Struggles of a new chilli grower: Great progress, annoying problems.

Chilidude said:
 
You find a basic cannabis nutrient, that a lot of folks seems to have good success with, then you  pretty much also got a good chili growing nutrient if it also have plenty of that calmag included.
 
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Personally cannot fault Biobizz products.
 
mtj said:
 
When I bought the soil it looked much lighter. After few waterings it turned out quite heavier and compact I think. Should I repot it to the more suitable soil now, or do you think it will do OK until winter?
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Well you can't pick the stuff out of your roots but they will put down more root. My plants in UK have good pods formed lower down and are flowering higher up So I have a lot more to come.
If it was me, I would pot them into bigger pots with coco and perlite.
I think the roots are struggling in your soil.
I have to say it will take time for them to improve and that may therefor, make the change a waste of time.
Your call but I am an optimist and would change because of your problems.
 
Scorchio said:
Well you can't pick the stuff out of your roots but they will put down more root. My plants in UK have good pods formed lower down and are flowering higher up So I have a lot more to come.
If it was me, I would pot them into bigger pots with coco and perlite.
I think the roots are struggling in your soil.
I have to say it will take time for them to improve and that may therefor, make the change a waste of time.
Your call but I am an optimist and would change because of your problems.
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Cheers. Will give it a thought and decide by the end of the day. My second Carolina Reaper has started doing great, also my Jolokia Yellow which is filled with pots, and they all are planted in the same soil. That's the only thing that confuses me.
 
Scorchio said:
To be honest, I'm sure a general purpose tomatoe feed will work well.
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I would say the Green Future Organic Tomato Fertiliser, that seems to be so popular in the Amazon uk would work fine and the price seems to be quite reasonable too if you buy the 2 litre or 5 litre container.
 
Scorchio said:
To be honest, I'm sure a general purpose tomatoe feed will work well.
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A general purpose tomato feed will grow any plant on earth that needs nutrient supplementation.  All of these "specialty" formulas are built on a whole lot of BS. (including 'tomato' formulas, ironically) 
 
One should be paying far more attention to media and environmental factors than nutrients.  When everything else is in check, then you make sure the nutrients meet all the plant's basic nutritional needs, and put it on autopilot. 
 
Chilidude said:
 
I would say the Green Future Organic Tomato Fertiliser, that seems to be so popular in the Amazon uk would work fine and the price seems to be quite reasonable too if you buy the 2 litre or 5 litre container.
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It is what I am using and can't fault it. Just got another 5 litre can of it.
 
A little update on my plants:
 
As I was suggested, I flushed the soil with loads of water. I haven't used any fertilizer since I flushed the soil. Since the temperatures on the balcony could reach as high as 38°C, I moved the containers in my garden, surrounded with lots of trees for natural shade. They get approximately half a day of full sun and half a day of shade. Anyway, that being said, the flowers of the chillis are still dropping like crazy. The only plant having a lot of pods is Jolokia Yellow, while the rest (Carolina reapers and Habanero) do not produce any fruit at the moment. Habanero hasn't even started to flower yet (which is a bit weird imo) and ALL of the Carolina Reaper's flowers just drop off (the part of the flower which is attached to the stem just dries and turns brown)  
 
Also, big branch of the plant just fell off the plant. I don't know why. Pictures below.
 
https://imgur.com/a/10PDpDQ
 
 
One might think by not that your growing place is not suitable for the Carolina reaper or the habanero, giving them shade in your growing place will not do it asthey need all the sun they can possibly get.
 
I guess your option would be some kind of greenhouse or cold frame type of thing for those plants, but also the warmest season is starting to go away so you might not get any pods of those plants in this season, so i guess the overwintering might be an option to have a early start in the next season
 
And if the bhut jolokia yellow have pods, then you know what type of hotter chili likes your growing place and next year grow more of those different types of bhut joloka plants.
 
Chilidude said:
One might think by not that your growing place is not suitable for the Carolina reaper or the habanero, giving them shade in your growing place will not do it asthey need all the sun they can possibly get.
 
I guess your option would be some kind of greenhouse or cold frame type of thing for those plants, but also the warmest season is starting to go away so you might not get any pods of those plants in this season, so i guess the overwintering might be an option to have a early start in the next season.
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The problem is that I had my reapers on full sun all the time, but the leaves were wilting like crazy (all the hot concrete surrounding the plant did not do any good I think).
 
I planted my reapers in mid december and by late february they were mostly "hibernating" 4 inch plants, then replanted them outside in late May. THought I would have an early start but that didn't turn out very well anyway. 
 
I want to find the cause for the blossom drop and hopefully get at least few pods this year.
 
OK let's get the roots cool.
But you put them in what I would call stiff mud to start with.
I think you need to re think for next year.
I mean you no offence. We all make mistakes.
I hope you can turn them around from whatever went wrong.
 
mtj said:
I want to find the cause for the blossom drop and hopefully get at least few pods this year.
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The one carolina reaper plant i had inside the plastic greenhouse only produced one or two pods in the whole season, so i think it is pretty hard plant to please and might need a second year grow to make it really produce pods.
 
 
Scorchio said:
OK let's get the roots cool.
But you put them in what I would call stiff mud to start with.
I think you need to re think for next year.
I mean you no offence. We all make mistakes.
I hope you can turn them around from whatever went wrong.
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No offence taken. Will rethink my options for next year. Have friends who grew them outside planted directly in the soil and they had great harvest. Didn't know the choice of the soil would have such an impact, as my other chillis are doing very well in the exacty same muddy soil.
 
Chilidude said:
That is why i grow in coco coir, i find it universal growing media for all types of chili plants.
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I love coco coir, also, but it took me 2 full seasons to figure out all of its quirks.  There can be little to no argument that peat will grow better plants with a fraction of the hassle - thus making it the ideal choice for beginners.  But once you figure out coco coir, you can grow just as well, but with a media that is reusable for a far longer time. 
 
solid7 said:
 
I love coco coir, also, but it took me 2 full seasons to figure out all of its quirks.  There can be little to no argument that peat will grow better plants with a fraction of the hassle - thus making it the ideal choice for beginners.  But once you figure out coco coir, you can grow just as well, but with a media that is reusable for a far longer time. 
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Coco coir gets seasoned with that calcium in the first growing season, then it is even better in the next season.
 
 
Chilidude said:
 
Coco coir gets seasoned with that calcium in the first growing season, then it is even better in the next season.
 
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Mix in finely ground eggshells, and do a super soak with calcium source or calcium-based fert before using.  (my best trick) 
 
Coco coir never ever requires potassium supplementation, so long as one meets the calcium requirements.
 
Ok guys, Seems we all do similar and that is the best advice this man can get.
I have made some mistakes this year. I should have sprayed my tomatoes with something potent.
If you want to differ fine, I am not going to argue.
Coco, Perlite and a bit of potting compost, Sue me!
Works great for me. Thing is, took me a while to understand that plants need drainage and then that they need just a little bit of feeding.
Biggest mistakes new growers make is over watering and over feeding.
The fun of growing is learning.
I sound like a real plonker now.
 
Oh Mr Dude. Please do not get me wrong.
But I am a complete coco bonkers person.
I was growing these plants in Spain a long time ago, I over watered them. Roots went rotten.
Took me 2 months to fix that.
Very hard to over water with coco and Perlite.
And it is not hard to give them everything they need.
I love it.
Lol.
 
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