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Vegetable Gardening

pepper plant damage. replant or not

13 years ago

New to veggie gardening. planted multiple pepper varieties 2 weeks ago. Had good solid 80 degree weather and rooted well, saw increase in height. 5 days ago, 2 nights of light frost. they seemed to have survived. Last night, they were pummeled by hail. most have solid intact stems, but all have at least one leaf with hole punched through. It is still early in season, can replant some other starter plants if needed. However, I'm hoping these will make it. What do I look for? when do I throw in the towel and replant?

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Comments (4)

User
13 years ago
If the tip/top-growth of the plant is in good shape it should be just fine. Even if it's damaged (unless there is very severe leaf/stem damage to a majority of the plant) side shoots will start lateral growth to make up for it, but the plant will be bushier.
marlingardener
13 years ago
Your peppers should recover well. If you want, in a week or so you can give them a light dose of nitrogen heavy fertilizer (first number is nitrogen, as in 20-10-10)to help them compensate for leaf damage/loss. Personally, I'd just keep them watered, make sure bugs don't move in, and let them recover on their own.
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Anything that makes holes that large should be pretty easy to find. If you don't see anything on or around the plants, you will need to make a nighttime excursion with your torch and I'll bet you will find the culprit in action. My guess is slugs.
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It is a little tough to see just how much damage is done. It looks like the plant is still healthy otherwise and you may be able to just let it go as is. However, I suspect it is going to need that extra support from now on. Otherwise, you could try repotting it and burying the affected area about an inch under the soil surface as it looks like the affected area is currently right at the soil line. I always bury my peppers about an inch deeper when I repot regardless of the stem condition. But if it is still looking healthy, I would probably let it go at this point and then bury it a little deeper when it is the normal time to repot. I am assuming that you will be repotting/replanting at least one more time with that plant before it finds its permanent spot. Bruce
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Normally I said go with new plants but given the weather this year if you have been lucky enough to keep your plants healthy I'd be inclined to give keeping them and trying it. As an alternative, you could do a bit of both, keep the best ones going but put some new ones in as well. That way you are covered. Dave
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Comments (8)
If I plant out my peppers a little too early (still cooler than they like), or overwater, or both, they tend to yellow and curl. They'll stop when it warms up and drys out a bit. I also agree that the small holes look like damage that can be ignored - chewed edges in my area are generally grasshopper damage, not sure about in your area (and if you figure out what to do to stop grasshoppers, please, do tell ;) ) Anyway, I really don't see anything to worry about from your pics.
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growinidaho
13 years ago
My peppers got hit with hail last yr. The peppers had bruises, leaves had holes. Plants did well.
muckdoc
Original Author
13 years ago
thanks for the help. In regards to the fertilizing, I've seen multiple options...seaweed spray, miraclegrow for veggies,fish emulsion, etc. some for soil, some to be applied to leaves. what's my best option for peppers?

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