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Temp changes and dropping pods

R

rhm3769

So the weather hasn't decided if it wants to be cold or warm this "winter" on Okinawa.... One day it'll be in the 70s and then drop to the 50s overnight and stay there for a few rainy days and then warm back up for a day or two.... Plants are still outside, rain doesn't seem to be too much for them yet.... They're still budding and flowering but leaves are yellowing and dropping.... Some flowers still pod and most drop after a week.... Feeding the plants causes the leaves to green back up and start some new growth but it doesn't last....

Should I be feeding them more? It seems like I've had to feed them more often since its cooled down a bit.... When they were really producing, i could go two months without a feeding but now it seems like every two weeks.... Or is that more of a natural reaction to the cooler temperatures?
 
Hold off on the ferts and see if you can block the rain. From how you explained it it seems like the rain it washing the nutes out.
 
That could possibly explain why the two still on the balcony aren't acting the same.... They still have yellowing and dropping leaves but not as much new growth and buds seem to develop slower, but they don't get alot of sun, either....
 
I grow in pots for several reasons, one being so I can move the plants at will. We tend to have very wet fall/winter weather, so I move them just inside the open garage door when rains get heavy. You didn't say if the ones experiencing issues are in pots or not, but if so, you might consider moving them to some shelter from the rain.

Also, just FYI, different people feed at different intervals, it just depends upon what works best in your conditions. I use less fert every time I water during the spring and summer - every time. instructions are 1 teaspoon per gallon of water, but I use 1/4 to 1/2. One-fourth while they're small, 1/2 when they're bigger.
 
First things first.. what are you EXPECTING the weather to do?

I don't know much about the climate in Okinawa...

Are you transitioning into a winter season that you can't ultimately survive?

Is this a short bout of sporadic weather you are just trying to avert?

If it proceeds to a hard frost, one thing you can't do anything about is the fact that most pepper plants freeze at about 34F/0C.

milkworkman gave some good advice that if you can cover them with a tarp, you'll avert a temporary bout of sub-viable temps, and of course next to your house will avert those temps first.

If the season is over, you're just gonna have to think about pulling them up or trying to overwinter them.
 
You are a bit further south, but up here in Tokyo my plants are losing all their foliage.

However, plenty of new young leaves came to their funeral and plants are doing great. I snipped the plant down to just 6 inches tall.
 
Historically the winters here in Okinawa are the coldest the first week of Feb, with temps in the lower 50s....

It's not enough of a rain to really even get to the bottom of the pots, it's more of a off and on light misting, but enough to just be annoying, can't have windshield wipers on because even the slowest setting is too often for the amount it is raining....

Interestingly, my weakest plant is the only one not experiencing any issues right now....
 
The only reasons I've known plants to drop pods are if the fruit hasn't been picked, or the plant is dying.

I've never had any plants drop pods due to 50F rain, but I've also never lived in Okinawa.

How old are these plants? Where they driving, gale-force rains like in Karate Kid II?
 
Typhoon season is over. Okinawa usually gets battered pretty hard. A couple months back a friend down in okinawa said power was out for about a week (I think) and trucks had been blown over in the typhoon.

I love going outside and running around in a typhoon, but in perspective - trucks don't flip over in Tokyo. I'd probably stay indoors if typhoons were that strong!
 
Rain has been more of a mist lately than anything.... Winds were pretty bad a few days ago, but it didnt knock the plants over.... The oldest plants are 6ish months old, the youngest is a sprout still with no true leaves....

Like before, the two plants still at home on the balcony are fine. They only get wind and rain occasionally with the overhang, and barely any direct sun anymore.... The balcony does stay 2-3 degrees warmer during the night, but it doesn't make much of a difference when it's the same temperature outside for days....

There was a thread not too long ago with a plant that had branches yellowing with no leaves on it, I've been dealing with that on all the white habanero plants, but no others, at work and on the balcony.... The balcony plants aren't getting te new growth, but they are podding and ripening.... The ones at work pod and if they don't reach a decent size in a few days, they drop....
 
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