Help! Trinidad scorpion peppers in distress!

[shadus]

I recently migrated my butch-tyler scorpion trinidads indoors (they were doing... really... really... really badly outdoors) they have recovered somewhat but are still showing some distinct signs of distress.

Does anyone have suggestions on what might be causing this? They've been indoors for about 2 weeks and they're in a bubbler bucket currently. They're in Dyna-Gro, 1G:1t (per bottle for non-recirculating systems.) They're sitting under a 4ft florescent 5T grow light and are currently the only 2 things under it, about a foot away. The roots have migrated out the bottom of the cages into the solution so far and they're using expanded clay pellets as medium. For the first week I had to pour the solution from the top down till the roots got to the solution. They also have a air pump and air stones in the solution.

These were originally grown in a hydroponic solution and then were transplanted to my garden and then they've been moved back to hydroponic solution now. My guess is they either have a parasite, fungus, or disease of some kind... but what I have no idea what so ever.

So... suggestions? Ideas?

Edit: Also- the color isn't quite accurate to what my eye's see, but it's close. The grow lights color makes everything look a bit funny on a camera (and it's very pink in real life.)

Edit2: I also tested the ph of the water a few times, it's consistently running about 6.5 (same as my well water.)

[rainbowgardener]

I know NOTHING about hydro and every time one of you hydro folks write in, it looks like Greek to me. But just because no one responded, I will do my best to say something.

Honestly, if that color is even close to what they look like, they look terrible. The two thoughts I have about that is that you said your light was a foot away from the plant. Generally fluorescent bulbs need to be just a couple inches above the plant. But you said they were already doing really badly outdoors. If they were already yellowing, then your light is probably not the issue.

The other thing would be nutrients. You said " They're in Dyna-Gro, 1G:1t (per bottle for non-recirculating systems.)" I assume that's about nutrients and I have no idea of what it means or if it should be adequate. But your plants look like they are not getting something they need....

[applestar]

I think part of it has to be the "grow light" which you say makes the camera show every thing look funny/pink.
What is the actual color range of this light?

I wasnt growing hydroponically but I was using 3 6500K and 1 2700K combination for growing tomatoes in the winter and the color was always true to life.

Also, I want to verify -- did you say you were growing this plant hydroponically, then in the ground, then back to hydro? How much time did it spend in the ground? How long has it been in the current set up?

Structurally, the plant looks great -- like it's getting plenty or even too much fertilizer, it's the color that looks really odd. Missing micronutrients perhaps?

...just realized you used the plural -- are you showing two plants in separate containers here (you said there are two things under the grow light) or are there more than one plant in one container?

[imafan26]

It looks more like a nutrient rather than a pest problem. Below is a link to for hydroponic nutrient solution levels for tomatoes. Peppers are in the same family and can probably use this as a guide. Have you been testing the solution and is the pH within range? How often are you testing and replacing the nutrient solution? A lot of the nutrients will not be available if the pH is out of range. The article cautions against making drastic adjustments. So if you are going to correct it, it should be corrected in stages. The nutrient requirements will change at different stages of the plant's life. Peppers require a lot of light so I don't know how well they will do indoors. If the leaves are getting darker and softer is may be more to do with the change in light than with any improvement.

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/cv216
https://www.igrowhydro.com/info2-meters.aspx#006

[BluePlanet]

I would drop the pH down a bit to about 5.8. Then I would try a different nutrient solution such as a 2 or 3 part nutrient solution. Do you have a ppm/EC meter? if so, what is the nutrient solution strength? for a plant that size, I would not recommend that you go over 400 ppm and increase the strength as the the plant gets larger. What is the ppm of the water that you are using? If you are using hard water, then that may be causing some issues.

[BluePlanet]

Another thing: I can clearly see some nutrient deficiencies in the younger leaves which equates to an immobile nutrient (cannot be transported within the plant). Most micronutrients are immobile and cannot be transported from the older leaves to the newer leaves.