Pepper plants not growing?

17 years ago

Hi, this is my first time starting peppers from seeds. I started the seeds in mid March, with the seeds germinating the first week. The varieties are bulgarian carrot, lemon drop, limon, hot paper lantern, and aji omnicolor. The plants are about an inch tall and I'm growing them under a 40W fluorescent light. They haven't grown much at all for about two weeks. Am I just inpatient or do peppers just grow insanely slow for the first month or so? The leaves are also turning a purplish color on some plants (not sure of the variety, I accidentally switched the types around). Most of the other peppers have light yellow leaves. I have fertilized twice with 15-30-15 fertilizer so far. Why are my plants growing so slow?

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Comments (10)

als_garden
17 years ago
are the peat pots drying off too much? i spray mine twice a day with a mister that helps alot. i wouldnt fertilize till they have about the 3rd set of true leaves. but thats my 2 c worth. im sure others will be giving you more information very shortly....Al ps how close are your lights? about 2 inches from the leaves is a good place to start usually.
andyroo
Original Author
17 years ago
They are about 5cm from the top of the tallest plants.
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fiedlermeister
17 years ago
They are doing fine. You may be, understandably, impatient. Don't feed them anymore for awhile.

John
User
17 years ago
Hi Andyroo,

Hot peppers can be really frustrating if you're expecting fast results. I started some habs in late January and they are only about 2.5 inches high (last 6 weeks under a 400w MH bulb to boot).

They look fine to me for their time. I know it doesn't help but, be patient, you'll be rewarded.

Bill
cmpman1974
17 years ago
I concur with everyone else. Peppers grow very slowly unless in a greenhouse environment. i started many in early March / late February and they still are not large at all. I have been a little inpatient also this year because it seems like they're growing even slower than normal.

It's probably just that I have the "summer bug." :) Having 25 degree weather on Easter in Michigan wasn't my preferance. lol.

Chris
strouper2
17 years ago
andyroo,
Nice variety of peppers that you have there. I have about a 15 day head start on you and my peppers are about 5 inches tall. When I'm growing peppers, or any plants from seed, I always want to make sure that they never dry out, because this is deadly for younger plants. I start all of my seeds in Jiffy Pellets and put them inside one of those plastic domes, they provide great moisture. My sprouts stay in there until their little leaves start hitting the roof. Once out they go into 3 & 1/2 inch pots similar to the ones you are using and I continue to make sure that they donÂt dry out (it got real cold here this past week so we had the heat on and I found myself having to check my plants every 12 hours or so because the heat was drying them out real fast). My other big concern is that my plants are as close to the light as I can get them, in fact some of my bigger plants are now touching the light and it never seems to hurt them.
How old are your bulbs? I ask this because my bulbs were at least 4 years old at the beginning of the growing season. I started some Morning Glories under those bulbs and they started to look real leggy, so I went out and got a new set of bulbs & this did wonders. My Morning Glories really started to take off and everything else has been doing real well also.
What ever you decide I wouldn't worry too much because once the peppers get out into the real sun they're bound to go gangbusters. Peppers are real hardy and I've never had any trouble once I got them outdoors.
Best of luck to you & keep growing those peppers plants.
User
17 years ago
Andyroo,

Just got around to taking some snaps of some of my pepper seedlings. As I mentioned in my earlier post, my Habenaro was planted in late January. All these were started in mid February at the latest.

DonÂt worry about your growth. These have spent the past 6-7 weeks under a 400W MH bulb. In order; cayenne; habenaro; Hungarian; jamacian and thai.

Yes, my hab and a few others are sick... fighting a mold problem. Trying to nurse them back to full health.

Hope these shots help put you at ease regarding your crop. I'm sure yours will start taking off shortly. If not inside, then when they get plated in your garden.

Bill
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web_of_hair
17 years ago
my plants started that slow last year and the ones that survived 2 late frosts eneded up doing great! So I wouldn't worry.
danial
17 years ago
andyroo
you just have cabin fever, you want out in the dirt but do not worry they look good. i started in mid jan. and still have a few that are not much bigger then your. i agree with all they will grow
dan
let it burn
hendrik_vanderdekin
17 years ago
The harder you watch peppers the slower they grow