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chtjdog

Please help me save my chilli plant!!!

11 years ago

Hi All, Newbie with first post here. I bought a small seedling chilli plant in the spring, variety unknown, it gree from a 3 inch plant to ceiling height in a couple of months. It had prolific flowers, many of which were infertile but got it to start fruiting by spraying the flowers and have had many chillies from it - some remaining stubbornly green, others turning red - and they are very hot! Now, suddenly, some blight seems to have stricken the plant and the leaves are turning yellow and falling like - well, like autumn leaves! I have identified a few tiny holes in leaves and have eradicated a couple of minute bugs, and have found a very, very fine web which I clear away daily. I have many bare branches now and many drooping leaves, yet the plant is still putting out new shoots and flowers. I tried spraying it with a water solution infused with crush garlic, but I think I am losing the battle. Any help or support gratefully received. Many thanks in advance.

Comments (13)

  • 11 years ago

    Welcome to the forum. I am a novice myself too but have been around on this forum for a while.

    I suggest, that you post few pictures : Of your plant: Fruits and the pest problem. As they say , a picture can speak 1000 words.

    Also, tell us where you are, what your current temperatures are. Is your plant in the ground or pot ?

  • 11 years ago

    CHTDog: I realize you have the plant indoors but that doesn't mean it is not sensing the end of the season. With the hours of sunlight diminishing your plant may be sensing the transition to fall/winter due to lower light condition and less daylight time. If you are planning on keeping it over winter, I suggest that you consider pruning it back which will cause it to require less light and other nutrients during the winter months. Yellowing and falling leaves can be caused by a number or other issues as well to include over/under watering...usually over watering. Also, too much fertilizer can cause this.
    But before you do anything drastic, please provide more information. Such as the size of the plant, the variety of the plant, the size of the pot, the type of soil, how much water and nutrients you are giving or have given it in the past and how much direct and indirect sunlight that it is getting.
    And Seysonn is right, a few pictures will go a long ways to helping list members figure out what is ailing your pepper plant.
    Good luck,
    Bruce

  • 11 years ago

    Hi there thank you for your prompt replies. I don't know what variety this plant is, it grew really well and I re-potted it into a plant of 8 inch diameter and 7 inches deep, I pinched it back a couple of times but it grew to 5 feet which I guess is too big but it had lots of flowers and I didn't have the heart to be too tough with it. I watered it daily throughout the summer as it is on a dining room table in a bay window (I moved it back a big when it was very hot) and was getting full sun from about 10.00 am to 3.00 pm. I'm in Devon, UK by the way. I watered it daily, but a small amount and have fed it with tomato food two or three times over the summer, and the soil was just potting compost. The fruit it bears now are smaller than they were a while back, but have turned red and I am loath to prune it back because there are lots of flowers at the top. I'll have a bash at uploading some pictures of the health plant and the poorly plant I have now. Thanks again.

  • 11 years ago

    Healthy Plant

  • 11 years ago

    Poorly plant!

  • 11 years ago

    Poorly plant!

  • 11 years ago

    Poorly plant!

  • 11 years ago

    First thing I would do is repot it in a much bigger pot if you do not wish to prune it back. Watering daily is not the right strategy. Maybe once a week or even less but water more heavily.
    Bruce

  • 11 years ago

    Red habanero.

    Spider mites!

    Use insecticidal soap.

    Re-pot into a larger pot with holes in the bottom.

    Dennis

  • 11 years ago

    Agree with above. Too small of a pot and spider mites. The reason it grew so tall is because you kept it inside and it kept "reaching" for more light than it was getting. Loss of leaves... spider mites. As mentioned, insecticidal soap. Neem oil or wettable sulfur should do the trick also.

    I notice the leaves are sagging quite a bit also. That's either from letting it dry out between waterings(which would be ideal) or watering it TOO much that root rot has set in. Only you would know. Could also be caused from the small pot size. If the plant perks back up after watering, then it's probably fine...but watering daily sounds way too often for an indoor plant

    Good luck.

    Kevin

  • 11 years ago

    I agree on the spider mites. Also that it is now very badly root bound. It is saveable though.

    Not only will it need a larger pot. It will take washing most of the potting mix away from the roots, and some work to try to untangle the roots.When it is potted up it will shock it. Though once it comes out of that it will start to thrive.

    On a side not it is quite leggy. If it were my plant I would prune it back a lot, and put it into a larger pot.

  • 11 years ago

    Thank you all so much for your time and comments. I watered it daily - small amount - throughout the summer as the soil seemed bone dry and it perked up after watering. It was very small when I put it in this pot, but it just grew and grew! As you can see from the pics I stupidly put it in a pot with curved sides so I'm not going to be able to get it out easily - should I break the pot??? Is the shock going to finish it off altogether? Should I wait until it recovers a bit? (ever hopeful). I have flowers and fruit at the very top, should I just be brave and chop? Thanks again

  • 11 years ago

    Roots can stand a lot of jostling. Get a trowel in the pot and loosen the root ball around the edges. If it's not too root bound, you should be able to tease it out. Not critical yet.

    Hack that towering stem off when you can. It's not critical to do it right now, but it will make re-potting a lot easier.

    I would treat the spider mites first. You can pull off the webs with a paper towel then apply insecticidal soap. Read the directions and soak the little buggers.

    Your watering scheme is working - the plant has gotten this far - so keep at it for now.

    Try to get it more light. Closer to window and lower so all the leaves get some light.

    Peppers are tough. It will pull through.

    Dennis

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