this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
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Plant Clinic - diagnosing sick plants 🌱

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Get help diagnosing and treating a sick plant. Include pictures, watering schedule, light levels and temperature/location so that we can help figure out what's wrong.

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About 1 year old. I've left it in pot and just watched it. The rest of the seeds were grown last year and didn't survive the winter. I did overwinter and put frost cloth over them but clearly it didn't work.

Maybe too big a pot. I water every so often and just have it fertilizer.

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[–] Beldarofremulak 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm pretty sure tose are annuals so you plant after the last frost, let them go through the growing season, then when the cold starts to come back they are done. Trying to keep them alive longer isnt beginner stuff and probably not worth it. Give it another shot next season, keep following instructions for fertalizer, and I bet you will get a crop as long as the plant is getting all it's needs met. You got this

[–] Mojojojo1993 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Jalapenos and chills and capsicums are all perennials. Or my impression was that they were.

Yeah we did that but I'm aware they can live for years and would be my aim to keep them going for several years. We got a bumper crop of hundreds of jalapenos. They unfortunately didn't survive the winter. Was hoping to cut down on replanting and such. The indoor one was more an experiment but it's very weak but it just keeps chugging along

[–] Beldarofremulak 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well shit fire and save matches. If you ask Google if they are an annual results say yes. If you ask if they are a perennial results say yes. TIL.

[–] schmidtster 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah most places I researched were saying your luck if 50% live.

Sounds more like it’s not supposed to be done, but can. Most recommended restarting with seeds every year.

Sounds like it’s an annual, but it can be stressed and messed with to make it last longer.

Cannabis is an annual as well, but you can put it back in to a vegetive state again by changing the light cycle. It’s still an annual though and it’s not recommended unless you know what you’re doing….

So bottom line, it’s an annual that can be abused like cannabis I guess.

[–] schmidtster 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Peppers are annuals, they grow and die in single season, about 4-5 months.

Having a plant that’s a year old and looking like that is extremely suspect. I’ve heard of stunting growth, but to double its life and it still have only 2 sets of true leaves with no nodes? Somethings fishy.

[–] Mojojojo1993 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Has nodes. It's a jalapeno and they live for 5+ years

https://www.fallsgarden.com/how-long-jalapenos-live/

Not sure about peppers but jalapenos are definitely longer than 6 months. I know since I've had them longer than a year.

It's definitely stunted but I have it in coconut coir which is what the kit came with. I immediately just planted the rest of the seeds in normal compost and after a few weeks planted in the garden. They last until a few months ago. Most haven't survived but a few might still come right.

Overwintering is hard

[–] Taniwha420 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, I got you. Peppers are not annuals, just in countries where it is too cold for them over winter. Pretty sure in Mexico they've got jalapeno bushes that produce for several years.

Now, is that the same green growth, or is this the rebound after the original top growth died in the cold? If it's the same vegetation, you need some fertiliser. Coir is inert. It has no nutrients. You need to fertilise.

[–] Mojojojo1993 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah they live for 5+ years. Our weather only just hits freezing but clearly that's too much. I had overwintered or attempted but I think I took the frost cloth off too early.

Think it's new green grow. I have fertilized and it looks much happier. The kit it came with came with coir. I've never used it before but it seems to have kept it alive/dormant over winter.

It was inside but it's still freezing inside. Like cold enough for oil to freeze. I kept it on a heat mat and had a container over it.

[–] schmidtster -1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Annuals can be abused to have longer growing cycles, but they are still annuals.

Making them not be annuals isn’t healthy for them and are why you’re having issues. It’s an extremely advanced technique with a large failure rate, that can also stress the plant out too much making it useless next season.

[–] Mojojojo1993 1 points 1 year ago

How is abuse to let a plant live longer ? In their natural habitat they live longer. If anything it's abuse to move them to other areas where they die of frost.

I wouldn't think it's an advanced technique. It's just growing them all year rather than half year.

But thanks for commenting

[–] paradoxbomb 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Peppers need lots of light, warmth and fertilizer. I mean 12-16 hours of bright grow light (~36w) or 8–10 hours of direct sun plus weeklyish heavy fertilizer feedings. How much of each is it getting? Also: were those pistachios salted?

[–] Mojojojo1993 1 points 1 year ago

I put it outside most mornings and bring it back in after sun down so probably enough light. I didn't fertilize over winter but did last week and it looks like it's starting to grow a bit. They probably are salted a bit. I don't know if you can even get unsalted, I have looked. I just sprinkle them on everything. I might need to stop.

Thanks

[–] distantsounds 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That can’t possibly be a year old. It would be much larger or dead at this point.

[–] Mojojojo1993 1 points 1 year ago

Older than a year. Clearly it's stunted growth. All it's siblings were planted in the garden and grew into some proper big bushes. Some were tiny but all survived and had jalapenos.

As I said I just left one as an indoor plant but it's just not really grown. Almost in a coma over winter.