covey2223
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Location: Georgia

Pepper Plants 3 Inches Tall & Not Growing

Hey this is my first post. I have a question maybe you all could help me with. I am a novice and this will be my first year actually having a garden. I grew some stuff last year with not much luck.

First major question with a story to go with it. A few months ago I decided to buy a Scorpion pepper plant. I got it at the hot sauce store. I was not expecting too much but I thought I would give it a shot. It had mixed reviews. It comes in a small can resembling a soda can. I had it about three weeks and nothing. I almost gave up. Then I saw a small green house type trick. I placed the can in a bigger tupperware and placed plastic wrap over it and secured it with a rubber band andf put a temp gauge in the soil. Three days later I had four seedlings coming up. All in all about 7 seedlings came up. I thinned out the weaker ones and kept 4. After I got two true leaves on each I started putting fish emulsion down. Not too much. I repotted then so they would have some room in small cups.

That was a week ago. One is looking like it wants to die but it is holding on barely. The problem is they have went from growing quickly to almost nothing. Each one has three or four true leaves. I learned another trick and took a cardboard box lined with foil. I placed all my seedlings (a mix of everything) in it under a cheap grow light and heating pad. The other seedling seem to be doing well and the scorpions seem to be stalled out.

Is there anything I can do to give them a little push. Like I said they have been about three inches tall for a month now. Anything would be appreciated.

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PunkRotten
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Hi,

Could you explain some of the symptoms? Are the leaves yellowed at all? Do they look and feel dry or just wilted? Seedlings are very easy to overwater or underwater. Have any pictures?

covey2223
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The one that is dying has one yellow leaf. The other fell off. I am guessing the roots were not strog enough for the transplant. The others are green and have three to four true leaves and the first two are starting to wilt. It is my understanding they are supposed to fall off after true leaves come out. They have just stopped growing at this point. They have been the same for a few weeks now. They look to be strong but just not growing. That is why put them in a bigger cup. I planted them in a moisture control soil mainly because it is all I had at the time.

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PunkRotten
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If any of the true leaves are yellowing that is usually a sign of over watering so keep an eye on that. I usually struggle between over watering or under watering. Peppers grow pretty slow. I have plants that are like 2 inches tall and they have been sprouted for like a little over a month. Just make sure they have a good size cup/container and keep the light on them. If possible have the light very close to them within 1/2 inch. I am pretty new to starting my own seeds and only ever fertilized mine once and I did it with liquid fertilizer that was really diluted with water. If you decide to use fish emulsion or something similar do it at like 4th strength or less to be safe.

imafan26
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Peppers do grow slow at first and extremely slow when the weather is still cool. You may be over watering. Peppers cannot stand wet feet.

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Royiah
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It could be your watering too much. I've found that if you water it less they do better and grow faster. I don't water my peppers unless the soil is almost completely dry and they do well like that.
You might also want to try watering from under the plant in a try with no holes. I've found that it spurs on root growth and I like to think that you want more root growth in the early stages then lots of actual plant because once you plant them outside their likely to grow like crazy. :wink:

covey2223
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Thanks for the advice guys

btrowe1
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From what I gather, living in the great white North.You started them, they have grown, and now they need to be planted to roam, you live in Georgia, you should be good to go or very? very? close. stop fussing around and put them in the ground..

Sorry, I"m just jealous, They can plant, I'm still looking at white fertilizer.And brown seed starter pods..

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jal_ut
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Yes, when is your last frost there? They will love getting out in the sun and some warmer weather. Harden them off by putting them out a couple hours a day for the first couple days then increase the time.

Welcome to the forum.

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IndyGerdener
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My pepper plants have gone through phases of not growing. All but 1 plant out of 40 has flourished after I put the light within 1" of the top of the plant. It is interesting to see these plants with the light staying 4" above the plant. The peppers grow slowly until they get closer to the light then they rocket up. it is an exponential growth rate.

I do have 1 pepper plant that is still thinner and shorter than all the rest. It has the same everything, same watering schedule, same light schedule, everything. All of the plants are bottom watered and this pepper plant is in the same watering basin as the rest. But there is something wrong with this plant. Leaves are falling off, there are some brown spots on the bottom side of the lower leaves. I have tried everything I can, with no luck. I think I am going to pitch that one and just be happy at the other 39

valley
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You've gotten a lot of information in these posts. All us early birds with peppers are hoping for the best. I know you'll decide what to do based partly on what is in these post, do update this thread, telling what you did and the outcome. Thanks


richard

covey2223
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Well since I last posted the plants have not done hardly anything. The two strongest are putting on a leaf a week, maybe. I moved the light down and let them dry out a bit and I am watering from the bottom now. What do you think about Miracle grow diluted down to try to spur some growth. The plant soil is around mid 70's right now so should I try to get the soil temp up? I am willing to try almost anything.

sepeters
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Location: AZ, zone 9

That sounds pretty normal, actually. I started toms and peppers the same day and the toms are easily twice the size of the peppers. Now that the weather is consistently in the 80s and night time temps are not dropping, they are starting to take off. Finally! Eggplants are the same way, but be patient, they'll go crazy when you have truly warm weather!

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applestar
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Could you post some photos?

Moisture control soil makes me think staying too moist. If it was MG then there was fertilizer in it already, so be very careful if using additional chemical fertilizer.

A leaf a week or a pair of leaves week? I think a pair of new leaves per week is about normal growth rate. Cooler temp is better for good stout growth, but peppers need more warmth than tomatoes by at least 5 degrees or so. 55-70 for tomato seedlings, 60-75 for pepper seedlings.

If you are getting any nice warm in the sun days at all, or if you have a sunny window, carefully exposing them to direct sun for a short time in well sheltered location will help to strengthen them.

I have some seedlings under the lights where direct sun shines in for a short time, and my daughter remarked how bright the sunshine on their leaves are -- "They have those bright lights shining on them already, but where the sun is shining on them are almost white" ... Yep, powerful stuff 8-)



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