Hello there, I'm a new member to the site and I really need some help and some information. I was living with some relatives and I had moved into a place where I couldn't take my potted plants. About 6 months passed. During of which, winter passed and now its April. I finally got my plants back last week, and they were just done, had been neglected for a good five months I'd say.
All I have left is a Chile Pequin in a 5 gal pot. Now here is where it gets mind boggling. For the six months I didn't have them, the plants were outside during winter, un-covered, and didn't get trimmed back. So spring came, and the Pequin began to grow. The plant was against the wall of a two story house and only the front of the plant got sun light. It grew good, a healthy green, and leaves all over the front.
Now the backside, a very un-pleasant backside I may add. The stems are more yellow than green, the leaves are a tenth of the size if you compare the growth to the front (healthy side). It basically looks like the plant was dying, never got rotated for sunlight or watered. It even made two peppers that didn't get ripe and they were on the yellow stems. Ive had the plant maybe 10 days now, and I haven't seen any new growth. What confuses me, is it's just the stems that look unhealthy. The leaves all though tiny/stunted have no yellowing yet, but some are yellowing and falling. I can get pictures, but they will be of poor quality. Should I trim off the yellow stems? It would be almost half the plant. Really don't want to do that.
I just don't know what is wrong with the plant. I'm unable to go to a local nursery, so any input will be appreciated.
I don't know if it's dog urine, a sun deficiency, over watering from rain, or what. But the fact that I lost almost ten pepper plants at my relatives house, really upsets me. So I want to make sure I can help this plant live and thrive. If you guys need any more information or have questions, feel free. I shall return shortly.
-
johnnypequin
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2016 8:25 am
Yellow stems equal no sun?
Last edited by johnnypequin on Tue Apr 12, 2016 12:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30544
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
The fact that you can overwinter peppers outside in the winter means you must live in a warmer climate than I do, but what exactly were the conditions -- temperature, rain, etc.? Wall-- facing which way?
FWIW, I overwinter some peppers indoors, and many will lose all the leaves and stems will nearly dry out. The hot peppers sometimes lose or end up with weakened upper growth and sprout new from the base of the stem, a few strong buds will grow new shoots a little way up the stems. This is after indoor winter conditions with temps sometimes down to 50's and low humidity, watering sparingly. Sweet peppers have been more difficult to overwinter, though this year I didn't make as much effort to save them so results are inconclusive.
FWIW, I overwinter some peppers indoors, and many will lose all the leaves and stems will nearly dry out. The hot peppers sometimes lose or end up with weakened upper growth and sprout new from the base of the stem, a few strong buds will grow new shoots a little way up the stems. This is after indoor winter conditions with temps sometimes down to 50's and low humidity, watering sparingly. Sweet peppers have been more difficult to overwinter, though this year I didn't make as much effort to save them so results are inconclusive.
-
johnnypequin
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2016 8:25 am
I actually live in Austin. And we have wild tepins here that come back after freezes. This winter was odd, we had maybe two to three nights of low 30's and that was it. We usually burn two cords of fire wood to 1 and half cords. We had one fire this winter. lol
What baffles me is my potted tepins, serranos, and pequins all died or had stunted growth, or stopped growing. 9 plants just done. 1 lonely pequin, green, vibrant, leafy, on 1 side, and yellow and bare on the other side. Many of my plants were just a stick with leaves, leaves that stopped growing a long time ago.
I rooted a Serrano clipping, and it is already thicker and leafier than my 9 plants.
Morning sun would hit the wall from sun rise to mid day, 2pm then the shade would take over. The back yard was kind of a mini valley. Had a limestone hill 20 to 30 feet high, as high as the two story house. At the bottom we had our car ports and grass yard. I had my plants scattered all around the yard. Then they moved them against the house wall, to better neglect them all at once in a confined area. Jeez
What baffles me is my potted tepins, serranos, and pequins all died or had stunted growth, or stopped growing. 9 plants just done. 1 lonely pequin, green, vibrant, leafy, on 1 side, and yellow and bare on the other side. Many of my plants were just a stick with leaves, leaves that stopped growing a long time ago.
I rooted a Serrano clipping, and it is already thicker and leafier than my 9 plants.
Morning sun would hit the wall from sun rise to mid day, 2pm then the shade would take over. The back yard was kind of a mini valley. Had a limestone hill 20 to 30 feet high, as high as the two story house. At the bottom we had our car ports and grass yard. I had my plants scattered all around the yard. Then they moved them against the house wall, to better neglect them all at once in a confined area. Jeez
If the peppers were in a pot for 6 months plus. It might be time for a repot. Peppers can live in pots for about 4 years but will live a lot longer in the ground. Minimum pot size is about 7 gallons. I usually pot mine up in bigger pots and they last a few years longer that way. The back side was up against a house so it will go bare. The yellow branches did not get much light and they are the newer branches. If they are gradually reintroduced to light that side will eventually get fuller. Usually I just chop the top down on my peppers and let it regrow more evenly, but mine are fed, yours wasn't. Repot in new soil and a bigger pot.
7-15 gallon size. I like egg cans when I use smaller pots. I cut the top when I repot because I will also trim the roots to encourage new growth. I put osmocote or nutracote in the potting mix as starter fertilizer or I use MG potting soil which has a couple of months of starter fertilizer in it. After that, I feed most of my potted plants a maintenance fertilizer. I use vigoro citrus food. 6-4-6 with micros. I found most plants do not need high NPK and this product has slow release nitrogen. You could use other fertilizers with higher numbers and use a lot less like a teaspoon around the edge of the pot once a month. Nutracote is expensive but provides slow release fertilizer for about a year. Osmocote releases at different rates depending on temperature. Over 85 degrees it will only last a month. At 50 degrees it can last 4-6 months. between 60-80 it could last maybe 3 months. Because of the different release rates you have to change the quantity you apply based on the temperature.
7-15 gallon size. I like egg cans when I use smaller pots. I cut the top when I repot because I will also trim the roots to encourage new growth. I put osmocote or nutracote in the potting mix as starter fertilizer or I use MG potting soil which has a couple of months of starter fertilizer in it. After that, I feed most of my potted plants a maintenance fertilizer. I use vigoro citrus food. 6-4-6 with micros. I found most plants do not need high NPK and this product has slow release nitrogen. You could use other fertilizers with higher numbers and use a lot less like a teaspoon around the edge of the pot once a month. Nutracote is expensive but provides slow release fertilizer for about a year. Osmocote releases at different rates depending on temperature. Over 85 degrees it will only last a month. At 50 degrees it can last 4-6 months. between 60-80 it could last maybe 3 months. Because of the different release rates you have to change the quantity you apply based on the temperature.
-
johnnypequin
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2016 8:25 am