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New Growth Curling/Bumpy

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Garyuu X

After a couple failed attempts at growing my first plants, I have learned a lot, both from the experience and from this community as I have never attempted any sort of gardening before. I have recently had success with my current grow and am checking in with the community for how to deal with this curling/bumpy new growth I started noticing about a week ago. I read through the forums and found that it usually is a calcium or magnesium deficiency or in some cases a pest problem.
 
A couple of days ago I sprinkled on a small amount of garden lime on top of the soil in the pots and then watered it in and so far it looks like the problem hasn't gotten any worse. Just wondering if I have done the right thing in treating this issue. I know garden lime is also used to raise the pH of the soil, I didn't want to add too much although my soil mix does have peat moss mixed with it which can drop the pH. Just wanted to deal with this issue before it gets worse. Anything I can do outside of just monitoring their condition over time, or have I made the wrong move in treating them?
 
I have been moving them into more and more sunlight after I transplanted them into bigger pots and they now spend most of the day in direct sunlight and seem well adjusted. This pic is of the Aji Lemon which it seems to be affecting the most as the picture more clearly shows the problem areas around the new growth. Only have 2 plants, both Aji Lemons.
l1NkRBO.jpg

 
I have not started anything to deal with potential pests but in the coming days I am going to set up some yellow cardboard slathered with Vaseline and a small container with apple cider vinegar. Going to reread the posts and articles I read on these methods before I do this though to ensure I've got it all right.
 
Thanks THP Community!
 
To me, the lower leaves look a little light green in colour. If this is the case, you should feed the chilli plant every week. Start off with a weak solution and then increase the strength as the plant gets bigger. If you get a chilli or tomato food, it should contain all the calcium and magnesium your plant needs.
 
I use http://amzn.to/2k5GLDk
 
It's not a calcium or magnesium deficiency. That tends to be a catch-all diagnosis around here, when nobody knows the real cause.  Be careful before pursuing a course of action based on that determination.
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To be honest, I don't see anything really terribly wrong with that plant.  Give it a week in the sun, and see what happens.
 
I have noticed the leaves going a little pale since I moved them more into the sun. Wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing as I thought it may have just been its initial reaction to getting more sun. I water them every 3-4 days as its summer here in Australia and have been feeding them every 1-2 weeks with a liquid seaweed fertilizer (Seasol) and I also mixed in a couple small handfuls of chicken manure fertilizer into the soil when I moved them to the bigger pots thinking that would be enough to feed them. I frequent the forums to improve my knowledge and see some posts of people over-feeding/watering them so I have been keeping an eye on them for those signs as I have over watered before, but this is something new to me.
 
But I guess it is time for a fertilizer watering on the weekend too so I will go and do that and keep an eye on them and see how it goes. But as I said, I noticed this curling/bumping happening and wanted to see what I can do to correct it as soon as possible, even though it isn't a big issue. Thanks for the help guys.
 
The curling/bumpy looks to me to be the way new growth looks when they are growing fast. Light green could be light, slightly anemic, or a little heavy on nitrogen. Chicken/poultry manure is notorious for being heavy on N. All in all I would leave well enough alone and give her a few weeks to grow out of it. I'm running my plants a little heavy on N to get some size before flowering. The new growth curls (pic #1) but in a few days they grow out and lay flat (pic #2).

 
After moving a plant to the sun leaves can get lighter, they can even get sunburned which typically manifests itself as white blotches on your leaves, I don't see any of that so you should be good. I wouldn't worry about buying it with anything out of the ordinary and would have to agree with Karoo.

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Doesn't look bad to me either. Give it some time. Don't do anything drastic.

Also, in the grow down they are using Aji Lemons and it seems quite a few others have an issue with them curling about the time they get their 2nd and 3rd set of true leaves, then it just goes away on its own. Maybe just a bad gene with that strain.
 
Garyuu X said:
I have noticed the leaves going a little pale since I moved them more into the sun. Wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing as I thought it may have just been its initial reaction to getting more sun. I water them every 3-4 days as its summer here in Australia and have been feeding them every 1-2 weeks with a liquid seaweed fertilizer (Seasol) and I also mixed in a couple small handfuls of chicken manure fertilizer into the soil when I moved them to the bigger pots thinking that would be enough to feed them. I frequent the forums to improve my knowledge and see some posts of people over-feeding/watering them so I have been keeping an eye on them for those signs as I have over watered before, but this is something new to me.
 
But I guess it is time for a fertilizer watering on the weekend too so I will go and do that and keep an eye on them and see how it goes. But as I said, I noticed this curling/bumping happening and wanted to see what I can do to correct it as soon as possible, even though it isn't a big issue. Thanks for the help guys.
Click to expand...
The change in sunlight can explain the lightness in the leaves as others have said. It can also explain the curling.
 
The bumps may be calcium deficiency, but its not that bad. Some plant have very crinkly leaves and still produce good chillies.
 
If you liquid feed, make sure you get a feed that has all the required nutrients in the correct ratios. Feeding plants with excesses of some nutrients can cause othe nutrient lock-outs.
 
This Chilli Focus label will give you an idea of what I use, there will probably be an equivalent product in your market.
 
 
Thanks. All this sounds rather reassuring that things aren't that bad and mostly to be expected. It was just this new set of leaves both of my plants got recently that had me concerned. It just seems a little daunting as this is the furthest in growing I have gotten and being unsure of what results of these certain issues causes. For now I guess I just have to give them a feed and wait and see how they progress.
 
With the fertilizer solution I am using, I had to refer to their website to find the actual nutrient ratios in the feed so I found this document: http://www.seasol.com.au/documents/Product%20Analysis%20Commercial%20Seasol%20Concentrate.pdf
 
From comparing it with the above Chilli Focus feed, Seasol seems to be quite low in Nitrogen and Phosphorous and slightly lower in Potassium but seems to be a bit higher in the other nutrients so I am unsure what these higher nutes concentrations might cause. The organic soil mix I used plus the slow release ferts should compensate but overall I don't see it is that much of an issue.
 
The seasol has really really high levels of some of the macro-nutrients. I would expect any plant fed regularly with seasol to die. (It also has a high pH).
 
If you were diluting it to 1ml per 10 litre you would still be feeding with a crazy amount of sodium, zinc, iron & born. 
 
Did your previous plants, the ones that died, turn brown and yellow starting from the tips and edges of the leaves? - Oldest leaves first and then next oldest? If so,that was sodium poisoning from the seasol.
 
Last plants didn't even get past seedling stage cause of damping off, over watered. I learned from my mistakes then. I have been using it as directed by using 15ml per 9 litres and scaled it down to 2-3 litres to water and I did notice the oldest growth is getting a little yellow. From learning that I will go grab something more appropriate like tomato focused feed as I have read on these forums they need similar things and it might be more readily available. Seasol was just recommended by my mum who uses it on all her gardens, but hers are more decorative plants/flowers.
 
Would it be a good idea to try and flush the soil by letting water run through it for a while to wash away some of the fertilizer then?
 
Am I correct in reading the ratio on the Chilli Focus being 3 : 1 : 4.4 of Nitrogen:Phosphorous:Potassium?
 
3-1-2 is a universal formula for just about any plant. If you're off a little, don't sweat it. Don't use a fertilizer that is higher in P than N or K.

Fish emulsion or Hydrolosate is a great choice.
 
Garyuu X said:
Last plants didn't even get past seedling stage cause of damping off, over watered. I learned from my mistakes then. I have been using it as directed by using 15ml per 9 litres and scaled it down to 2-3 litres to water and I did notice the oldest growth is getting a little yellow. From learning that I will go grab something more appropriate like tomato focused feed as I have read on these forums they need similar things and it might be more readily available. Seasol was just recommended by my mum who uses it on all her gardens, but hers are more decorative plants/flowers.
 
Would it be a good idea to try and flush the soil by letting water run through it for a while to wash away some of the fertilizer then?
 
Am I correct in reading the ratio on the Chilli Focus being 3 : 1 : 4.4 of Nitrogen:Phosphorous:Potassium?
Click to expand...
Yes, tomato fertiliser should be safer. Start with a weak mix and increase the strength as the plant grows.
 
NPK means different things in different countries. Take care when reading labels and posts from people on the internet.
 
The Chilli Focus label I posted earlier has dual labelling for UK & Ireland. I think the USA uses the same NPK as the UK. I'm not sure about Australia.
 
The Irish NPK is easier to understand: N=N : P=P : K=K. The Irish NPK is 2.95 : 0.42 : 3.66 - You can see all these figures in brackets on the label.
 
The UK NPK: N=N : P=P2O5 : K=K2O. The UK NPK is 3 : 1 : 4.4 (rounded up).
 
Hope this makes sense.
 
EDIT: spelling
 
In Australia our NPK are usually total amounts of each
If you did Chemistry ages 16-17 you should be able to pick up how to calculate total mole of each element pretty easily. If you didn't it may take half a day of practicing the sums to get it
 
I did a couple semesters in chemistry at university too so I understand pretty much all of it, just not educated in its applications in this sense, I was more medical science. But that was about 5 years ago so my knowledge of it isn't the best anymore.
 
Well its good to know all this and I will be a lot more educated for my future purchase. Thanks guys
 
So here is an update on the state of my plants. I went and bought some new fertilizer trying for something as close to the chilli focus as I could find and after a good 20 mins of scouring I found the one. So the weekend after my last post I gave my plants a feed with this new fertilizer and I saw the positive results within a few days. They had a growth spurt, the biggest amount of growth in such a short amount of time since I have had them. The leaves got much greener and larger, the top of the plant started to branch and new shoots/leaves are sprouting from all the older growths leaf stems. I can also see some buds forming on the newer growth. I was concerned about the health of my plants for a while there but I have learned to stop worrying and since they got a better fertilizer it's as if they grow themselves lol. Thanks to all you guys who helped me, here are some pics to show their condition now. I have since had to stake them as the taller one was getting a bit top heavy and wobbly because of it.
 
Can't remember how I embeded the images like last time so these will have to do.
 
http://imgur.com/a/cKmCE
 
http://imgur.com/a/7FyHL
 
http://imgur.com/a/sz355
 
I had the same thing happen with my plants one year and was really worried and it ended up not even being a problem. With normal care once the plants matured they smoothed out.

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