Hey All!!! Got one I've personally never experienced before...
Treated a week or two ago with a small dose of liquid nitrogen, as the plants showed very clear signs of NIT deff. (Yellowing leaves all over the plant, slowed growth, etc) Haven't had a heck of a lot of trouble with pests on these plants so far this season, minus a small bout with some spider mites that I managed to nip in the bud early, a solitary snail (who is very happily munching the apartments ground cover plants downstairs with his hundreds of buddies as we speak ^.^) , and two or three leaf hoppers I had to scare off.
This 2nd Yr Jal plant was surrounded by a Hab (young, first season), a 7 Pot(2nd yr), Catnip, Rosemary, Thyme, Lemon Sage, Spearmint, Agave, and a Desert Rose. There is also the start of a compost pile (currently building volume inside a 5Gal bucket with tarp cover and drain holes, etc)
Water is city tap, (Water report - http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Water/WaterQualityReports2015/wqr_may2015.pdf)left outside in a 2 Gal plastic watering can (open lid) to evap off the chlorine etc, for at least 48 hours prior to watering. We have had a recent MASSIVE influx of rain a few weeks ago, with a few smaller showers since. Soil (or just water) PH coming off the drain holes of the plants is 6.2, at 1400PPM (measured with a standard PH and TDS probe, electric, and accurate to within .1PH and 50PPM as checked against the local water reports). Weather has recently been heating up rather quickly (Austin) over the past few days, and I JUST got done picking 4 beautiful red Jals off this plant and 4 pods off the 7 pot. All Plants are growing in 5 Gal Buckets (white) with 1/2" drain holes 1/2" above the bottom of the bucket (I salvaged them from my previous Hydro setup).
Porch is 1/3 shaded at high noon, on a NNW facing balcony. Plants were recently spread out (as compared to grouped on the sunniest spot) for additional noon shade from the hottest part of the day, and the only sign of possible pests I have seen is tiny not moving white specks (look almost like salt sprinkled on the leaves, but does not wipe off and shows no sign of insect or mite at 50x magnification)
The plants are boderline underwatered, I usually water them about 12 - 24 Hrs after they show signs of wilting (usually because im lazy or dont want to water mid day in the heat) .
The past week/s since the heavy rains I have been going easy on the watering, as the pepper 'shells' seemed to be getting too soft. In fact, one of the 7 pot pods I harvested had to get composted w/o the seeds because of internal (no outside damage) mold I found when I cut 'er open. The peppers seemed to be firming up nicely, until this morning I found this... Thoughts???
I use 10-10-10 Slow release ferts for the moment, only until my Comp. pile gets larger and processed enough to start amending into the soil...
Any advice or questions are VERY welcome, as this is my PRIZE Jal plant!
Treated a week or two ago with a small dose of liquid nitrogen, as the plants showed very clear signs of NIT deff. (Yellowing leaves all over the plant, slowed growth, etc) Haven't had a heck of a lot of trouble with pests on these plants so far this season, minus a small bout with some spider mites that I managed to nip in the bud early, a solitary snail (who is very happily munching the apartments ground cover plants downstairs with his hundreds of buddies as we speak ^.^) , and two or three leaf hoppers I had to scare off.
This 2nd Yr Jal plant was surrounded by a Hab (young, first season), a 7 Pot(2nd yr), Catnip, Rosemary, Thyme, Lemon Sage, Spearmint, Agave, and a Desert Rose. There is also the start of a compost pile (currently building volume inside a 5Gal bucket with tarp cover and drain holes, etc)
Water is city tap, (Water report - http://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Water/WaterQualityReports2015/wqr_may2015.pdf)left outside in a 2 Gal plastic watering can (open lid) to evap off the chlorine etc, for at least 48 hours prior to watering. We have had a recent MASSIVE influx of rain a few weeks ago, with a few smaller showers since. Soil (or just water) PH coming off the drain holes of the plants is 6.2, at 1400PPM (measured with a standard PH and TDS probe, electric, and accurate to within .1PH and 50PPM as checked against the local water reports). Weather has recently been heating up rather quickly (Austin) over the past few days, and I JUST got done picking 4 beautiful red Jals off this plant and 4 pods off the 7 pot. All Plants are growing in 5 Gal Buckets (white) with 1/2" drain holes 1/2" above the bottom of the bucket (I salvaged them from my previous Hydro setup).
Porch is 1/3 shaded at high noon, on a NNW facing balcony. Plants were recently spread out (as compared to grouped on the sunniest spot) for additional noon shade from the hottest part of the day, and the only sign of possible pests I have seen is tiny not moving white specks (look almost like salt sprinkled on the leaves, but does not wipe off and shows no sign of insect or mite at 50x magnification)
The plants are boderline underwatered, I usually water them about 12 - 24 Hrs after they show signs of wilting (usually because im lazy or dont want to water mid day in the heat) .
The past week/s since the heavy rains I have been going easy on the watering, as the pepper 'shells' seemed to be getting too soft. In fact, one of the 7 pot pods I harvested had to get composted w/o the seeds because of internal (no outside damage) mold I found when I cut 'er open. The peppers seemed to be firming up nicely, until this morning I found this... Thoughts???
I use 10-10-10 Slow release ferts for the moment, only until my Comp. pile gets larger and processed enough to start amending into the soil...
Any advice or questions are VERY welcome, as this is my PRIZE Jal plant!
