Trouble with Cucumbers and Peppers

[playituncleleo]

Cucumber plant

Pepper Plant

I've been feeding these two with some fish emulsion for a few weeks. Looked great for a while, then got pretty droopy looking a few days ago.

I had to spray the pepper plant for what looked like aphids, but I'm not sure why they're looking so rough today!

[rainbowgardener]

They do look terrible. What did you spray with?

Where are you located and what has the weather been like?

The soil looks pretty dry. Did you forget to water? In hot sunny weather, plants in pots can look like that after just a couple days of no water. When you water, do you water thoroughly so all the soil in the pot is moistened?

[playituncleleo]

They do look terrible. What did you spray with?

Where are you located and what has the weather been like?

The soil looks pretty dry. Did you forget to water? In hot sunny weather, plants in pots can look like that after just a couple days of no water. When you water, do you water thoroughly so all the soil in the pot is moistened?

Sprayed with this stuff: http://www.naturescare.com/smg/goprod/natures-care-insecticidal-soap/prod11050020

I live near the beach in California. Pretty sunny recently in the 70s, and a bit more humid than usual (peaked at 80% last week).

I generally do water pretty regularly. The pot has a reservoir beneath it that I fill once a week, and I usually water the top of the soil 2x/week. I was out of town and missed the soil waterings last week, and they went 10 days without a reservoir refill. Could that do it?

[imafan26]

Yep. If the rootball is dry it will be hard to rewet. I don't like self watering pots, they are self killing for me. Sips are different since there is an airspace between the soil and the reservoir but it needs to be able to wick properly.

[rainbowgardener]

Yes. 70 is NOT hot. Do you know does your self-watering pot have a wick that goes down into the water and up into the soil? I have seen self-watering pots with reservoirs, but no wick. Without the wick, the soil can start drying out some as soon as the water level isn't touching the soil. It won't be totally dry, because the water down there still acts like a humidity tray, and puts some water vapor up into the soil, but that isn't the same.

If dryness is the problem, your plants should start perking up as soon as you water thoroughly. As imafan noted that may mean watering it a couple times to get everything moistened again.

[applestar]

Fruiting vegs like cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, etc. need a LOT more water than when they were just leaves, and you need to change the watering routine accordingly. So don't water them like you used to.