T wrote:
songbird wrote:
T wrote:
...
I give it extra water and extra fertilizer. But it is still
sad looking and not growing much.

if it isn't actively growing it should not
be fertilized much at all..

Uh oh!

How about the extra water? Am I screwing up there too?

i don't know, it depends upon the condtions.
here it has been hot and dry enough that i water
the veggie patches every three or four days. a
container plant in the hot sun might need water
twice a day... (i don't have any veggie container
plants)


I only use certified organic fertilizer. Does that
make a difference?

i would back off a bit to see how it responds.
without knowing the specific nutrients and
ingredients i couldn't say. for me the organic
fertilizers i use are either green manure chopped
and left for the worms to digest or the worms and
worm castings that i put in the gardens under
the plants in the spring when i'm planting. i
don't fertilize after that. by rotation planting
then i may not fertilize a garden for two or
more years later. depends upon what i'm growing
in that space.

also, some pepper plants may not do much
fruiting if the N is too high. you'll have a
great looking plant though. that happened to
me last year with the green peppers.


Maybe I am "over loving" the thing?

possibly...


buying plants on sale. always risky as you
are getting the rejects. i could have been
dropped, fried in the sun one too many times.
the roots may be malformed. the potting soil
itself may not be all that good. etc.


How do I properly nurture a pepper plant back to health?
I WANT LOTS OF PEPPERS!

pull it out of the pot and inspect the roots.
maybe it is root bound or diseased...

could be a virus or fungal infection. never
really know without being able to dissect sometimes
so you have to go on intuition. and, well, it is
only a plant... some just don't make it.

Okay. Bummer. Any advice other than to do an autopsy?
Autopsies are kind of hard on the patient!

is it still in a pot or is it planted in the
ground?

potted plants are sometimes not too bad to
inspect, water it good, cut a chunk of heavy
cardboard with a slit in it that you can put over
the pot and around the plant and then turn it over
and see if it comes out.

if it seems to be doing better lately then
perhaps it just didn't get enough water some
time or a temporary set back.


songbird