Lessons learned

[Nwtnorthman]

So now all of my plants are in their summer spots in this my first attempt at growing hot peppers and Ive learned a few things while theyve been growing.
1. Dont over fertilize. I fertilized with fish juice after potting in pre mixed soil, which also had fertilizers added. In so doing, I managed to kill pretty much half of my plants. I leeched the soil once I realized what I had done, but it was too late.

2. Be patient. By trying to hurry things along I did more harm than good. See #1.

3. The plants are perfectly capable of doing their thing without interference. Let them!

Now all I have to do is see what happens as they grow. Ill be watering less often, fertilizing way less often and letting nature do her work. Its still been fun, and next year will be a better one!

 

[solid7]

1. Dont over fertilize. I fertilized with fish juice after potting in pre mixed soil, which also had fertilizers added. In so doing, I managed to kill pretty much half of my plants. I leeched the soil once I realized what I had done, but it was too late.

So over-fertilizing is definitely a bad thing. But *how much* fish juice did you add?

You have to add a lot to do damage, even with inorganic ferts in the mix. The damage from over-fertilizing comes from dessication of roots by mineral salts. While there are some salts in fish ferts, it isn't nearly the same concentration.
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Are you absolutely sure that it was the addition of the fish fertilizer that killed them?

 

[Nwtnorthman]

I added the emulsion at 1 tbsp per gallon of water. There was a white crust on the soil. The plants that are still doing well dont have it. Im pretty sure thats what happened. Whats interesting is that plants of the same age and size are still perfectly fine.

 

[AndyW]

The only time I've hurt plants with fish fert was straight out of the bottle, no water at all added. It was half experiment, half "I know that's not what the person meant, but what if". It seems unlikely that it was the fish unless you watered with it exclusively for a while

 

[solid7]

I added the emulsion at 1 tbsp per gallon of water. There was a white crust on the soil. The plants that are still doing well dont have it. Im pretty sure thats what happened. Whats interesting is that plants of the same age and size are still perfectly fine.

Just a few questions bout that...
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1) How long did it take for the "crust" to develop?
2) Did you notice any mushrooms or toad stools coming out of it?
3) What "soil" are you using? (is it actual soil, in the ground?)
4) How big were the plants when you did this?
5) Got pics?

 

[Nwtnorthman]

Its organic container soil. The crust developed in about a week. This is one one of the plants affected.

 

[lek]

do you know that some growers use high quality fish fertilizer in hydroponic system?  
you need much more Oxygen in root zone. 
 

 

[solid7]

Did you "leech" the plants immediately after you added the fish fertilizer? If so, how did you do it?

 

[JoynersHotPeppers]

I am voting for the soil over fish fert. It is almost impossible to burn or over fert using it even at much higher level than the suggested ratios. 

 

[solid7]

I am voting for the soil over fish fert. It is almost impossible to burn or over fert using it even at much higher level than the suggested ratios.

Yeah, agreed.
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That mix has a lot of peat and wood products in it. If one were to try to flood it, in an attempt to flush out something, it would certainly have the effect of both waterlogging, and compacting.