Plants bent over/curling up

pezza · Jun 23, 2020

Hi,

So I've been growing chillis for a few years and have had pretty good success.

But the other day I came out to find my chillis had started to bend over. I'd feed them 2 days before and the soil was still pretty damp so I cant water them again.

I've tried searching the forum but can't find anything

I've never had this issue before and don't know how to fix it. I've had over watering before but the leaves usually go yellow so I don't think its over watering.

Has anyone seen this before? It's not that they are big and falling over they had been upright fine. The stems are hard and it's like they are curling up.

Any help is greatly welcome!!

karoo · Jun 23, 2020

They do look healthy, but it does look as if they are a bit too tall , as if they had a growth spurt and are not strong enough to support themselves.
Stop feeding , slow on the water , maybe trim back a bit and give good light . If under lights , bring lights closer.
My 2 cents worth.

pezza · Jun 23, 2020

Hey Karoo,

Thanks for the quick reply. I can't really trim them back they are really young plants and quite small still. I tried to prop them up but the stems are so hard it feels like they are going to snap if i force it to stand upright.

Its weird I've never seen this before usually they lean to the side if they are too tall but this is like they are actually curling up.

I have tomato plants as well and the branches on them look like pigs tails they have curled up so tight

The_NorthEast_ChileMan · Jun 23, 2020

karoo said:
They do look healthy, but it does look as if they are a bit too tall , as if they had a growth spurt and are not strong enough to support themselves.
Stop feeding , slow on the water , maybe trim back a bit and give good light . If under lights , bring lights closer.
My 2 cents worth.

Have to agree with Karoo especially bolded/underlined above - Media looks SOAKED. What is the growing media you're using?

pezza · Jun 23, 2020

Hey Chileman,

I haven't watered them for 3 days now the soil just isn't drying out like it usually does.

I'm thinking maybe there was too much feed in my last feed mix and too much of something has made the stems curl as the tomatoes I'm growing have done the same thing and I use the same feed.

The weather here is going to be hot again this week so hopefully the soil will dry out and I can go back to the usual water and feed routine.

Thanks for the advice guys

The_NorthEast_ChileMan · Jun 23, 2020

pezza said:
Hey Chileman,

I haven't watered them for 3 days now the soil just isn't drying out like it usually does.

I'll ask again.......

The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
What is the growing media you're using?

Karpasruuti · Jun 23, 2020

karoo said:
They do look healthy, but it does look as if they are a bit too tall , as if they had a growth spurt and are not strong enough to support themselves.
Stop feeding , slow on the water , maybe trim back a bit and give good light . If under lights , bring lights closer.
My 2 cents worth.

It may be too much far red. They start to stretch.

luvmesump3pp3rz · Jun 23, 2020

have these plants been outside in direct sun for a while? or were they just moved from inside to outside? i also agree that its possible they were overwatered.

pezza · Jun 24, 2020

The_NorthEast_ChileMan said:
I'll ask again.......

Sorry dude forgot to answer that. They are in a mix of home compost and fertiliser from a garden centre. To be honest its the first year I've used this fertiliser, I usually just use home made compost so maybe theres too much nutrients with the added feed?!?!

luvmesump3pp3rz said:
have these plants been outside in direct sun for a while? or were they just moved from inside to outside? i also agree that its possible they were overwatered.

They have been outside for a couple of months now but the weather in the UK has been random and crap this last week so they might have had a bit of a shock as to whats going on.

So, checked on them this morning they have started to stand back up so putting this down to too much water/feed like you all said.

Cheers guys appreciate the advice

The_NorthEast_ChileMan · Jun 24, 2020

pezza said:
Sorry dude forgot to answer that. They are in a mix of home compost and fertiliser from a garden centre. To be honest its the first year I've used this fertiliser, I usually just use home made compost so maybe theres too much nutrients with the added feed?!?!

The reason for my question is your growing media looks compacted and saturated. Along with nutes & water the roots need oxygen and compacted media holds water preventing 02 from reaching them. A potting mix, I use a peat based with perlite and allow it to dry out before watering.