On Thu, 28 Jul 2016 02:01:00 -0700, T wrote:

On 07/27/2016 01:55 PM, Boron Elgar wrote:
On Wed, 27 Jul 2016 07:19:20 -0400, 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..

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.

At least 50% of my plantings each season are rejects, either from
nurseries, big box stores or groceries. I get a kick out of tending
them and have no worse luck than with my own seedlings or purchased
specialty plants.

So far, I am finding that "ugly" and "sick" are not necessarily the
same thing. All of the rejects I have pick up so far are doing well,
with the exception of the one pepper plant. Today, he looks a bit
better.

Man the free eggplant was ugly, but it is going crazy with all the
good loving it is getting!

If you have two identical plant varieties in close to identical
growing conditions and one does not thrive, you, it is infestation or
luck of the draw lousy plant gene.

As with anything that grows - some things do better than others. If
your soil was good to start (whole 'nother topic), you likely would
not need fertilizer at this point in the season anyway. I rarely
fertilize my veggies directly mid-season, and instead just add soil
enrichment around them once in awhile.

Dunno where you are, but here in the east, the last couple of weeks
have been wickedly hot. Perhaps one of your pepper plants - even if
from the same seed source, just isn't up to it.

Check it for any sort of disease or infestation - sometimes these
things are not easy to spot if one is not used to be plant-nosy - and
keep it watered. If it makes it, swell, and if not, cut bait.

If you find you do like the peppers the good plant puts out, save some
seeds for next year. That is really easy to do with peppers.