Okay, I didn't see a way to upload an image to the forum as part of a post (most likely a PEBKAC problem), so I'll try the indrect approach. Apologies for image quality, I moved to a corner of the deck to try and block the wind but this put me in the shade.


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That's sunscald/windburn. You will get some of that when you are hardening off your plants. Proper hardening off means (from the very beginning) to put them outside for 10 minutes day 1, 20 minutes day 2, 40 minutes day 3, etc. It's a real mess and very time consuming. All of mine have some sunscald and are still growing well.

Frost damage looks different. I had frost damage once and the leaves died inward from the edges. That doesn't look like frost damage.
To be honest, your plants look very healthy, and it looks like they are ready to be transplanted. Why not transplant now in a 12 inch pot and this will buy you some time? Put them out for short, then progressively longer periods during the day and keep them inside at night where the soil will stay warm and the roots will grow. Of course that is assuming they are going in containers, if you are planting them in a garden then just keep putting them out for progressively longer periods of time (I would let them rest a day and then put them out a half hour the first day, an hour the second, 1.5 the third, etc.)

Under no circumstances do you want to prune them. I made the mistake of pruning a chocolate scotch bonnet plant that I had sunburn on in April of 2005. I didn't get ripe pods until October, 2005. Just leave them they will be fine. Let them rest a day or two in a sunny location indoors and then let them begin to harden off outside.

Mark

How much nitrogen did you give them?

Groovy1:

Thanks. Believe it or not, they went through several days of progressively longer outdoor time on the shaded porch. They seemed happy, but in need of more light intensity and more direct illumination (significant leaning towards the outside of the porch, having to rotate the flats around every day, getting a bit tall).

So I moved to the back deck, which is uncovered, shaded by the bulk of the house during the morning and a large tree in the afternoon, with open sky and a few hours of sunlight each day. Along came cool weather and windy days.

They should already be transplanted into the garden, my target was last weekend (14 days past traditional last frost here). I waived it off (and hauled plants back indoors) due to 39F nights!

Byron:

They were started in Jiffy-9 pellets (the ones without the netting). Initial soak of the Jiffy-9 was 1/4tsp of Miracle-Gro to 1gal of water, since I have seen prior GardenWeb traffic about better seed germination with a small amount of nitrogen involved. Subsequent watering of the Jiffy-9s post-germination was water.

Transplant was into Metro-Mix 360, which if memory serves has a starter charge of fertilizer blended in (I could be wrong about that). Watering after potting up has been about 1 time in 3 with 1tsp MG per 1 gal. water, the other two times with plain water.

Too much?

Your plants look healthy.

Several questions:
1) How long (in terms of days) have you been trying to harden them off?
2) How long a period per day?
3) How ofeten are you watering (the soil in those pots looks really wet)
4) When you say cold nights, how cold would that be? They can take a few occassional nights down to 40°F. They may look limp after a 40°F night but will spring back when the sun warms them.
If your nights have been consistanly 50°F or above, I would plant them directly into the garden or permanent pots. They will not start their growth spurt until soil temps. warm up to 60°-65°F.

If you are not finished hardening them off, I can tell you what I improvised for my sister-in-law last year when she decided to grow her toms and peppers from seed.

I took her old rectangular clothes basket (the kind w/ slits all around) and cut the bottom off. I then turned it upside down over her plants that were in a tray like yours. Now the cut off bottom is on the top. I cut a piece of tulle (wedding veil fabric) and placed it over the top opening and secured it to the sides w/ duct tape. You could also use saran wrap in the same manner.

The slits around the sides of the basket act as a buffer for the wind, much like a wind break so the seedlings would not take the brunt of the wind. The tulle fabric on top lets filtered sunlight in so not to sunscald the young seedlings. As days went by, she removed the tulle from the top and let the plants stretch through the opening for a few more days before planting them permanetly.
It worked GREAT and she's using it again now as I write this. It makes a a nice quick mini-shelter.

Paul B.

I feed mine 1 tbsp of cow manure T/gal at plant out.

1 tsp of cow manure T/gal water at the first true leaf stage can cause bubbling

lil rhody

Sorry to be so late in responding, end of a busy week.

>1) How long (in terms of days) have you been trying to harden them off?

Nominally since about 4/18, but with fits of stops and starts. We'd have a few nice days, then along would come a couple we evening temps dropping well below 50, and I'd pull them back in (bad experience with low temps stunting plants a few years back, guess I'm traumatized).

>2) How long a period per day?

What I try to accomplish (best that can fit in my life) is -

Friday - A few afternoon hours in shady, wind-protected corner of porch, then back inside

Saturday - Perhaps half a day (warm mid-day) in the shade of the porch

Sunday - Most of the day in the shade of the porch

Monday/Tuesday - When they go outside it is to a spot on the porch which gets an hour or so of morning sun, then shade, and a bit more breeze.
...
By Thursday or so - Location on the porch that gets perhaps 3-4 hours of morning sun, then shade, and hopefully the plants remain outside overnight, with flat rotation to correct the leaning.
...
By the following Saturday/Sunday - Move to the back deck, which has open sky all day, 4-5 hours of afternoon sunlight through tree canopy, more breeze.
...
Plant the following weekend

So two weeks of indoor/outdoor time prior to planting out. That was part of my target for planting last weekend, but the temps have been cool and some days the winds quite strong. I passed on planting last weekend due to nighttime temps dropping below 40.

>3) How ofeten are you watering (the soil in those pots looks really wet)

They were all watered the morning of the photo, as I found about half the plants overturned from the strong winds of the previous evening as the pots dried out.

I water by using a separate flat full of water, putting a pot in and letting it sit until well soaked, then pulling it and putting it back in its dry flat. They never sit for long periods with wet feet, and after a watering I usually go for quite dry before watering again. Having to do a bit of balancing act since the plants are top-heavy and the winds on the back deck are worse than typical.

The idea about some wind-break structure for the back deck is a good one that I'll have to consider for next year. Hopefully I'm going to get them planted today, since the consensus seems to be that I'm just looking at recoverable environmental damage, not some disease that would make it wasted effort.

Thanks!

alanroberts

If your pots are drying out in 12 hours, your pots are too small, and with the amount of sunlight listed, those pots are
way to small.

quote "Transplant was into Metro-Mix 360, which if memory serves has a starter charge of fertilizer blended in (I could be wrong about that)."

I hope not. I think I use the same and I always think there is no ferts at all in that. but I could be wrong also.
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In the past I have found that if I hardened off the plants really well and then had to keep them indoors for several days that I had to start the hardening off process all over again.

the pots are small compared to mine. right now my plants are smaller than yours and I have been putting them into 6 in pots until puttin them out.

( my keyboard is failin me one key is bad. )