Oh I am using a potting mix, not a soil, and it has plenty of vermiculite. The home depot garden guru said these can be planted all year round in florida. Another thing, when I took the plant from its original container it was in good shape. When planted it in the mix, this is when it happened. Do you think it's possible that there was too much fertilizer in the mix?

After I planted my pepper plants, we had a bad cold spell and horrible winds - all of my pepper plants got beat to shreds. I left them alone, and even though they still look pretty ragged, they are flowering and a couple already have some small peppers just starting - so I would say just leave them, and maybe they will still do OK. Good luck!

Sounds like you got the root issue sorted out. I wanted to add another little tip for any one else who might stumble across this thread. PH is a big issue to plant health like the thread creator found out. One big issue to PH swings is the presence of bad bacteria and fungus in high amounts. Odd or bad smells and slime on the walls of the reservoir and on the roots is a sign of this. It is very important to get the natural beneficial bacteria and fungus to colonize before the bad ones. I use General Hydroponic's Subculture B to Inoculate the roots and to get new systems set up on the right track. After the beneficial microbes have taken a firm root in the system the PH will no longer rapidly swing and the smells will go away. During water changes leave a little of the original water in the system to help keep them colonized. If you find your self with bad odors, slime, and root rot add some 3% Hydrogen Peroxide to the system and let it flush for 24 hours then change the water. Let the system run for a couple more days and repeat the process. Do this a few times then flush the system to get rid of the hydrogen peroxide residues that might be present. Then mix up a new water batch with out the hydrogen peroxide and add some Subculture B. Hopefully then the ecosystem within the hydroponics system will become symbiotic to the roots of the plant. Good luck and happy growing!

Yes - prolly from to little water if the stick was dry. You don't want to water in sips. It causes ALL the unused salts from fertilizer solutions and tap water to accumulate in the soil. Flush the soil so at least 15-20% of the total volume of water applied exits the drain hole (carrying accumulating salts with it). If you can't water this way w/o risking root rot or impaired root function, you need to take a closer look at you're soil, because you're going to be fighting it for control of your plants. Al