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My ghost chili is thriving but it continues to drop its flowers?

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wombat3131

Banned
I have what appears to be a very healthy ghost pepper plant that is in fairly good conditions, about 85-90 degrees in the day, 40-50% humidity, and about 14 hours of light each day. It has been blooming for a while but cannot seem to hold on to a single flower. Each one just continues to fall off over time. any ideas or tips on what I am doing wrong?
 
Yeah its been driving me crazy for a while!  and yes I have one small fan and a large ceiling fan on high all day. Also on some I read to use a paint brush and try and brush one flower and then brush another to try to pollinate and still I have no luck
 
I had the same problem .


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I tried the paint brush. Nothing works. I had almost givin up when my son said "look dad you have a pepper". Within weeks it was covered with pods. Looked like a Christmas tree.

Be patient, they seem to want things their way and will be fine in the long run.
 
okay thanks, you didn't change anything at all? they just started popping up? Cause I mean mine has been doing this since middle of December.
 
Tomatoes do the same thing. They are refereed to as  false blossoms. but that aside, what are the temps like?
 
like I said I keep the temperature around 85-90 degrees in the day and I don't really pay that much attention during the night because obviously I am sleeping but the grow light is off so it would be significantly cooler I would think.
 
wombat3131 said:
like I said I keep the temperature around 85-90 degrees in the day and I don't really pay that much attention during the night because obviously I am sleeping but the grow light is off so it would be significantly cooler I would think.
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sorry buzzed right past that.
 
I see you're in South Dakota. Middle of January, you are not growing outside, so what kind of indoor lighting are you using?

If using fluorescent lighting, that may be the problem. I may be wrong but I don't think pods will set using fluorescent lighting. I've had good flower production in the past but no pods have developed. Someone else can chime in and give more info, I'm sure.
 
meinchoh said:
I see you're in South Dakota. Middle of January, you are not growing outside, so what kind of indoor lighting are you using?

If using fluorescent lighting, that may be the problem. I may be wrong but I don't think pods will set using fluorescent lighting. I've had good flower production in the past but no pods have developed. Someone else can chime in and give more info, I'm sure.
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They will set, the problem might be the high kelvin from the T5s he's using. I'm kind of thinking if he bought a few of those 3000k bulbs the red ones they would pod up and keep all their flowers. The standard bulbs are 6500k which is meant for vegetative growth and not flowering. Just what I'm thinking.
 
Flower drop probable causes:

1. Day temp too high >95F
2. Night temp too low 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.
 
I am using t5 and with my 6 lamp 4 foot fixture I have 2 3000k bloom bulbs in and 4 6400k grow bulbs. I do have 1 extra bloom bulb and I could center them all over the specific plant?
I feel like fertilizer might be part of the problem. What are some ways (besides obviously fertilizer less) that I can fix this? Calcium?
 
Are they producing pollen at all, or are the stamen sterile?
 
I haven't had much luck producing pollen indoors below 50%RH. The odd time it's creeped over to 51-52% and flowers produce pollen for a day or two. Finally dumped a humidifier in the room. Raising your humidity will also reduce stress on the plant. Check out a VPD chart to see ideal RH at your temperature range.
 
Highly doubt it has anything to do with bulb spectrum.
 
Your lights are high for flouro, the lack of intensity will contribute to the problem. If the ratio on the feed is equal, re: 20-20-20, I'd be looking for something with less nitrogen.
 
That is a good point to bring up, my other peppers obviously have pollen but this particular plant doesn't have any at all it appears.
 
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