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my cayenne pepper plant is in deep trouble

17 years ago

Help!

I purchased a cayenne pepper plant from our local nursery. Anyhow, after yielding its first fruit, the leaves have turned a pale green to yellow green, more yellow than green. My husband has been using fish emulsion or seaweed as well as micro life for plant food.

When I lived in Massachusetts, I was able to raise a bunch of potted cayenne pepper plants in a sunny room quite successfully, with plenty of fruiting.

What am I doing wrong to the poor little plant?

Lady Dynomutt

Houston metro area, Texas

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Comments (7)

habbob
17 years ago
Maybe overwatering.

Are you letting the soil dry out between waterings?
hmiller
16 years ago
Hi, I'm having the same problems...

I purchased my cayenne pepper plant from a local nursery as well, and when I purchased it, it was remarkably healthy. It already had several fruits. I brought it home, overwatered it the first few days I had it, got a hang of the let-soil-dry-then-water thing, and haven't overwatered it since. However, mine is doing the same thing, a lot of the leaves turned from a deep green to a light green to a yellowish green, and now many of the leaves have fallen off. ...All in areas that buds look like they were beginning to form. As a matter of fact, the very tips of the leaves begin with a tiny touch of brown that seems to spread up the leaf.

We've had a problem with beetles before on other plants, so I purchased some "Organicide" and sprayed the indicated amount on the leaves. And since, I haven't noticed any bugs on any of my plants nor have I noticed any additional damage on any of my other plants.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be wrong with my pepper plant??

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Yep, the Cayennes seem to get to full size quick and then just sit there. It takes a while to start seeing the red. The general consensus is that letting pods develop on immature plants will hinder its growth somewhat as the plant has to put a lot of energy into growing the pods. I am not sure where you live and how long your growing season is, but you can pick them now if you like. They do not have to be ripe before picking them. They likely won't have as much heat however. I think once you do pick them, you will see a lul for a day or two and then they will kick back into gear and you will start to see some new growth. Bruce
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There is several reasons for the blossoms falling prematurely. If you transplanted it into a pot from a graden spot then root stress might have caused it. Avoid overwatering peppers, they don't do well in wet soil. Barely damp soil close to dry soil. Mircle Grow is good but be aware there are different mircle Grow formulas. Check the ph of your soil and then visit your local garden center for the right additive. ph7 is best for peppers. Good luck. I have had good luck and bad luck growing peppers indoors. And in the greenhouse. Here is a link that might be useful: Paul's Pepper Place.
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After a few days, the open flowers shrivel and should drop off. Sometimes, the peppers grow through the dried flowers and leave like a "skirt" around the pepper. If it concerns you, carefully remove the dead flower, but make sure you hold the stem when you pull the dead flower off or you could pull off the whole thing. I say instead, just wait and it probally will fall off by itsself. Yes, dried flowers or dropped off means the pepper is on the way. Now if the pepper stem drops off with the flower, well, thats a different issue.
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My guess is the habanero and cayenne crossed and the following volunteer resulting pepper is a hotter cayenne pepper with habanero genes.
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hmiller
16 years ago
Hello again,

I just took some pictures to better illustrate the problem. Some include obvious damage from bugs, which I'm pretty sure has been resolved as a result of the Organocide. But if it's something else, please let me know!

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Thanks!
Heather
pkapeckopickldpepprz
16 years ago
Not sure could be spider mites causing the stems to shrivel up and lose foliage? I have similar problems with my Serranos.
hmiller
16 years ago
I'm not sure... I haven't actually seen any. I know they're small, but I saw aphids on a nearby cilantro plant, sprayed on some Organocide and no more aphids. Scary! I don't know what it is!
keithdp
16 years ago
Looks like plant stress and over fertilization the pot looks too small also. Stressed plant are the first to get attacked by anything. Put in a larger pot and limit fretilizer peppers dont need much. Is there a saucer? Peppers like dry feet.
Good Luck.
Keith
Artstrickland2000_yahoo_com
12 years ago
Mine were having similar issues, however after making sure I water them very early in the morning or really late at night as well as misting them on sunny days they have rebounded and are finally budding back.

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