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New gardener Problems

16 years ago

I've got three jal. pepper plants that are sad little guys, we've had four months of major rain and now we are approaching triple digits with no rain.

I'm trying to water the entire garden about an inch a week. They get are getting semi-shaded by my okra

My plants are only about a foot tall, blossoming but not producing. The leaves are yellow to brown along the edges. We've had three peppers total, one rotted on the bottom half overnight. The peppers have been about 2" long.

We have heavy clay soil that I tilled manure and grassclippings in, and when I planted in April I added compost to the beddings.

This is our first year gardening so any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Do they do well in containers in the house?

Thanks,

Paige

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Comment (1)

shelbyguy
16 years ago
sounds like the plant has wet feet. peppers dont like wet feet, as you are finding out.

i would till in some sand, perlite, and vermiculite for next season.

grass clippings dont add very much of anything to a compost, but ya cant go wrong with dried/aged manure (you dont want it fresh from the animal unless its a rabbit, otherwise you risk burning the plant with nitrogen)

keep working your soil and in a few years im sure it will be super fantastic for growing.

I too have an area of clay that i'm growing peppers in. I thought I amended it enough with mulch and compost, but i'm finding that not to be the case. need to till deeper and add more aerating agents like sand and perlite.
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