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transplant pepper plants dropping leafs

12 years ago

I transplanted 5 seedlings this past Monday, and the weather was perfect, but since the weather has gotten colder, its been windy and in the 60's. I pulled them inside, and 2 days later i came home and my devils tongue, and yellow 7 pot had dropped all but 1 set of leaves and the new ones growing out. The other 3 are just fine no leaf drop. Any ideas of the cause, should I just leave them inside our of the cold till them make a.rebound? I am really.new.to growing peppers, I had only watered them.once I transplanted, not since

Comments (11)

esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
12 years ago
Did you "harden" them off before putting them outside?
Spongey600
Original Author
12 years ago
I thought I did, 5 days before I transplanted them, I would get home at 515, put them out for an hour, and kept increasing the time outside. Then I left.after the 5th day I left them all outside for 2 days then transplanted them, but it went from 80 to 65 and windy in 2 days, so not sure if that had any bearing on it.
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Hi & welcome to Gardenweb! Wish I could see anything positive to say about this plant... Those green nodules look like some kind of disease or parasite, never seen anything like that on a pepper plant. You may want to start over with a new plant. Unfortunately this one looks beyond redemption. For any potted plant, the soil shouldn't stay soggy, ever. Without leaves, a plant's water needs are negligible, so it could take a month or two to dry out from just evaporation if the soil is composed of mostly fine particles and thus very water-retentive. Sorry to say but I would discard that soil too in addition to the plant.
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Are you planting them out in full sun? They may have come directly from a greenhouse and full sun may be too harsh at first(they may not have ever been hardened off). Try keeping your new plants in their pots for a few days, gradually letting them get used to sun exposure. Also, most plants go through transplant shock to some degree and take some time to recover(and don't fertilize them until they do). I planted some peppers one year without enough hardening off and they were scalded by the sun. All the leaves dropped off and they were just green sticks in the ground, but eventually they sprouted new leaves and bounced back completely.
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I think personally messing with the roots on any plant is bad unless you're also pruning the top at the same time. If you're planting an intact top, plant an intact root. If a plant is healthy, it will spread its own roots out on its own. I planted some kale plants last summer that were so rootbound in 4 packs that you couldn't even see any soil at all. They were actually so rootbound that I was keeping them in a no holes flat and watering them twice as much as they needed each day just to keep them alive, so they could soak up the water over the course of the day. I really didn't have any hope for them when I planted them out but I thought it would be a good test of just how did plants bought past the end of the season perform...They did just fine and didn't even seem to have any transplant shock and I planted them in July.Come to think of it I did the same thing planting my late tomatoes, I used leftover ones from spring that were in no holes flats, and they did fine too. They were celebrity and big boy tomatoes. I never mess with the roots of any plant I transplant into bigger pots in the greenhouse and they have done just fine. I think that the physical process of ripping those roots apart is bad for the plant, destroying some of them. Then wouldn't they need a top pruning too to make up for the root loss?
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So, could this still qualify as "blossom drop" even though pollination occured and fruits were set? I use organic fertilizer, and not too much of it. Mostly using the higher-potassium kind. Where do you find liquid calcium? I also read somewhere on the forum that magnesium can also help with this. I do have shade issues, but I think the peppers are getting at least 7+ hours/day. I wonder if wet soil could be an issue. I've amended a heavy clay soil bed with compost and lots of other 'good stuff,' but it is still very dense and has needed little (none, really) watering so far this year. Our temps have been lower than normal (70s-80s) and we've also had more rain than usual. Thanks! veg
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noinwi
12 years ago
It could be a combination of transplant shock and too much wind. They should recover, give them time. You can always put something around them(open at the top)to protect them from further wind damage until they get more new growth. I've had peppers bounce back from bare sticks after they were suns-scalded.
Spongey600
Original Author
12 years ago
thanks! that is good to haer! I ended up just bringing them insidenet to my slider so thy will get almost the same amount of sun but since they are inside they will be protected from the elements. once they start to bounce back, should i re harden them? considering they are now inside again where it stays above 60 degrees.
Spongey600
Original Author
12 years ago
I thought I did, 5 days before I transplanted them, I would get home at 515, put them out for an hour, and kept increasing the time outside. Then I left.after the 5th day I left them all outside for 2 days then transplanted them, but it went from 80 to 65 and windy in 2 days, so not sure if that had any bearing on it.
noinwi
12 years ago
Yes, you'll have to re-harden them once they've been inside for a while. The new growth will be tender.
Spongey600
Original Author
12 years ago
well an update, the little guys are holding on! i gave them a little reg MG fert, and i have them under my buddies full spectrum lamp, i am still worried, but i am keeping faith!
Spongey600
Original Author
12 years ago
i think my devils tongue is on his way out! the top of the stem where the leaves grow from was brown this morning, and all the leaves are limp. i am going to keep my faith for another week and see if it sprouts elsewhere, then i will try to see if i can get another little guy!
seysonn
12 years ago
I don't think that temps going down fro 80 to 65 could pose a proble but the opposit could. leaves droop because they loose more moisture than they get from the roots. This could due to too much sun, too dry and windy air.This can happen to any plant, not just new transplants. The solution is to keep them watered.This particular complain comes mostly from zone, 9 and 10 gardeners.
OjoVerde
12 years ago
Hey there, check out the link below. I was concerned about my plant's stem turning brown/black as well. Does your stem look like the stem pictured in the link?

If so, don't freak out like I did... that dark color is normal.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dark Stem = A.O.K.
Spongey600
Original Author
12 years ago
OJO, i actually knew about the stems getting dark color from last season when my jalepeno plant did that! but thank you for the help just in case! this plant is only about 3-4" tall and it had lost all its leaves then where the leaves sprout out turned brown and the leaves fell off! so no leaves and a brown tip=dead! :( so i called the guy i bought them from and i am going to pick up a few more plants tomorrow! a new devils tongue, and 3 others i am not sure about, want to see if he has something that is similar in heat as a jalepeno for the GF and a good stuffing pepper, and then maybe something off the wall

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