Too much fertilizer?

15 years ago

I planted the following seedling approx8 weeks ago: Yellow Bell Pepper, Pumpkin, and a couple of melon plants. All have healthy, green foliage, but only the cantaloupe has yielded anything (ONE melon!). The YBP has yet to flower and the flowers on the other plants are non-existent or very small. Researching GardenWeb it sounds like too much nitrogen. I use a 10-10-10 in granular form and applied it at the time of planting, 4 weeks later and just last week. I use about 1 tbsp and spread around each stalk (3" away from).

If this is too much, is there anything I can add to the soil to "dilute" the nitrogen (if you think it's over-applied). FYI: I water 2x/day as it is extremely hot here in Arizona. This late in maturing I fear that little can be done to salvage the plants to the point where they will bear fruit.

Suggestions?

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Comments (7)

farmerdill
15 years ago
At this stage of the game nottoo much you can do. That amount of 10-10-10 probably will not hurt, but the sidedressings should not be necessary. I expect your problem is the shallow watering. You need to get water 8 -10 inches deep and let the soil dry out on top so air can get down into the soil. In this year extreme drought I have irrigated my peppers several times but no more often than once a week, But I put down 2- 3 inches of water at a time. That way the roots go down not spread out on the surface. I also mulch peppers to keep the soil from baking in the heat.
jimster
15 years ago
I don't think the amount of fertilizer you applied is too much. There is a lot of hype on GW about "too much nitrogen" which I think is overblown. A university extension service I read said peppers can take a "ridiculous amount of fertilizer". You are not using a lot.

Truly excessive amounts of fertilizer can cause lush vegetative growth at the expense of fruiting. But puny vegetative growth will not produce a lot of fruit either.

Jim
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azmab
Original Author
15 years ago
Thank you farmerdill and Jimster.
Specifically, I made a circular dam around each plant (about 1" - 2" tall) from the soil dug up when they were initially planted. So when I water the water is contained within an area about 1 foot in diameter. However, I don't 'fill er up' at each watering. So I'm 8-9 weeks after planting but no flowers on the pepper. Just give it time?
Glad about the confidence level regarding the fertilizer. Just can't figure why I get flower buds, especially on the pumpkin, but no flowers. They each have a faint brown edge to them and never bloom.
farmerdill
15 years ago
On the pumpkins its probably the heat. The past 6 weeks of triple digit temperature , my winter squash have not set any fruit either.
missingtheobvious
15 years ago
Have you mulched around the plants? That will help keep the soil more evenly moist.
jimster
15 years ago
Read farmerdill's post re watering again. You may not be watering enough or deep enough.

Jim
azmab
Original Author
15 years ago
Again, thanks to all for the solid advice. The upper layer of soil was somewhat crusty from the ferocious heat we've been having. Following everyone's advice I tilled down to about 5" - 6", added some bagged garden soil + mulch and watered. This morning the Pepper looked "fuller" with the leaves not as droopy in appearance.
Probably the topic of another discussion, but with the Pepper plant so full of leaves, can I prune some of the leaves closest to the base of the stalk that are pathetic looking?