your location during March and April simply won't produce the rapid growth you'll see with supplemental lighting and, living at a more northern latitude like I do, giving them a good head start pays off.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]A bigger concern is probably watering every night. Again, it does look reasonably healthy and isn't showing visible signs of overwatering, but it seems unlikely it would need that much and overwatering can definitely stunt peppers and lead to bigger problems with the roots. If your media mix is heavy (adding compost will make it heavier), that can slow growth and also increase the harm from overwatering.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]NECM brings up soil versus mix, which is an important point, although looking beyond the name is important too as you can’t always count on the manufacturers. Ideally, find something specifically for container plants that’s peat or coir based and feels more fluffy and light than heavy - if you look at NECM's [/SIZE]pictures[SIZE=10.5pt] you can see all the air space in the mix wear it can breath and get oxygen to the roots. Avoid topsoil as an ingredient at all costs. Within reason, a slightly more expensive higher quality mix makes a difference.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]That’s my 2 cents anyway.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Plants at that size can appear to grow slow, but just a couple inches growth is probably doubling its mass. And it doesn't really look unhealthy.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]I'd say 4-5 hours sun daily is too little light to see it grow fast. If your house is warm, it would be surprising not to see it stretch and lean with that little sun. Cooler temps with less sun is less likely to result in stretch, just slow growth. If you can, I'd supplement their light with grow bulbs and give it at least a 12 hour day, preferably a few hours more. That will usually add a little heat too, which they'd probably appreciate. Growing pepper starts in a window (no supplemental light) at your location during March and April simply won't produce the rapid growth you'll see with supplemental lighting and, living at a more northern latitude like I do, giving them a good head start pays off.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]A bigger concern is probably watering every night. Again, it does look reasonably healthy and isn't showing visible signs of overwatering, but it seems unlikely it would need that much and overwatering can definitely stunt peppers and lead to bigger problems with the roots. If your media mix is heavy (adding compost will make it heavier), that can slow growth and also increase the harm from overwatering.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]NECM brings up soil versus mix, which is an important point, although looking beyond the name is important too as you can’t always count on the manufacturers. Ideally, find something specifically for container plants that’s peat or coir based and feels more fluffy and light than heavy - if you look at NECM's [/SIZE]pictures[SIZE=10.5pt] you can see all the air space in the mix wear it can breath and get oxygen to the roots. Avoid topsoil as an ingredient at all costs. Within reason, a slightly more expensive higher quality mix makes a difference.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]That’s my 2 cents anyway.[/SIZE]
German apartments tend to be pretty small. Not a lot of room for lighting. Especially if it’s the kind I need to hang from the ceiling or something like that. I’d like to maybe get a free standing light and just direct it at the plants. What kind of bulb is best? How strong? Can you find the right kind of bulbs to fit in any random lamp?
Germans Are big on gardening. But typically outdoor gardening. Not much indoor or potted stuff. Some sure. But it makes it a bit harder in my experience to find something other than potting soil. I’ll go searching some more today.
Germans Are big on gardening. But typically outdoor gardening. Not much indoor or potted stuff. Some sure. But it makes it a bit harder in my experience to find something other than potting soil. I’ll go searching some more today.
I use floodlights with good results. You can get cheap an IKEA wood shelf and cover with emergency blanket. Floodlights are low cost, low medium efficiency and not full specturm. Works well for the young plants. If you go with a quality, the full spectrum led and UV then be careful and not kill your young plants with too much UV radiaton. It gives higher quality fruits, less yeld and damage plant. Too much is too much.Noodles said:
I have done quite well with my potting mix, it's unfertilized peat 85% and 15% eco carbon. I don't know pH value but the carbon value is good enough for my plants.
https://www.almanac.com/preparing-soil-planting
Noodles said:
CaneDog said:
Hey CD, should Noodles rinse the soil off the roots before repotting into new media?
CaneDog
Extreme Member
The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
I typically just try to let the excess media crumble from around the root ball (maybe helping break it up a little) so the roots get quicker access to the good stuff, but don't rinse the roots. I know some people like to rinse them and I wouldn't think there'd be anything wrong with doing so with a small plant like that. I'd be more concerned with a bigger plant with lots of leaves where it might be more susceptible to shock. If I did rinse though I'd keep it in subdued light for a couple days until the roots settled in again - which I'd probably do in this case even without rinsing, to protect them from transplant shock/damage.
https://m.vogek.com/Plant-Grow-Light-VOGEK-LED-Growing-Light-Full-Spectrum-for-Indoor-Plants-with-Timer-Plant-Growing-Lamps-for-Seedlings-with-Adjustable-Gooseneck-Desk-Clip-On-3-Switch-Modes-10-Brightness-Settings-p495185.html
Thats the light I bought. I researched it around a few different sites. Had mostly positive reviews. The lights should be about 35cm from the plant right? Not sure how intense to keep the light? Can set it anywhere from 10%-100%. And set it on a 12 hour cycle?
Thats the light I bought. I researched it around a few different sites. Had mostly positive reviews. The lights should be about 35cm from the plant right? Not sure how intense to keep the light? Can set it anywhere from 10%-100%. And set it on a 12 hour cycle?
CaneDog
Extreme Member
Nice! I'd definitely go with the full 12 hours. You can even set them to start early in the morning so combined with natural sun they get an even longer light cycle like 15 or 16 hours. I don't know the light, but reading the spec's 35cm seems reasonable. I'd start maybe at 50% power and bump them 10% every couple days until full power to be sure it's not too much for them. LED's can burn sometimes and they might like a break-in period.
Between the new mix and the additional lighting I'd expect to see some really improved growth!
Between the new mix and the additional lighting I'd expect to see some really improved growth!
SineNomine
Extreme Member
Noodles said:
I use a Lux Light Meter phone application.
A value of 5000-7000 lux at the level of the leaves is very good for the beginning.