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What's happening with these leaves?

As hot as it is, and being in a smallish pot, I think the plant might be dropping leaves to conserve water since the majority of the leaves look OK. I know of a trick used by some folks who train Bonsai when they want to keep their plants watered in hot weather. As you may know, the method used to miniaturize woody plants for Bonsai is cropping the roots to minimize nutrient intake. In hot weather, this also limits the amount of water they can take in at one time as well. To give them a long, slow drink without the benefit of a drip irrigation system, they put a chunk of ice on top of the soil in the Bonsai pot where it slowly melts and waters the plant. It also has the benefit of cooling the soil and slowing evaporation.
   Just my .02... not chiseled in stone or anything...
 
interesting point Rick!
logical, because i'm having to water every other day right now due to the heat.

as for drip irrigation, i have seen things in the home centres here that are cheap but you screw a pet bottle onto and it slowly releases water into the soil. they are pretty common, but i had always wondered if with peppers it might do more harm than good.
 
might buy one and experiment.

i'll try it out on one of my butch t plants which are roughly the same size and compare notes
 
Hey George,
 
Tokyo here myself battling to keep my Trinidad moruga scorpion alive in this heat, few issues, 4 huge leave dropped off yesterday and now some strange patterns on the leaves, having to water nearly everyday due to the heat, some guys helped me out on chat, doesnt look so bad, nice to meet you!
 
i got my self some cheap drip irrigation things that release about 150ml of water into the soil a day. i havent had to water for the past 3 days and the plants are looking so much healthier because they aren't suffereing in the sun nor are they really being over watered.

got them at the home centre for 500 yen for two. basically a ceramic cone that you stick in the soil with a plastic tube you stick into a nearby pet bottle. when the soil dries, the water is drawn from the bottle - not by gravity. so far so good. 

it's been horrendously hot recently, had to water every day, apart from the ones im slowly irrigating. 
 
georgej said:
i got my self some cheap drip irrigation things that release about 150ml of water into the soil a day. i havent had to water for the past 3 days and the plants are looking so much healthier because they aren't suffereing in the sun nor are they really being over watered.

got them at the home centre for 500 yen for two. basically a ceramic cone that you stick in the soil with a plastic tube you stick into a nearby pet bottle. when the soil dries, the water is drawn from the bottle - not by gravity. so far so good. 

it's been horrendously hot recently, had to water every day, apart from the ones im slowly irrigating. 
Click to expand...
That sounds really cool. You happen to have a photo of that set up?
 
SL3 said:
That sounds really cool. You happen to have a photo of that set up?
Click to expand...
ill get one up tomorrow fella. not gonna be home in time to get any sunlight tonight.
 
stickman said:
Glad to see you have it dialed in G! Good job!
Click to expand...
thanks Rick! actually i think beforehand i was terrified of overwatering to the point of that my plants were suffering. cheers for easing the idea into my head!

i had tried a cheaper solution before where water is gravity fed into the soil, but by the next morning all 500ml had gone so it was watering too fast. the current rate seems to be perfect. and 150ml a day for plants that are south facing in heat in the mid thirties centigrade, doesnt seem like overwatering to me.
Leaves are looking greener and theres actually some new growth emerging which i havent seen for a while!
 
so, this is what the irrigation setup looks like.
 
it starts like this

UOxumUo.jpg

 
here's the setup illustrated using my balding scorpion cross.
7y7DaZl.jpg

 
hose goes to  a pet bottle
XjHpkYl.jpg

 
ceramic cone goes into the soil
qJTRdKc.jpg

 
it's 37 degrees today. ouch
 
Nice looking setup for potted plants G... I plan to overwinter several of mine, and that might just be the ticket for keeping them watered, but not overwatered down in the basement during the winter. I've got lights on a timer dialed in down there already, and you might have filled in the missing piece. Cheers!
 
i had to give the a top watering today, but that was 5 days or so since adding these things. usually i was needing to water at least every two days. it's keeping them topped up, but when it's so hot outside.. i found it quite reassuring actually that these irrigation systems are no over watering, seeing as they intermittently need an extra drink.
 
really pleased with them. really cheap as well. 
i think i'm gonna buy some more. i tried it out on just 3 plants to begin with
 
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