Pepper problem~~~~Help needed!!!!

Discussion in 'Fruit and Vegetable Gardening' started by Lara, Jun 16, 2007.

  1. Lara

    Lara Active Member

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    Hello,
    I have red, yelow, and orange peppers. A few weeks ago I sprayed them with Schultz Spray. All of them started to bloom and dropping flowers and buds. I think that it may be the direct sun? I water them every day, they are planted in the big boxes on my bacony. May be I should put something over to cover them from direct sun?
    Please, any suggestions will be appreciated.
     

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  2. Eric La Fountaine

    Eric La Fountaine Contributor Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    Peppers love full direct sun. If I understand your problem, the blossoms are falling off the plant, but no fruit is set. Erratic temperature change, nights to cold or drying out are more likely to be a problem. Is anything pollinating them?
     
  3. Lara

    Lara Active Member

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    Thank you for your answer, Eric La Fountaine!
    Yes, the flowers and the buds that didn't open yet are dropping off. I pollinate them myself with a brush and a little insect that looks like a mini yellow jacket is also pollinating them. Today I saw one fruit that is growing, the others just keep dropping off. The temperature could be the factor, it is very hot and humid during a day, but at night the temperature is going down to 15 C.
     
  4. Lara

    Lara Active Member

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    This is the only one fruit that is developing. There are buds that didn't dropped yet. Hopefully, they will survive.
     

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  5. Lara

    Lara Active Member

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    Today the fruit dropped off. What could be the reason? The temperature change: at night is more cold and it is hot during a day. As a compost I used Cow Manure (no name, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5), I bought it at Loblaws. I didn't dilute it with regular soil, because saleperson said it should be used plain without adding soil. May be this is my mistake? If so, should I replant them? I don't think it ia a good idea, though...they are all have buds on them. I water them everyday, because it is hot during a day and they are planted on my balcony in big boxes. May be they just don't like to grow in pots and boxes?
    Please, help me to find a solution to this problem. There are at least 30 buds that have dropped already...
     
  6. growest

    growest Active Member 10 Years

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    Lara--it's so hard to diagnose things at a distance, so these are just somewhat educated guesses!

    I suspect watering everyday, with a pure manure compost, might be suffocating the roots. Only way to know is to probe down into the root zone, and also see if the bottom of these boxes is nicely moist, or perhaps too soggy. I assume there are drain holes in the containers? Agreed the plants must not dry out too much, and that could cause buds to drop, but this is the other side of the problem...growing in containers is just more finicky than in the ground!

    I would have mixed in perlite, and probably some bark to be safe. This allows more constant watering while still keeping air moving around the roots. Pure manure compost may work fine but it makes me nervous. (Many plants do grow fine in pure composted manure all right). Too late to change that now tho, so why am I even mentioning this!

    I think your climate now is excellent for peppers, hot and humid is perfect. Much better than mine, and my peppers are setting fruit okay here. Cold nights can cause blossom drop, but I don't think that will be your problem in Montreal.
     
  7. Lara

    Lara Active Member

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    Growest, thank you for the answer! I replanted some of my peppers that I grow from seeds, they are still very little and I planted them in boxes not long time ago. For those that I can't replant, I added perlite on the top of each pot and box, tried to mix it as much as possible with the compost without breaking the roots. I also did a little holes in the soil and fill them with perlite. It is not much, but I hope it will help. Yes, you are right, it is better to grow them outside in the ground, not in pots.
    Thanks again!
     

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