How can I bring ghost chili plants in shock/stunted back?

[manny]

I have two small plants that survived out seeds. Both of these are small. One is about 6 inches tall and wide. the other is maybe half. I had them get pretty dry a couple times before I put them in the dirt and they have grown some but compared to the rest of my garden they seem to be going pretty slowly. I am wondering if theres any techniques for how to jump start hot peppers?

[rainbowgardener]

No magic... What you do now IMO depends on how long you have been growing these. If they are only a few inches tall because they are babies that you just started from seed 4 - 6 wks ago, I'd suggest fertilize, keep watered and tend well, peppers are a bit slow getting started.

But we have people that write in here, about plants they have been carefully tending for 6 months that are the size of yours (often peppers, but sometimes other things). I can't always tell from their info what happened, why it is so stunted. But I don't generally think it is worth it to keep trying in those cases. I think a plant that has been that stunted for that long is never going to do real well. I think you would get better results by giving up on it and starting fresh with a new healthy plant. Perhaps buy a good sized transplant from a good local nursery.

[applestar]

From everything I've read, ghost peppers are very slow growing.
If you did the normal ground prep before planting, I think I would just let them grow. Peppers, like tomatoes don't need a whole lot of fertilizer, etc. if you really want to give them something, put a layer (about 1" deep) of good compost all around them, then mulch -- I use grass clippings and cut/pulled weeds. Keep the area weeded so they get all the sun and available nutrients/water.

Then about two weeks before first frost in the fall, dig them up with as much rootball as you can manage, and plant them in large enough containers to hold the rootball with 1-2" to spare all around. You'll probably need to prune a bit of top growth to balance the root loss. You'll be bringing them in for the winter. There are a couple of detailed threads on how different members do this.

Next spring, with some luck, the peppers will start flowering and fruiting pretty much right away.

[rainbowgardener]

Trust applestar! I mostly grow bell peppers, with the occasional jalepeno. I wasn't familiar with the difference in ghost peppers.

[manny]

No magic... What you do now IMO depends on how long you have been growing these. If they are only a few inches tall because they are babies that you just started from seed 4 - 6 wks ago, I'd suggest fertilize, keep watered and tend well, peppers are a bit slow getting started.

I started these in the end of March. They germinated about mid may if memory serves me correctly. So I would say they are about 8-10 weeks old.

But we have people that write in here, about plants they have been carefully tending for 6 months that are the size of yours (often peppers, but sometimes other things). I can't always tell from their info what happened, why it is so stunted. But I don't generally think it is worth it to keep trying in those cases. I think a plant that has been that stunted for that long is never going to do real well. I think you would get better results by giving up on it and starting fresh with a new healthy plant. Perhaps buy a good sized transplant from a good local nursery.

If those two spectrums are black and white, where black is a young plant and white is a 6month old plant I think I'm just a bit whiter than black. I will keep them in the dirt since I have not seen these for sale in a nursery yet. I know they grow well in this area as a friend of ours has a customer who grew a few hundred of these last year in his back yard and I had another friend who grew a somewhat leggy plant completely indoors as well. I was told that a bit of table sugar dissolved in water might help encourage them along. I will try that during my next watering. Have you heard of this technique?

From everything I've read, ghost peppers are very slow growing.
If you did the normal ground prep before planting, I think I would just let them grow. Peppers, like tomatoes don't need a whole lot of fertilizer, etc.

This garden is in its second season. To start I dug up grass and tilled in leaves. We mulched with grass clippings and tilled those and more leaves in the fall. This spring I tilled in more leaves and some Scotts top soil. Before planting I retiled to loosen the soil. Would this be good soil prep?

If you really want to give them something, put a layer (about 1" deep) of good compost all around them, then mulch -- I use grass clippings and cut/pulled weeds. Keep the area weeded so they get all the sun and available nutrients/water. Then about two weeks before first frost in the fall, dig them up with as much rootball as you can manage, and plant them in large enough containers to hold the rootball with 1-2" to spare all around. You'll probably need to prune a bit of top growth to balance the root loss. You'll be bringing them in for the winter. There are a couple of detailed threads on how different members do this.

Next spring, with some luck, the peppers will start flowering and fruiting pretty much right away.

Thinking back, I planted these next to some broccoli so that they would be away from direct light. Maybe that has slowed them down as they are just in their second week of direct light (7hours)
Is this process called “overwinteringâ€

[applestar]

They look healthy. The soil looks like it needs more work, so I think the compost-and-mulch will help. Mulching helps to moderate the extremes of moisture and temperature levels in the soil. So it's a old idea especially when it's hot and dry. Compost introduces beneficial organisms to the soil and kicks up the biological activities into higher gear.

The sugar water thing? I'm dubious. More likely to attract ants and they'll bring their aphids to pasture on your peppers.

Here is one of the overwintering pepper threads I was thinking of: [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31055]Winter Pepper Torture[/url]

[manny]

Good reading Thanks Applestar and Rainbowgardener!

[manny]

Figured I would post an update since I am really happy with how these have grown.
Here is a picture of the big one.
[img]https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f152/humanabyss2/0806120938d.jpg[/img]
It was going to set some flower buds but I got rid of this first set so it could grow a bit more. (I have seen one get to 6 feet here in town.) Here is what I did leave on the plant
[img]https://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f152/humanabyss2/0806120938b.jpg[/img]