can you take a picture of the whole plant?

I'm still curious what kind of peppers you're growing over there.

Hi J&P

Readily I have this available - Pic taken on 4th October at around 1 pm. Hope it helps with your curiosity :)

And also let me know what variety it is if you are able to figure out.

Did you start this pepper from seed? If so did you start it indoors or outdoors? Also the soil looks like it would hold a lot of water, some perlite or even pine bark mixed in would allow air pockets and allow the soil to dry. Is the plant in full sun? I would move it to morning sun for awhile and try to have it in the shade by noon. I would not water it until the soil dries. The green on top of the soil is not a good sign too much water retained in the soil your plant may be experiencing root rot. My advice would be to repot in a soil mix that has pine bark or perlite, not sure how available these items are where you are at.

Mark

No this was bought from the local nursery when it had around 4 leaves about 3 weeks back. Now it has around 9 leaves. I transplanted it to this pot around a week back and had watered only then (to the extent that it started draining from the bottom). Since then I have not watered it. And just yesterday I felt that the water level has subsided. I provide it morning sun only upto 10am and from then, it is under 50% shade cloth. Temps do get high above 100F over here.

I can find perlite but no pine bark.

I had, a few days back, used some composted cow manure tea - just a little bit (250 ml very very dilute) - over the top of the soil. I was thinking if that could have caused that fungus growth. But I did the same to my other two tomato plants and they are perfectly fine - at least no fungus there.

Yes, I do have a problem with my soil. It holds a lot of water. However, I have very limited options over here. I have tried three different potting soils and all of them are very water retaining. How do I amend it to make it more water draining? Mix perlite? How much? I also have the option of very small gravel / stone (5mm diameter)

Thanks

Saood

Tomato's do very well with a lot of water and is why they are fine with the soil holding a lot of moisture and compost tea. I don't measure perlite just add it to the mix. I would think a 4 or 5 parts soil to 1 part perlite would be fine since it gets hot there and you don't want to end up in the opposite position where it drys out too quickly. Then repot the pepper plant in the new mix. I am not sure how the stone pebbles would do in the mix they would I think after time because of weight sink to the bottom unless roots trap them.

Mark

Thanks Mark for your quick response.

I had one more idea to reduce the water content of the soil when watering. By keeping the watered container after it has completed its first drain, on a pile of similar potting soil which might just drag down that extra moisture from the soil into the soil pile outside - more like a wicking action. Will this be helpful for any future watering? Should I do it in the first place?

the gravel you talked about would be useful for helping it drain if you used it in the bottom inch or so of the pot. it would also be helpful to add weight, that way when the plant gets bigger it's less likely to be knocked over by the winds in the sandstorms you guys get over there (I have family in the area, I've heard crazy stories).

Wicking the moisture is a good start, to get the excess water out, but if you don't change the soil contents it will compact over time (in a month or two) almost like a brick and when you water you will see a puddle of water on top of the soil struggle to go into the soil, imagine the roots in the compacted soil, your plant will be stunted and most likely produce small fruit. I learned the hard way, this happened to me.

Mark

If you have a dish under the container, holding the exit water all the time, the soil in the container might ont have a chance to get half dry. The principle of watering (most plant) is to let the soil get partially dry between watering. This might not b always possible in locations that rains a lot. That is why you need a well drained medium.

AMOUNT OF SUN:
my understanding is that peppers in general tolerate lot more sun and high temperatures. 6 hours is minimum direct sun for most garden vegetables and that includes peppers.

The problem with container growing in SUN and HIGH temperature often is not so much the air temperature BUT is the soil temperature that cooks under the sun and high temperature. That is why DEEP in ground planting is done in Hot DRY climates.

This plant which I watered on October 5 and from that day I haven't watered it. Almost 25 days now. and it was in the sun (under 50% shade cloth through out). The leaves started rotting from the bottom and I began pinching out the leaves on the first signs of rotting. Out of those nine leaves, I removed approx. 5 from the bottom and 4 remained on the very top of the plant. Since last few days I am seeing some new leaves coming out from the placed that I pinched out plus new leaves on the top. Now with the new small leaves the 4 bigger / old ones are also there. They seem to droop in the sun after an hour or two of exposure to sun (even when the temps are below 80F). The smaller leaves do however find no problems. Now I have two questions.

1/ Since new leaves have started coming out I am assuming that the plant has recovered from the drowning phase. The bigger / older leaves are still feeling like bulky and they do droop (one just started rotting also and I pinched it out). Should I remove all the remaining old leaves and have only new leaves on this plant?

2/ The newer leaves however look pale green / yellowish from the bottom the leaves (i.e. the part closer to the stem) compared to the top of the leaves. My limited internet research points towards low nutrients (perhaps low in nitrogen). Should I fertilize it? Below is the picture to ease you in assessing this problem?

Looks good to me! :-)

Also, wanted to add that a layer of gravel or other disparately sized material will not help with drainage - in fact, it will impede drainage.

Josh

Yeah, according to tapla (sp?) container wizard. The soil acts like a sponge and won't drain no matter what is under it (except a wick).

Mix in a goodly amount of perlite. Perlite holds air and won't absorb water. The roots don't die by rotting, they rot after dying by drowning - ie. no oxygen.

Dennis

Yeah, according to tapla (sp?) container wizard. The soil acts like a sponge and won't drain no matter what is under it (except a wick).
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Disagree. Actually wick has high absorbancy itself.
ALL soils (regardless of the mix) has certain absorbancy (retaining water). This is a requirement and desirable TO SOME EXTENT. But when the drain holes are clogged or are on the side (~ 1/2" above bottom) then excess water will be trapped at the bottom. Say, if you have a mix rich in peat moss, that excess water will not drain out readily causing constant stagnation and possibly a good environment for diseases. Chunky gravel cannot absorb and therefore no accumulation of water and the excess water from above the gravel will drip down into that space and go out.

But if you have a medium rich in chunky materials, such as pine bark nuggets, you should not have a constant sogginess problem.

my perception;

This post was edited by seysonn on Tue, Oct 29, 13 at 20:28

Josh,

Thanks for the comfort. The potting soil on the top has dried up but beneath I know it is mosit (may be wetter) and that is why the plant is getting back to happy mode even after going 25 days without watering. I feel the fop 4-5 inches would be dry and it will have lots of difficulty in getting wet and allowing water through whenever I need to water it again because it this peat based soil becomes quite hydrophobic when dry. I dont know but this soil on the top may also be hindering the evaporation and thereby delaying the effects of over watering.

I dont know but this soil on the top may also be hindering the evaporation and thereby delaying the effects of over watering.
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1) nThe role of water is to keep the medium moist. You wouldn't want the water to evaporate as much as possible. That is one of the functions of MULCHing

2) IMO, 25 days without rain and watering, in SA, is too long.
You have to keep moisture in a consistent level. As I understand it, tomato plants do not like swinging between extremes, too wet to too dry.

Thanks Seysonn for your reply.

As for this issue, the problem is that this pepper (and not tomato) plant was over watered and I wanted it to be back to normal. If after 25 days - it regained strength and giving out new leaves, this tells me that the plant seems happy.

Btw, I have a moisture meter (link provided below), which I have been using throughout these 25 days, to check the soil moisture level. That meter is still not allowing me to water. I am just trying to follow what this tool is saying - at least in this over watered case and it seems the this tool is not wrong. In other cases I sometimes tend to disregard its reading and do go ahead with watering :)

Also I think the potting soil that this pepper plant is in is also too water retentive and therefore it has been this long between watering. Since it is already in this soil and I have figured out some work around from the container gardening guys (especially tapla), therefore I will not re pot it in another more draining potting soil for the time being. I hope I can make this plant fruit this way.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mositure meter

Yes, the mix becomes hydrophobic when dry, and that means it is very difficult to re-wet. When you plan to water, take a skewer and scratch/poke the upper crust of the soil. Then, very lightly water to moisten the surface. After a few minutes, come back and water slowly and gently, waiting for the water to travel down into the mix.

The only moisture device that I use is a wooden skewer. I stick it all the way down into the pot, and pull it out when I am curious if the mix is drying in the lower layers. Fool-proof technique, and it requires no batteries.

Seysonn, the issue with the layer of gravel is not the gravel itself. Rather, it is the fine particulate that gathers immediately above the gravel. This fine material clogs the spaces between the larger gravel, and then water perches in this layer. As a result, the water first saturates horizontally before it begins to travel down and out through the gravel. Thus, not only does a gravel layer impede drainage, but it also raises the height of the perched water layer in the pot and reduces the aerated volume into which roots can grow.

Josh

saood, let the plant ultimately tell you when it needs watering. That's what I do, though I do also use a moisture meter to confirm my observations. When it wants water it will droop or wilt. Peppers aren't hurt by wilting, and there is some thought that letting them dry to this point forces them to send out more roots in search of water - a good thing in the long run.

seysonn, if you care to follow up on this "drainage layer' issue, search on Perched Water Table in the containers forum. Lots of good discussion there.

Dennis

Well, You are describing a condition that has not manifested itself in the plant. In other words, your plant looks perfectly normal. In gardenin you have to learn to read your plants.

I see you have trimmed the tip of some leaves. I think those were sun burn or sun scald. So when you brought it from nursery they were suddenly exposed to too much son.

If the soil retains water/moisture more and longer, the solution is simple, just water it deeply but less frequently. AND excess water has to have access to drain without restraint. In your dry climate I cannot see how you can have over watered condition. That can happen when you get a LOT of rain, that you have no control over it. I think that you are just over reacting.