pepper problem! (and other ramblings)
Hi guys,
the garden is going along really well. several days (ok, months) of rain and not to wicked hot sunshine really helped the transplant shock. lost a few things, maybe because of the bedding from the cattle auction place (I posted about that about a week ago). It wasn't ready yet, and so was probably a little "hot" and fried a couple things, but I think the rain has helped keep the ammonia and nitrogen burn down. anyways, I have some habeneros that looked good at the plant shop, a little yellow, which I thought was just having 14 inch tall plants in those little 3 packs. neglect, not enough soil..... anyways, the "transplant shock" that I thought was the problem, doesn't seem to be the problem at all. they are going on a week now, and other than a yellow color on the leaves, they look fine. my garden is on its' first year, so the soil isn't great, but not really too bad either. I added blood and bone meal to the holes before planting (for some gentle nitrogen and potassium) but am a little bit scared of trying to use some artificial 20 20 20 on it (like some Peter's). I was thinking, maybe at half strength or even quarter strength I could see if it helps, then dose it up from there? the only thing I have done to try and help is to add a manure tea to the plants (from my fiance's rabbit, Madam Bun E. Bunns) that was aged for some time. the rest of the plants seemed to love it, but the damn peppers just won't come back! the drainage is fine, the pH looks ok, i'm out of ideas here. any help would be appreciated. Any other pepper heads out there who have a trick I might use? later john ps, the cayennes and ceranos look awesome, and they are in the same bed, so the soil seems like it should work with habeneros too. What's the deal with that? do they need anything special to flourish? also, I understand that peppers like a little boost after and during fruiting, what do you guys think is the best way? I'm trying to keep stuff more or less organic, but with a late start and a new plot, I think maybe some cheating is in order on this one. (we have a saying here in alabama "win if you can, lose if you must, but ALWAYS cheat!) |
pepper problem! (and other ramblings)
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pepper problem! (and other ramblings)
JohnDKestell said:
my garden is on its' first year, so the soil isn't great, but not really too bad either. I added blood and bone meal to the holes before planting (for some gentle nitrogen and potassium) Blood meal is pretty strong organic nitrogen; it is capable of burning plants. Bone meal provides gentle *phosphorous* along with calcium. Peppers appreciate a goodly supply of potassium. but am a little bit scared of trying to use some artificial 20 20 20 on it (like some Peter's). I was thinking, maybe at half strength or even quarter strength I could see if it helps, then dose it up from there? I'd say at this point see if you can get yourself some seaweed meal (potassium, micronutrients) or some liquified or dry powdered seaweed (Maxicrop is the brand I use) and foliar feed the plants. What I do, growing peppers: My peppers get set in a bed that's had some compost and alfalfa pellets worked in a week or so earlier. Each planting hole gets a dose of Tomato-tone (from Espoma) workd into the bottom. Later in the season when the weather warms up, they get mulched with shredded leaves mixed with cocoashells and occasional foliar feeds with Maxicrop. The plants are always lush and loaded with peppers. I set 18 plants in a roughly 4' x 8' bed. Each one has one of those little 3-hoop tomato cages set around them. If they didn't, they'd be falling over with the weight of the peppers. I experimented one year comparing compost mulch vs. leaf or leaf and cocoashell mulch. Peppers with shredded leaf or leaf+cocoashell mulch did better than those with screened compost as mulch. (Aside: corn and eggplants prefered compost mulch.) -- Pat in Plymouth MI Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. (attributed to Don Marti) |
pepper problem! (and other ramblings)
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