Oh man......So some of my plants are getting at the base a brown rough looking texture that goes around the entire base. Some plants have this brown mid stem and the entire stem dies eventually. Any ideas? One thought was maybe too much water? Right now I have 290 plants in pots. I am trying to learn how to water them as each one does not need to be watered every hot day.....
It's not the soil mix as I have used a Varity soils and this seems to be going on in various soils. So what causes this browness in the stem?
of soils
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ApertureF11Sniper
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applestar
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Pepper plants absolutely need good root management. Sweet/Bell peppers also can’t take excessive heat.
Drying the seedlings/potted plant out can significantly weaken them, and overwatering and leaving in water will cause root rot.
Then they are susceptible to many fungal issues as well as some bacterial, and also can catch viruses from sucking pests like aphids etc.
Overgrown/pot bound in too small container peppers will seem OK but will be stunted compared to ones that have been regularly uppotted as needed.
Seedlings need to be organized by size of pot and degree of root bound/filled containers. They can be placed in basket/web trays and bottoms watered — dunked in larger tray/tub. Soak and then drain. Make sure to let them dry a bit if they had been soaking for 24 hrs for any reason. Better to be on dry side, BUT never completely dried to point of wilting.
They need to be fertilized weakly. and Should be preventatively sprayed with baking soda or potassium bicarbonate solution, milk etc. probiotic solution etc. and given plenty of room — not crowded. Or oscillating fan for airflow, etc.
Girdled brown stems are probably in salvageable, and very good chance it’s due to damping off. >> Need to isolate surviving plants from same tray from others. May need periodic use treatment, etc.
Yellowed and weak looking but otherwise seem OK — To try to get them to recover, try soaking from bottom in a mixture of 1:200 vinegar = 1tsp vinegar / 1 liter water = 5ml vinegar / 1000ml water. Japanese garden advisors have been recommend this as plant tonic after the June rainy season.
This is for roots. To spray on foliage, they recommended 1:500 ratio (for vinegar cultured with hot pepper and garlic extracts)
…A video I saw a couple of years ago compared vinegar concentrations for spraying and 1:100 caused significant leaf damage, 1:200 caused some leaf damage, and 1:300 caused no damage.
Drying the seedlings/potted plant out can significantly weaken them, and overwatering and leaving in water will cause root rot.
Then they are susceptible to many fungal issues as well as some bacterial, and also can catch viruses from sucking pests like aphids etc.
Overgrown/pot bound in too small container peppers will seem OK but will be stunted compared to ones that have been regularly uppotted as needed.
Seedlings need to be organized by size of pot and degree of root bound/filled containers. They can be placed in basket/web trays and bottoms watered — dunked in larger tray/tub. Soak and then drain. Make sure to let them dry a bit if they had been soaking for 24 hrs for any reason. Better to be on dry side, BUT never completely dried to point of wilting.
They need to be fertilized weakly. and Should be preventatively sprayed with baking soda or potassium bicarbonate solution, milk etc. probiotic solution etc. and given plenty of room — not crowded. Or oscillating fan for airflow, etc.
Girdled brown stems are probably in salvageable, and very good chance it’s due to damping off. >> Need to isolate surviving plants from same tray from others. May need periodic use treatment, etc.
Yellowed and weak looking but otherwise seem OK — To try to get them to recover, try soaking from bottom in a mixture of 1:200 vinegar = 1tsp vinegar / 1 liter water = 5ml vinegar / 1000ml water. Japanese garden advisors have been recommend this as plant tonic after the June rainy season.
This is for roots. To spray on foliage, they recommended 1:500 ratio (for vinegar cultured with hot pepper and garlic extracts)
…A video I saw a couple of years ago compared vinegar concentrations for spraying and 1:100 caused significant leaf damage, 1:200 caused some leaf damage, and 1:300 caused no damage.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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When I said 290 plants in pots I meant plants transplanted to large pots. This brown death is appearing in some plants from the ground up and some plants it is mid stem on one of it's branches....
I know not to over water but these are all new plants that have not had a chance to get the roots established. Right now for here it's hot, mid 70s for the last week and for the week to come, cooling off to 55 at night. Thursday we are to hit 89. So I should be watering every night right? It has to be night cause I leave the house at 4am...
As for the spray and fertilizer I'm not there yet. I am not set up or have the time to do any of that. The majority of my plants are doing well but I would like to learn what this is and what to do about it or to avoid it. I am about to go out and do some more transplanting.....
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.....
I know not to over water but these are all new plants that have not had a chance to get the roots established. Right now for here it's hot, mid 70s for the last week and for the week to come, cooling off to 55 at night. Thursday we are to hit 89. So I should be watering every night right? It has to be night cause I leave the house at 4am...
As for the spray and fertilizer I'm not there yet. I am not set up or have the time to do any of that. The majority of my plants are doing well but I would like to learn what this is and what to do about it or to avoid it. I am about to go out and do some more transplanting.....
Hope everyone is having a good weekend.....
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pepperhead212
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ApertureF11Sniper
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Thank you....And its not the soil. This is happening in my mix and my store bought organic super soils like Black Gold.....pepperhead212 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 02, 2023 9:01 pmIt definitely sounds like some sort of damping off or other type fungal infection on the stems, and it must be in that soil mix you are using, if it's that widespread. Hydrogen peroxide is something that is often used to fight damping off, and other soil problems - 1 tb/qt of water.
One problem I am having is that some soil like the Primordial Soil I have it retains moisture. So does some of the Black Gold soil So I can't just water every plant when I water. I have to check a lot of them which takes a lot longer. 290 pepper plants, 45 tomato and several other plants it's about 2 hours of hand watering.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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applestar
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You know, you seem to be saying it’s not the potting mix, it’s your watering method…..?
Let’s review basics — HOW are you watering? Specifically? By what criteria and method?
Watering is not dependent on temperature. If they are in larger pots and they have been recently uppotted — with smaller root masses in large volume of moisture retaining potting mix, there’s no rule that you have to water every day at all. (Peppers should be in better draining mix than tomatoes, BTW, with extra perlite or other gritty ingredient)
Are you giving them part shade especially during midday and early afternoon? (Like under shade of tree or shadow of building in the afternoon) Do you have them in mulched/grassy organic area rather than on hot pavers/reflected sun/heat?
IMHO, Best way to check is “hefting” method. You don’t have to check every single one if they are grouped according to similar growth and pot size.
Let’s review basics — HOW are you watering? Specifically? By what criteria and method?
Watering is not dependent on temperature. If they are in larger pots and they have been recently uppotted — with smaller root masses in large volume of moisture retaining potting mix, there’s no rule that you have to water every day at all. (Peppers should be in better draining mix than tomatoes, BTW, with extra perlite or other gritty ingredient)
Are you giving them part shade especially during midday and early afternoon? (Like under shade of tree or shadow of building in the afternoon) Do you have them in mulched/grassy organic area rather than on hot pavers/reflected sun/heat?
IMHO, Best way to check is “hefting” method. You don’t have to check every single one if they are grouped according to similar growth and pot size.
I agree if it is rotting from the ground up and it is not a water issue. It probably is a soil issue. I don't use compost in pots because it stays too wet for too long. I also water everyday, so it does not work because I need a very light mix to get around the way I water.
If the media in your transplant pots are very different from the media it is transplanted to, it can be a problem.
You also said you transplanted the peppers into large pots. If the pepper root volume was a 4 inch starter pot and you put that in a 14 or 20 inch pot. Even if you potted a few in the same pot, you could easily over water them. Because of the difference in soil volumes. If you have a large soil volume and relatively small root volume, you don't have to water the pot completely. If you actually water the pots so all of the media is wet, the plants will rot because they will be wet too long because the roots can't absorb that much water. This is especially true if your media has compost in it, which does not dry out very fast to start with. Larger pots should insulate better against the heat, unless they are black.
Grouping them close together will help with that. So, will double potting. When transplanting, you may want to put up a shade cover so they can acclimate, especially if it is hot when you transplant.
For myself, I can only add a couple of handfuls of vermicast in a 5 gallon container without causing issues. If I add manures or compost they always lead to plants failing to germinate or dying outright. You might get away with some compost in containers if you only add a small amount like 10%. But it still depends on how fast your base medial dries. My base media is peat lite. 50% peat moss, 50% perlite. It is light enough to dry fast enough even if it rains every day but I means if it does not rain enough, I have to water daily. If I go up to 60% peat moss. I can wait a couple of days to water, but it may cause issues if we get a front and it rains for a week, then some plants may die from rotting.
If you used a potting mix, then there should not be a problem related to soil except for the volume issue. If you put your own soil mix together, then that may be part of the problem.
If the media in your transplant pots are very different from the media it is transplanted to, it can be a problem.
You also said you transplanted the peppers into large pots. If the pepper root volume was a 4 inch starter pot and you put that in a 14 or 20 inch pot. Even if you potted a few in the same pot, you could easily over water them. Because of the difference in soil volumes. If you have a large soil volume and relatively small root volume, you don't have to water the pot completely. If you actually water the pots so all of the media is wet, the plants will rot because they will be wet too long because the roots can't absorb that much water. This is especially true if your media has compost in it, which does not dry out very fast to start with. Larger pots should insulate better against the heat, unless they are black.
Grouping them close together will help with that. So, will double potting. When transplanting, you may want to put up a shade cover so they can acclimate, especially if it is hot when you transplant.
For myself, I can only add a couple of handfuls of vermicast in a 5 gallon container without causing issues. If I add manures or compost they always lead to plants failing to germinate or dying outright. You might get away with some compost in containers if you only add a small amount like 10%. But it still depends on how fast your base medial dries. My base media is peat lite. 50% peat moss, 50% perlite. It is light enough to dry fast enough even if it rains every day but I means if it does not rain enough, I have to water daily. If I go up to 60% peat moss. I can wait a couple of days to water, but it may cause issues if we get a front and it rains for a week, then some plants may die from rotting.
If you used a potting mix, then there should not be a problem related to soil except for the volume issue. If you put your own soil mix together, then that may be part of the problem.
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ApertureF11Sniper
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Wow....50% perlite.?.....I have been mixing in perlite and thought I was using a lot but no where near 50%.......My pepper plants are doing a lot better. One plant that I thought died, all growth had died, it's putting up new green growth from the base.....Some plants the leaves are yellow and the plants do not look good. Now I am at 311 plants transplanted. I have about 20 that look miserable....I only use a bit of Fish Compost in my pots. None is the bagged soils that I bought. Like the organic Black Gold which also says fertilizer is mixed in the soil .....Most all my pots are black. I do have some white buckets...I am now going to watering every other day. But many of my plants are transplanted from 4inch pots....
I read that it takes a plant 2 days to recover from transplanting. I thought it would take more like a week..
One of my Fresno peppers that I thought for sure was dead is putting out green growth....
Thank you too by the way for all the input...One day I will, hopefully, be knowing what I am doing.
I read that it takes a plant 2 days to recover from transplanting. I thought it would take more like a week..
One of my Fresno peppers that I thought for sure was dead is putting out green growth....
Thank you too by the way for all the input...One day I will, hopefully, be knowing what I am doing.
If you transplant properly at the right time of day and the right size transplant, it is possible to transplant without any transplant shock.
I have gotten better with growing my starts in 4 inch pots, so I rarely get transplant shock from that. But if I up pot from a compot where I have to pull the plants apart, then I will lose more of the smaller ones. If I pot up to a larger pot like from a 4 or 6 inch pot to an 18 gallon pot. I don't water the entire pot. I just water around the transplant. Pots need to dry out in 1-2 days, if they stay wetter than that, root issues become a problem.
I have gotten better with growing my starts in 4 inch pots, so I rarely get transplant shock from that. But if I up pot from a compot where I have to pull the plants apart, then I will lose more of the smaller ones. If I pot up to a larger pot like from a 4 or 6 inch pot to an 18 gallon pot. I don't water the entire pot. I just water around the transplant. Pots need to dry out in 1-2 days, if they stay wetter than that, root issues become a problem.