Without knowing the pH of your soil, my first guess would be the lime. If
you don't want to buy a test kit and check the soil CAREFULLY yourself,
there may be a cooperative university extension that will do the tests
cheaply.

If you had NOT applied the lime, my next thought would be temperature.
Although peppers are sold as sun-loving plants, there have been years when
my peppers produced very little all summer, and then went gangbusters as the
weather cooled in September. As a result, I now plant some in the sun and
some dappled shade.

All the organic stuff you're adding is fine, but you still have to be aware
of the soil's pH.


"Ross" wrote in message
...
OK, sorry-
Garden size 20' x 20'. The bag of lime was about 20 pounds. Hydrated yes I
think, they were smaller than pea size granules.

I've been building up the soil with composts manure, straw, and leaf mulch
for 5 years.

Location Chicago, 1.5 miles from the lake.
Weather has been good since the peppers went in June 1. Only one or 2
nights
below 50 degrees. Lots of rain and sun. 70 to 85 degree days, some wind.

The plants look worse now than when I planted them.

Sounds like it was the lime?

Ross



From: "Doug Kanter"
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 2004 13:08:36 GMT
Subject: peppers with a problem

You didn't provide enough information.

1) Where do you live, and what have temps been like for the past few
weeks?

2) A whole bag of lime? How big a bag, compared to a 5 lb bag of rice?
And,
into how much soil did you put this lime?

3) Coffee grounds into where? The pot in which the peppers are growing?


"Ross" wrote in message
...
My peppers are just sitting there.

Years past they have done extremely well here. I do rotate them.

The tomatoes tomatilos beans broccoli herbs garlic flowers and berries
are
all doing fine.

Yes I have been putting lots of coffee grounds from Starbucks into the
soil
this year.

Should I assume that the peppers have a problem with that?
Is it too much nitrogen? Too acidic? I also put in a whole bag of lime
to
cut down the acidity. Is it the lime?
What's your guess?

Thanks,

Ross