Not enough drainage?

Gargoyle91 · Mar 12, 2015

I transplanted these guys last Saturday into these 10 gallon plant bags. They are starting to look a bit wilted I have only watered them once the soil is moist but not wet you can see in the pic's where i dug into them to check , I'm wondering if I should add perlite to the mix and if so at what ratio? Last pic is the soil I went with.

nzchili · Mar 12, 2015

Looks ok, I would just give it water..the roots on the plant wont yet go down very deep so it wont have much access to the moisture at the bottom.

Just give it a little bit of water..not too much. If that was my plant I would water it in a heartbeat..looks like your far from overwatering

moruga welder · Mar 12, 2015

did you get the plants from a nursery ? :onfire:

Gargoyle91 · Mar 12, 2015

moruga welder said:
did you get the plants from a nursery ?

Home Depot impulse buy..... They had Cayenne, Serrano and Jalapeno

moruga welder · Mar 12, 2015

their just a little shocked thats all , did you plant them in the eve. when sun was off them ? give some water they'll be fine . :onfire:

Hawaiianero · Mar 12, 2015

Yeah looks like transplant shock. If it were up to me I would give them shade for a couple days until the roots recover and maybe top them too.

Gargoyle91 · Mar 12, 2015

moruga welder said:
their just a little shocked thats all , did you plant them in the eve. when sun was off them ? give some water they'll be fine .

Thanks! Yea it was evening took a few beers to convince myself to get out there and replant them lol

Hawaiianero said:
Yeah looks like transplant shock. If it were up to me I would give them shade for a couple days until the roots recover and maybe top them too.

You may be correct I just looked at them now that the Sun is going down and they have perked up weird "it's only been like an hour since I took the pic's.".

meinchoh · Mar 12, 2015

I'm wondering if your soil isn't compacted. It sure looks as if you could use more perlite and I can't tell how "heavy" that bag of Paydirt is. Is it like a top soil in weight and texture?

Nuclieye · Mar 12, 2015

Consider the plastic will hold moisture long and not drain as well as fabric bags. The may get warmer also. Never used them but think soil moisture could be difficult to keep stable.

Gargoyle91 · Mar 12, 2015

meinchoh said:
I'm wondering if your soil isn't compacted. It sure looks as if you could use more perlite and I can't tell how "heavy" that bag of Paydirt is. Is it like a top soil in weight and texture?

2 Cube feet 40 pounds if that's what you mean

meinchoh · Mar 12, 2015

I guess I mean dense. Not like a good compost/peat mix, which is on the lighter side.

Gargoyle91 · Mar 12, 2015

meinchoh said:
I guess I mean dense. Not like a good compost/peat mix, which is on the lighter side.

Feels almost like dry coffee grounds if that helps It seems to drain but stays moist, If I had it in a Flower pot in the Sun it would dry out in a day or so.

meinchoh · Mar 12, 2015

I looked up the product on their website and I'm not sure that it's a potting soil. Also, after 5 days since transplanting, I'd think that they would have recovered from transplant shock, as you said that they have just started to wilt. Any plants that I have had that have undergone transplant shock have been fine after about 2 days and the symptoms of transplant shock were almost immediate. I'm still saying that it's a soil issue and you should get some aeration going on. Of course, I could be way off!

Swampy_NZ · Mar 12, 2015

The roots probably haven't even begun to grow much into the new medium yet so I dont think it has anything to do with drainage.They are probably a little stressed.I would give them a good watering around the original root ball and leave them be

Gargoyle91 · Mar 12, 2015

Could it have anything to do with direct Sunlight I bet they are green house grown, The reason I say that is they are stiffing up now that the sun has went down it was close to 90 here today.

Swampy_NZ · Mar 12, 2015

Gargoyle91 said:
Could it have anything to do with direct Sunlight I bet they are green house grown, The reason I say that is they are stiffing up now that the sun has went down it was close to 90 here today.

Could well be.The combination of the transplant plus extra light may have shocked them bad.Give them a drink and put them in an area of indirect sunlight for a few days and see how they go

hogleg · Mar 12, 2015

IMO they are young plants from under shade cloth likely and still hardening off. 90 in direct sun sounds like a bit much for them. I say get them more shade when its that hot and they'll snap out of it.

Dulac · Mar 12, 2015

hogleg said:
IMO they are young plants from under shade cloth likely and still hardening off. 90 in direct sun sounds like a bit much for them. I say get them more shade when its that hot and they'll snap out of it.

Yeah, that could be the problem.