Hi everyone, I’m hoping to get some input on my pepper plants. Last year all my vegetable plants were explosive in growth and produce. This year they’ve been a bit stressed by the early heat we’ve had (southern Ontario) but otherwise doing well. Everything from cucumbers, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, garlic, and onions are doing well.

My pepper plants, on the other hand, look terrible.

Initially I thought they were just extremely stressed from the heat, but I noticed a few of them (not pictured) are doing fine. What clicked in my head today is that the ones that are doing ok I grew from seed, and the rest are from garden centres (a semi-private one and a commercial one).

From my zero-level knowledge and subsequent Googling the answer is:

  • Too much heat
  • Too much water
  • Too little water
  • Exposure to herbicide

It’s the last one that really raised my eyebrows, and seems to fit based on photos.

Anyone have any insight on this? Thanks in advance.

  • @CeeBee_EhOPEnglish
    3•4 months ago

    That’s the thing. We’ve been getting way more than seasonal averages for rain, and when there’s more than two days of no rain, we put on the sprinkler for 20-30 min.

    We also have about 4-6 inches of mulch on top to get the soil from drying out.

      • @CeeBee_EhOPEnglish
        2•4 months ago

        That resource seems to be specific to trees. Just about every other gardening resource (blogs, websites, YouTube videos from respected gardeners) recommend at least a few inches of mulch.

          • @CeeBee_EhOPEnglish
            2•4 months ago

            Ya, you’re right. I guess I should have been clearer with my description. Near the plants the mulch is thinner. At about 6 inches away is when the mulch is thickened.

            I was told very explicitly by my wife to make a “depression” around each plant when putting the mulch down. Basically to make the mulch very thin near the plant.

            I’ll have to check tomorrow, but I’m thinking I may have put the mulch too close to some of the plants.

            But the thing that still confuses me is that the ones we grew from seed are doing fine. It seems to only be the garden centre bought pepper plants that are bad.

            • @[email protected]English
              3•4 months ago

              Sometimes transplanted plants struggle to throw roots into the soil they’re placed into, especially if the soil isnt super loose amazing primo grade A soil.

              I’ve had some plants that I’ve transplanted into shitty soil that struggle to root into the new soil and so kind of just fester at their current size, whereas plants sown directly into that soil grow better.

              This is actually pretty common for me with my fish peppers when I use a soil that has too much fibrous wood content.

              • @CeeBee_EhOPEnglish
                1•4 months ago

                So I decided to sacrifice one of the gnarlier plants to see what I can find. Here are the images:

                https://postimg.cc/gallery/N2XxkkY

                The roots did shoot out beyond the bulb, there was a lot of pulling and tearing as I was lifting it out. But I also noticed that some of the stems are woody and brown. My neighbour said that she noticed the “stinging bugs” are exceptionally bad this year.

              • @[email protected]English
                1•4 months ago

                Yeah I always throw some potting soil with some slow fertilizer mixed in around the edge of the hole before the plant, before filling in after transplanting and honestly it’s good to sorta mash down the roots a bit so they really press into the soil but absolutely transplanted plants are not a guarantee. Doubly so if the roots have all wrapped around the inside of the pot and looks bound.

                Also definitely agree that too much wood is an issue. But I bet they were not getting enough water past the mulch and just couldn’t get good root growth, with it being anaerobic and nitrogen removing from all the slow decomposing fresh wood mulch.

            • @IMALlamaEnglish
              2•4 months ago

              The fact that the issue follows the garden center plants is very interesting. Good luck! I hope you’re able to get to the bottom of it.