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kylecivicsi

So on a whim, after viewing a video on DIY earthboxes, I went out and built a couple and filled one with herbs, and another with peppers. The herbs are doing excellent, and are a welcomed replacement to their dried and old counterparts.

However, the peppers aren't looking quite as good. I think I may have put too many plants in the container, though all seem to grow at an alarming rate. I have a jalapeno, an orange hab, a cayenne, a red bell, and a poblano, all in an 18 gal DIY earthbox. They are growing pods (especially the jalapeno and hab) but the plants themselves don't look very healthy. Please forgive what I am sure is a rookie mistake, but do you all have any idea what is causing this kind of damage? Almost all of the leaves look like this, these are probably the worst cases I could find though. Thanks in advance!

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what all kinds of ferts have you used, how much do they get watered, what kind of soil are they in? My biggest question is do you spray them with any sort of insecticidal soaps or anything of that nature?
 
No fertilizers (except the ones in miracle grow container soil), It has a pretty good size reservoir under it (about 6" in the bottom of the container) so I top it off every 2-3 days, and I have never used any pesticides or anything.

Thanks!
 
:welcome: I really don't know what's causing that, but I'm surprised more people haven't commented with ideas.

Come on people!
 
We grow peppers in homemade earth growers. First off that's way too many peppers in there! Only have 2 possibly 3 if they are smaller in general. As to why your plants look so rough I am not sure. Did you put the recommended strip of fertilizer down the center of the planting box? I would have avoided the miracle grow mix myself but not to worry about it now.
 
I may be wrong but it looks just like my Bacterial leaf spot problem, and it can make a comeback by staying dormant in the surrounding soil, and even inside the seeds of those pods (but those can be treated easily).

After 3 years of dealing with it i'm learning that prevention is much easier than erradication but you can still bring it under control. You can zap all of the leaves with a cooper based spray a couple of times spaced out, then swap with a different bactericide/fungicide to keep the copper from building up. You can also zap it with serenade which uses beneficial bacteria that crowds out the bad bacteria. You have to space out the different sprays because copper will kill Serenades beneficial bacteria. Since we're at mid-season already i think a spray or two with copper, or another bactericide, should be enough for this year.

Remember to do the prevention thing next year by keeping your plants spaced out, keeping the leaves dry, and a couple of prevention sprays between the early and mid season.

Related links:
Ortho Disease B Gone Copper: http://www.google.co...iw=1920&bih=940
Serenade: http://www.serenadeg...labels-and-msds
Light duty pressure sprayer: http://www.walmart.c...prayer/13376324

Related forum threads:
- http://www.thehotpep...on-leavesideas/
- http://www.thehotpep...ase-deficiency/
- http://forums.garden...1534210875.html
 
Thanks for the help everyone! I quickly found out that They are way overcrowded... I was judging by how tiny the plants were when I got them, and now they are growing quite large (lesson learned!). it has also been in the high 90's with a heat index of over 110 for the past week and a half here, could that also contribute?
 
kylecivicsi said:
Thanks for the help everyone! I quickly found out that They are way overcrowded... I was judging by how tiny the plants were when I got them, and now they are growing quite large (lesson learned!). it has also been in the high 90's with a heat index of over 110 for the past week and a half here, could that also contribute?
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Not sure about temps but i know humidity and low air circulation among crowded plants makes the problem worse. Leaves also stay wet longer when they're stacked against each other, a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.

Just remember to keep the leaves dry by watering the soil only.
 
+1 on everything Jetchuka said. The only thing you will probably see with the high heat and humidity is your plants wilt quite a bit during the worst parts of the day(defense mechanism), and then perk back up at night when the sun and temps go down. Next year you may want to add some extra perlite to whatever mix you decide to use. It will cause more drainage, which may mean you need to water a little more often, but if your soil is drying out quicker then it's just that much harder for bacteria to grow.
 
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