Some questions on leaf drop on older plant and defiencys

[Caranx]

So I have this 1 year Aji Limo that has become pretty large and produces good. However there is something that confuses and worries me, would be great if someone experienced could shime in.

Here is some info on the plant:
Sit's in a 30liter plastic growbag in a laundrybasket
The medium is 70% cococoir 25% perlite 5%wormcast
Fed 1.5*1.5 ml of floramato and micro per litre every 4 or 5 day
1 year old plant that spent all time outside
Currently have 30+ pods on it and still alot of flowers and new pods popping up.

So the first thing is that since about 1 month back the plant is dropping around 4-8 leafs per day. The leafs will become yellow and drop if touched the same way as it would have need to be fed.

However since this started i changed to feed it a slightly lighter feeding every 4 or 5 days instead of every 7 days so it shouldn't be a lack of nutrients.

I've heard that plants will drop old growth e.tc and maybe i'm just paranoid but i can tell that the plant actually looks less bushier than it did before but then again the branches have also grown out alot during the time which might make it look less bushy.

Could it be that it has become rootbound? It have been repotted 3 times during its lifetime and it is probaly 7-8 months ago since the last one.



And my second question is regarding a for sure defiency that started showing on some of the leafs this week, the defiency is a result of my wife distracting me while I was mixing up 1 month worth of nutes and i lost count on how much i put in there of the micro part so it became unbalanced lol. It is showing as yellowing only by the main vein of the leafs.


Would just be nice to get some suggestions one what nutrient that might have became unavailable, and is there a big chance it will affect the pods?

 

[solid7]

I'm going to just keep my reply short and sweet - if you live in a tropical climate, I'm a huge believer that you need to take a multi-tier approach to feeding.  Why?  Rain.  We get more rain than other climates.  That's great for hydration, bad for nutrient uptake.  Especially when nutrients aren't sequestered in soil. (container mix is porous, because it needs to be - good for roots, bad for nutes)
.
My advice is that you find some sort of dry fert that you can live with, and use is in conjunction with your liquid nutrient.  Liquid nutrients are immediately available, slow release are there when the liquid gets displaced or overrun.  You will see that yellowing especially in the rainy season, as nitrogen will struggle to stay constantly flowing.  When you impede nitrogen, you keep other nutrients from being accessed.  There's a codependent relationship.
.
I have seen a 1000% percent improvement in the summer months since I undertook this strategy.  Save the 100% liquid diet for indoor growing.  It's best suited for that.

 

[Caranx]

I'm going to just keep my reply short and sweet - if you live in a tropical climate, I'm a huge believer that you need to take a multi-tier approach to feeding.  Why?  Rain.  We get more rain than other climates.  That's great for hydration, bad for nutrient uptake.  Especially when nutrients aren't sequestered in soil. (container mix is porous, because it needs to be - good for roots, bad for nutes)
.
My advice is that you find some sort of dry fert that you can live with, and use is in conjunction with your liquid nutrient.  Liquid nutrients are immediately available, slow release are there when the liquid gets displaced or overrun.  You will see that yellowing especially in the rainy season, as nitrogen will struggle to stay constantly flowing.  When you impede nitrogen, you keep other nutrients from being accessed.  There's a codependent relationship.
.
I have seen a 1000% percent improvement in the summer months since I undertook this strategy.  Save the 100% liquid diet for indoor growing.  It's best suited for that.

Absolutely makes sense. The Monsun started here last month and even if I moved to a new location with a milder one and i sometimes can give it shelter it still gets 2-3 showers a week. I actually used some chemical slow release granules for many plants in my old grow since i would never have time to feed so many plants every week on my own at that time. The most decent one I found here is a 10-10-10 npk and that is the most balanced and lowest npk one I've found here. Guess i will look around for a bag of it tomorrow.

And thanks solid for some solid advice, the reason I used this potting mix is because of your advice to me last year and as you can see it helped me grow this plant into what it is.

I actually had to get rid of around 20 peppers some months ago because i got married and was moving south, kept this one and bonnet that made a 6 hour journey in the back of a pickup truck. Got ruffed up pretty good with broken branches and windburn but they have recovered nicely and started producing again.

 

[solid7]

If the 10-10-10 is what you have available, use it.  Organics would be great, also.  With the 10-10-10, I'd use it at about half the recommended application, and with the organics, you can go nuts.  You won't have a problem, other than waste.  But it's much more forgiving for experimentation.  Just a point, you do what's best for you.

 

[solid7]

And thanks solid for some solid advice, the reason I used this potting mix is because of your advice to me last year and as you can see it helped me grow this plant into what it is.

 
Also, much appreciated.  That's quite the compliment, because that is a great looking plant.

 

[Caranx]

 
Also, much appreciated.  That's quite the compliment, because that is a great looking plant.

Yeah and it is producing really well!

But I am getting really tired of all this feeding hehe!

Will try out using the slow release and supplementing it with the liquid nuts. If that doesn't work i will probaly put it into the dirt.
Have free access to my inlaws 5 acre farm now so are setting up a test area for 100-150 plants on a unused spot by a newly dug resovoir . Just gotta deal with this darn clay soil first before I'm able to do anything with it

 

[solid7]

But I am getting really tired of all this feeding hehe!

 
Totally understood.  But the good news is, you don't have to be that methodical about it.  And you now know the basics of how to grow a good plant.  So you are a successful grower.
.
In fact, if you want to ditch the liquid completely, in favor of a dry, that's totally acceptable.  Just make sure it's complete, and you're good to go.  I prefer a liquid component, so that can supply calcium and additional food for microbes.  But that's just my style.  

 

[Caranx]

 
Totally understood.  But the good news is, you don't have to be that methodical about it.  And you now know the basics of how to grow a good plant.  So you are a successful grower.
.
In fact, if you want to ditch the liquid completely, in favor of a dry, that's totally acceptable.  Just make sure it's complete, and you're good to go.  I prefer a liquid component, so that can supply calcium and additional food for microbes.  But that's just my style.  

Does coco and composted manure do good together? Was thinking of maybe repotting it into 50l pot with some manure that will last a while and when the manure is depleted start to use slow release granules supplemented with liquid fert?

 

[solid7]

You don't want to use much.  No more than 5-10%.  Unless you can get rabbit poo.  I used to use whole rabbit pellets in my mix, and it worked just fine.  In fact, I'd roll it right into the mix.  But keep it on the light side.  If it's not rabbit or goat, you don't want to use it uncomposted, and if it's composted, you don't want the fine particulate to clog up your mix.
.
I always prefer vermicompost, because it helps with nutrient retention.  If you have biochar, that's also an amazing amendment.

 

[Caranx]

You don't want to use much.  No more than 5-10%.  Unless you can get rabbit poo.  I used to use whole rabbit pellets in my mix, and it worked just fine.  In fact, I'd roll it right into the mix.  But keep it on the light side.  If it's not rabbit or goat, you don't want to use it uncomposted, and if it's composted, you don't want the fine particulate to clog up your mix.
.
I always prefer vermicompost, because it helps with nutrient retention.  If you have biochar, that's also an amazing amendment.

Might repot it in the end of the year then. Not sure if i would want to put it in the ground. It might survive next rainseason but it will end up like thaivarietys that the landlord have planted in my garden that probaly are around 2 years old. They produce enough for the kitchen but they look terrible with magnesium lockouts and leaves only on the very top of the plants.

I was out today looking for some of the osmocote i used before, couldn't find it in the village sadly. Only found 20-20-20, 8-24-24 and 15-15-15. Not sure if i should give them a try.

Would it work to just sprinkle some chicken manure at the top and it might make its way down?

 

[solid7]

Would it work to just sprinkle some chicken manure at the top and it might make its way down?

 
Sure.  But like I said - and don't overlook this one - if you ever cook with wood or charcoal, sift the ashes, and keep the carbon.  Every country on earth should have easy access to this. The whole purpose of doing so, is that it's what you know commonly as "carbon filtration".  But instead of removing ionic impurities from tap water, you're nabbing what would otherwise be runaway nutrients. (like storage cells)  It will really extend the life of whatever nutrient that you decide to use.  I think it's a good option for you, in the absence of a good slow release.  Especially if you continue to use the liquid nutrient.

 

[Caranx]

 
Sure.  But like I said - and don't overlook this one - if you ever cook with wood or charcoal, sift the ashes, and keep the carbon.  Every country on earth should have easy access to this. The whole purpose of doing so, is that it's what you know commonly as "carbon filtration".  But instead of removing ionic impurities from tap water, you're nabbing what would otherwise be runaway nutrients. (like storage cells)  It will really extend the life of whatever nutrient that you decide to use.  I think it's a good option for you, in the absence of a good slow release.  Especially if you continue to use the liquid nutrient.

Actually i was at the ricemill last weekend to pickup a truck of hulls for the farm. The owner gave us this bag with hulls mixed with char that he wanted us to try out. Would this have to be mixed in troughout the coir or would it work to mix it in the top inch or so?

 

[solid7]

Actually i was at the ricemill last weekend to pickup a truck of hulls for the farm. The owner gave us this bag with hulls mixed with char that he wanted us to try out. Would this have to be mixed in troughout the coir or would it work to mix it in the top inch or so?

 
Honestly, if it's me, I'd probably think about doing an up-pot, and just surround the old with the new.  Since the other is clearly having no issues.  When you're on track to multi-year a plant, think of how big you might like to see this plant get.  Otherwise, if you don't want a huge plant, trim it all the way down to stubs, trim the roots, and replant in brand new media.  But honestly, I hate even the thought of that second option.  God forbid something goes wrong, and the plant doesn't bounce back.  That's really more of a cool weather and temperate season grower's game.