Random Grow Questions...

bigbodybussey

bigbodybussey

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the site and am extremely impressed by all of the information that I have found. I am not new to growing peppers, however, like in everything there is always room for improvement. Here are a couple of random questions that I have...

Is bone meal the ideal thing to stimulate root growth and if so, what is the best way to apply it?

I live in south Georgia (where humidity is always high), this year almost all of my plants seem to have developed some sort of plant disease...there is usually a small discolored spot on a leaf which is followed by yellowing and eventually falling off the plant...I would post a picture but can't seem to figure out how. This seems to be brought on by the recent daily thunderstorms and high humidity - is there anything to spray on the plants to help lessen the amount of leaves affected by this disease? Peroxide has been mentioned in other posts, however, does the ph of my city water need to be within a certain range for overall effectiveness to occur?

Just for reference, this year I have planted:
4 year old Thai - probably on its last leg
2 orange habanero
2 Caribbean "nuclear" 1 in a smart pot and already has over 60 peppers
3 bhut jolokia - seed from Neil at hippyseedco
1 Thai hot with some voluntary Thai/black pearl hybrids
1 Nagabon also from hippyseedco
1 two year old bird's eye
1 unknown hybrid (local nursery selling red habs and it looks like a cayenne jalapeño hybride
1 unknown hybrid also a supposed red hab that looks like a Serrano with absolutely minimum heat

I had a promising start in january after buying butch t, moruga scorpion, scorpion, fatali, naga morich, chocolate bhut, Nagabon, and tepin - however, after low germination, forces of nature, and a hell spawned armadillo had its way all except the aforementioned seedlings died.

I am now awaiting my 4 Trinidad scorpions, 4 7 pot dougla's, and 4 7 pot reds from chileplants.com
To optimize a tough start to the 2012 season.

Anyway, nice to meet everyone and can someone please shed light on posting pictures...
 
Could be a disease or bacteria causing the spots, browning and leaf drops. Do a google image search for bacteria leaf spot and see if the images look like what you are seeing on your plants Heaps of copper based anti fungicides that you can spray on as liquid or powder to dust on to stop the spread to other plants/leaves. There's probably some chemical treatments as well.

Phosphorus is needed for good root growth, bone meal is a good source of that if growing in compost or in the ground. Best to mix it into the soil before transplanting.
If plants are already established in a more sterile potting mix and in containers already, best to use a soluble fertilizer that's high in phosphorus like miricle gro or some other chem fertilizer as bone meal takes a long time to break down and even longer when not in the ground with heaps of organic matter, and you need the phosphorous in the early growth period.
 
PM a member here by the name of Pepper Guru...he is from Georgia and knows his stuff...he can probably help you..

the reason I say this is disease's are regional....we have a thrip explosion here in north Texas this year and the aphids and spider mites aren't that bad...
 
I messaged him...will see what he says.

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These are the spot, now this is primarily on the older leaves towards the bottom and not necessarily new growth....any ID? Any known effective treatment? <i.e. - copper mentioned above? or should I try 3% peroxide?
 
Hopefully you sent pepper guru those pics too. I am not as experienced as many others on here so I tend to not give any advice. I will tell you that if PG tells you its a bacteria or virus of some kind I am almost certain he will recommend Bonide spray. Its harmless to the plants and fruit. In either case good luck and post back up here with results. Hopefully they pull through.
Aaron
 
:welcome:[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)] [/background][background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]to THP - [/background][background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Greetings from Metrolina in North Carolina ! [/background]
[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]&hellip;..&ldquo;The taste is followed by a vicious hot spicy bite&hellip;&hellip;" [/background] :flamethrower:[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)] [/background] :onfire:
 
Funny thing is, I see ppl advocating copper a lot on here. While it is an effective disease treatment and prevention method, SULPHUR is far better. Beyond that a combo between the two is BEST. Generally I use heavy copper for bacterial and heavy sulphur for fungus. HAVING SAID THAT, the BEST way to avoid bad strains of fungi/bacteria is to already have an active soil food web with BILLIONS of cultures of GOOD bacteria/fungi.

I only use "cides" when the bad colonies are out of control. Again, sulphur is best. Its all natural, safe, and works by simply lowering the surface PH of plant foliage. It inhibits the possibility of colonization, period. Use it, it works everytime.



Bone meal is great. Would it be my primary source of nutrients? Hell no. Also it breaks down SLOWLY. Its best to amend your holes or containers with it months before planting in order for it to be available to the plants at all. The best route to providing nutrients to your plants is to think not in terms of feeding your plant, but to think in terms of feeding the soil. Beyond this psychology, its using MANY sources of nutrients in small amounts.
The good news with the plants you showed here in your pics is that its not that serious. Lower leaves are closer to the ground and get signs of disease naturally. Nothing to worry about. Prune em off if you want :)
 
Pepper-Guru said:
Funny thing is, I see ppl advocating copper a lot on here. While it is an effective disease treatment and prevention method, SULPHUR is far better. Beyond that a combo between the two is BEST.
Click to expand...
Yeah it was copper sulphate I was refering to but couldn't remember the name but now I do: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bordeaux_mixture
that's the powder option I mentioned, but the liquid sprays are some other copper compound I think.
 
+1 Pablo and PG - work the bone meal into your containers
at least several weeks before planting. Egg shells in your compost
or crushed and worked into the soil will also provide the Cal.
Same drill there.

I'm not sure how the two compare - PG?

+1 soil web. For more info check biointensive/biodynamic/french intensive
gardening methods. Huge emphasis on soil building and prep there.
 
Paul, our family has chickens so we eat lots of fresh eggs. Needless to say, our compost pile is always full of egg shell. Along with crustaceans etc, it makes for continuous available cal :) Not to mention all my container soils get recomposted over and over. Its an on going process and therefore its always renewed. Egg shells, fish bones, scales, exo skeletons, all great for soil building :)
 
Pepper-Guru said:
Paul, our family has chickens so we eat lots of fresh eggs. Needless to say, our compost pile is always full of egg shell. Along with crustaceans etc, it makes for continuous available cal :) Not to mention all my container soils get recomposted over and over. Its an on going process and therefore its always renewed. Egg shells, fish bones, scales, exo skeletons, all great for soil building :)
Click to expand...
That's the ticket, my man. Once you get a good composting
system going, so many problems are solved. I'm still working
on mine! I got a tumbler, and want to see how I can use it in
conjunction with my on-the-ground compost bins. Supposedly
it is supposed to be able to facilitate making compost tea, so
we shall see. I think I'll set it up tonight. Any suggestions, PG?

edit: do you recycle container soil every year?
 
Pepper-Guru said:
The best route to providing nutrients to your plants is to think not in terms of feeding your plant, but to think in terms of feeding the soil.
Click to expand...

Taking notes!

Every thing this guy says is gold. To all the people like me, that are new to this stuff, read this guys threads and you will learn some stuff I SWEAR!
 
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