why is my fatalli pepper plant wilting?

[tjg911]

do you own a camera?

yes but it's from 1980, not a digital. if i had a digital i'd have posted pictures.

 

[Flakes]

are the leaves wilting from the plant being pushed around that caused broken roots? could something be eating the roots like a vole causing the wilting? i tend to doubt that because the scotch bonnet is next to the fatalli and it is fine. 4' away are 3 cayenne plants which are also fine.

what can i do to get the plant to hydrate? i assume watering it is not helping since i've given it 4 gallons between friday and saturday. most of the peppers are still green tho some are turning yellow and like i said i need more time to get them to ripen. i don't have a digital camera so i can't post any pictures but i think you get the picture here.

thanks for nay advice you can offer.

tom

Well, it would be quite a coincidence if this wasn't caused by the wind - possible, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Have you considered making a plastic dome over the plant and mysting it with water? If you keep the humidity high, it should provide the plant with some extra water.

 

[tjg911]

Well, it would be quite a coincidence if this wasn't caused by the wind - possible, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Have you considered making a plastic dome over the plant and mysting it with water? If you keep the humidity high, it should provide the plant with some extra water.

it's way too late for that! i was looking at the plant today and it is not coming back.

 

[Flakes]

it's way too late for that! i was looking at the plant today and it is not coming back.

That's a shame...

Have any of the pods ripened yet? You could still try and save the plant by cutting it way back and putting it in a pot with some nice, rich potting mix - but then you'd probably have to lose the pods.

 

[tjg911]

yes i have picked pods and will be getting the last of them soon. if you follow this thread you'll see what's occurred. there is no repotting it the plant is past that point.

 

[Pepper-Guru]

Next time you have issues and can't post any pictures to get a REALISTIC diagnosis, I suggest you simply re-think your soil, remove the plant from the current container, and re pot into another container with new soil.

 

[tjg911]

Next time you have issues and can't post any pictures to get a REALISTIC diagnosis, I suggest you simply re-think your soil, remove the plant from the current container, and re pot into another container with new soil.

my soil is not the problem. this plant was doing fine until irene arrived and pushed it back and forth so much the base of the plant rounded a hole at ground level 2-3" in diameter. i explained this in the op. the plant did not succumb to disease or insects. if i had a digital camera i would have posted a picture of the hole but a picture of the plant doesn't seem to tell you anything because the problem started right after irene. other pepper plants are next to it but were not buffeted like the fatali and suffered no ill effects.

 

[Pepper-Guru]

hi,

i just joined and posted in the welcome forum. this is my 1st pepper posting. i looked at the forums and i think this is the correct place for this post. if not please tell me where it should be.

ok, i have a problem. i'm a fairly experienced organic gardener, i have been at it for 20 years. i just started to grow hot peppers in 2009. this year i have 1 fatalli that is about 12" tall and 20" wide and 1 scotch bonnet just a little shorter and less in diameter and what was supposed to be 3 long red slim cayenne but were mislabeled and appear to be long red thick cayenne..

everything was fine until tropical storm irene blew in last sunday 8/28. initially the winds were from the south then as the storm passed they came from the north. when i went into the garden monday 8/29 the fatalli plant looked fine but was leaning at a 45 degree angle. at the ground around it's base was a hole about 2 to 2.5 inches from the plant being pushed back and forth by the winds. the scotch bonnet was not moved by the winds. things looked ok for the following days but on friday 9/2 i saw all the leaves were wilting badly. i had last watered on friday 8/26 but since irene dropped 9" of rain i hadn't watered since. but since the plant was wilting i gave it 2 gallons of water with neptune's harvest fish emulsion as it was the time to fertilize all the plants. on saturday it looked no better so i gave it another 2 gallons of plain water. today it is still wilted all the leaves are still drooping down tho it doesn't look worse than on friday. i'm worried it will die. the peppers might be drying out not ripening tho they feel firm still. i need another 2-3 weeks for them to ripen before the sun is too weak to sustain the plant, by 10/1 gardening is pretty much over for warm weather crops here.

are the leaves wilting from the plant being pushed around that caused broken roots? could something be eating the roots like a vole causing the wilting? i tend to doubt that because the scotch bonnet is next to the fatalli and it is fine. 4' away are 3 cayenne plants which are also fine.

what can i do to get the plant to hydrate? i assume watering it is not helping since i've given it 4 gallons between friday and saturday. most of the peppers are still green tho some are turning yellow and like i said i need more time to get them to ripen. i don't have a digital camera so i can't post any pictures but i think you get the picture here.

thanks for nay advice you can offer.

tom

my soil is not the problem. this plant was doing fine until irene arrived and pushed it back and forth so much the base of the plant rounded a hole at ground level 2-3" in diameter. i explained this in the op. the plant did not succumb to disease or insects. if i had a digital camera i would have posted a picture of the hole but a picture of the plant doesn't seem to tell you anything because the problem started right after irene. other pepper plants are next to it but were not buffeted like the fatali and suffered no ill effects.

Well. With all due respect, an "experienced organic gardener of 20 years" wouldn't be posting questions like this. They would have re-packed soil around the base of the plant, staked the plant, and NOT applied a high N fert during a wilt. Also, if your soil isn't a problem then your plant wouldn't be 12 inches tall this late in the season. Just trying to help!

 

[tjg911]

thank you for your reply. i am an experienced organic gardener for the past 20 years who had never grown hot peppers until 2 years ago and never had any plant, pepper or otherwise, have a wilting problem due to a hurricane as i have experienced with this plant. since i was in uncharted waters, i posed the question here. by the time i saw the problem it appeared that the plant was a day from drying up and having the leaves turn from green to brown. i did what i thought would help. virtually every pepper whether 1" or 3" that was still green have turned yellow so maybe i did some good? live and learn.

 

[Pepper-Guru]

thank you for your reply. i am an experienced organic gardener for the past 20 years who had never grown hot peppers until 2 years ago and never had any plant, pepper or otherwise, have a wilting problem due to a hurricane as i have experienced with this plant. since i was in uncharted waters, i posed the question here. by the time i saw the problem it appeared that the plant was a day from drying up and having the leaves turn from green to brown. i did what i thought would help. virtually every pepper whether 1" or 3" that was still green have turned yellow so maybe i did some good? live and learn.

As a more helpful reply to you: As it seems you simply encountered an issue of wind literally breaking your stalk, the plant couldn't get its food up to the foliage. THE ONLY THING YOU CAN DO...is prune back LOTS of foliage and also prune the roots. This way, what "nutrient highways" are left intact, would have been able to feed the plant sufficiently. Staking is one hell of a simple preventative measure that would have kept you protected from high winds. But pruning is the only thing that would have saved you here....sorry man.