Not doing so Hot - Burning leafs, White powder buildup

Ninjaneer

Ninjaneer

Hello everyone, this is my first swing at growing a Ghost Chili plant and it was doing well until recently.  I cant seem to get a straight answer for the following symptoms:
  • Leaf browning
  • White powder buildup along main leaf veins (causing browning in same areas)
  • Leaf brittleness

Here are some images
  1. http://tinypic.com/r/2w3rtw1/5
  2. http://tinypic.com/r/6ef8t4/5

  3. http://tinypic.com/r/2wf09ol/5
I mixed http://www.scotts.com/smg/goprod/miracle-gro-continuous-release-plant-food/prod70290/ into the soil when I planted it.  about a month ago It started with mild leaf tip burning and I read I should add calcium.  I used "Cal-Mag" (http://www.amazon.com/Botanicare-BCCMGAL-CAL-MAG-Plus-Quart/dp/B000J2CUPW) but it didn't seem to help much.  

It looked like it could potentially be a fungus so I sprayed diluted Neem oil on the leaves and soil the last two weekends (once each weekend) which looks like it retarded the progress of the white powdery build up on the leaves.
 
I haven't yet checked the Ph of the soil, any tips or testers that work well?

Thanks
 
Yeah, bad fert burn it seems. I'd  clip off all the bad leaves, Dont feed it anything , just water for quite a while, then pot it up
 
You can try flushing some of the ferts out of the soil by watering heavily from the top and letting the water drain and leach them out. Definitely burning them though. Cal Mag only needs to be added for calcium deficiencies which would show up as leaf curl. What soil did you use originally? Was it a pre-fertilized soil mix?
 
Severe necrosis like that makes me think there is a pathogen. Stressed plants are far more susceptible to disease, so over fertilizing could be the root cause. Try spraying the leaves with dilute H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide). That will help a lot if it is bacterial, and might help a little if it is fungal.
 
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Reactions: PHB
+1 for PepperWhisperer
 
I'm a "over-fert guy" and my fert ratio is like twice yours and my pepper leaves don't look like that (check my glog to see how over fert leaves look like).
 
Awesome, thanks everyone.  
 
Lol! noted, using Imgur next time.
 
Its been about 3 days since I flushed the 5gal pot and its pumping out a ton of new leafs.  Soil is still very wet at the core
 
Any ideas/tips for improving the drainage on an already potted plant? like adding rocks/woodchips into the root system or base of the pot?
 
Not much to do with an already potted plant other than potting up into dif. Soil. Or you could pull the plant, lightly rinse the soil from the roots and pot it back in to different soil.
 
You could make more holes in your pot, like convert it into some kind of AirPot. And you can set a fan to dry the top and air.
 
Thanks again guys
 
 
PHB said:
You could make more holes in your pot, like convert it into some kind of AirPot. And you can set a fan to dry the top and air.
Click to expand...
^^^ I did just that a few days ago.  I used a hardened dowel and made 6 holes straight down around the plant.  I revolved the dowel so it made a cone like shape while it pushed the dirt away.  I also added some pine wood shavings into the holes so that the volume stays less dense as the soil resettles.  I also put more holes in the bucket.

the plant is really cranking out new leaves however, they're curling! check it out:
http://imgur.com/a/fMhDl
 
I did find one major mistake: this is the soil brand that is taking up most of the 5gal bucket now: http://www.scotts.com/smg/goprod/miracle-gro-organic-choice-garden-soil/prod70308/
The gardening soil is definitely packing down on the roots.  the soil level has dropped about 2 inches since transplanting.

What do you guys think?  Should I transplant once more using potted soil?
or I was thinking I could leave it and install some permanent air columns with like a meshed material
 
which route would be better for the plant you think?
 
Uggh, that MG soil already has plenty of NPK in it...and you added how much of the 10-10-10 shake and feed? Your new leaves still look like crap, do another major flush with plain water, or just repot. The fert you used is extended release so it is going to be tough to wash it out of there.
 
Don't take this too hard, the MG marketing material makes it seem like there is no such thing as too much fertilizer...which I guess is true if you are in the business of selling fertilizer.
 
Yeah, no worries I'm really relieved to get some straight answers and actual diagnosis.

I've done 2 major washes already and the soil has is still soaked since 5/15/2013.  I think I'll run into other problems (soaking wet soil for 3+ weeks, and even more soil compaction = no air) if I do another wash. I'm thinking transplanting it completely is going to be the last hail Mary play at saving this plant in the long run.  It's still pretty strong it should make it through another transplanting.
 
I've never transplanted a plant this large before and I've read that I should remove the soil completely any dead media.  What hasn't been clear is: how should you put the root system into the new soil.  I'm just guessing that I should lightly pack the soil onto the exposed roots and then put it all into the new pot.  
 
Does anyone see an issue with this? or have a better method?
 
You may have mites  get out the 30 power magnifier and look hard also  look at the undersides of the leaves if you see a copper bronze tint you have mites!!!!!   NEEM oil and dog tick and flea shampoo in a spray bottle will kill them,  trim the damaged leaves and stems off(destroy them), distorted leaves have been poisoned.
 
On the white powder and mites note, I think I'm experiencing something similar (except the burns).
Looking through a 28X mag glass, I do not see anything special just magnified white deposits, nothing moves, no copper or bronze like coloration.
Could those still be mites or other pests ? I also tried to use a tooth pick on the white areas but nothing comes down, I only end up scratching the leaf.
In case this is not a pest thing could this be related to fert ? could this be a bacterial or fungal infection?
 
The powdery buildup seems to have subsided completely.  I've been using a Neem oil based anti fungicide, pesticide and miticide http://www.ebay.com/itm/360372980691?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649 once weekly; coating the entire plant tissue and top soil.  It looks to have been very effective.
 

There's a leaf explosion going on now (4 images in album): http://imgur.com/cKHMTY2,1ALd3rX,lFJdQwa,lmIlcGU#0
Not sure if this natural, they're growing alarmingly fast and very densely with some deformity in about 60% of the new leafs (if the plant dosen't fruit/ dies these changes are still really interesting to watch despite my best efforts)
 
about 1/2 the new leafs are still curling others look much better after the wash.  I'm still going to transplant it because the soil is STILL wet since the washes last week.  It recently got hotter and humid here in Long Island so its much closer to what this guy is native to.  Also small flying bugs have started making their home in the plant, I think they're just gnats by the way they fly around.
 
Does anyone have tips on transplanting techniques for a larger plant like this?  I'm going to re pot it into another 5gal with propper potting soil instead of the Gardening  top soil.  Any brand names or soil preparation tips will help out greatly.
 
Thanks in advance :)
 
lucilanga said:
On the white powder and mites note, I think I'm experiencing something similar (except the burns).
Looking through a 28X mag glass, I do not see anything special just magnified white deposits, nothing moves, no copper or bronze like coloration.
Could those still be mites or other pests ? I also tried to use a tooth pick on the white areas but nothing comes down, I only end up scratching the leaf.
In case this is not a pest thing could this be related to fert ? could this be a bacterial or fungal infection?
Click to expand...
 Lucilanga, could you post pictures of the white powder?  
 
Certainly,
I've got quite a few of them.
I think that might be edema, but it's occurring on different plants, in different places around my house where I grow peppers.
I do not think it's something that is spreading.
 
 
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