dying habanero/cayenne plants

9 years ago

Half of my Habanero plants seems to be withering away. They're planted in the same garden, same soil, same amount of water, and same amount of sun.. but the right half is failing while the left half is prospering. Leaves are falling off one by one and the ones that remain are small and wrinkly. They were all the same size when i planted them. Since the plants on the left are doing well, i don't think it can be due to poor soil, little sun, or even too much water for that matter. They've been in the ground for 3 weeks now, after being hardened off, and i've fertilized them all with about 2 tbsp of miracle grow in 1 gal water once so far. I've attached pictures.. Any one have any ideas as to why they're doing so poorly?

I also have cayennes that are wilting and showing brown lines in the veins of the leaves.. same garden.

Thanks!

Comments (8)

linksusmaximus
Original Author
9 years ago
Pic of garden..
linksusmaximus
Original Author
9 years ago
Cayenne with brown lines..
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linksusmaximus
Original Author
9 years ago
Other poor Habaneros.. 3 in one spot. Should i cut two down?
linksusmaximus
Original Author
9 years ago
Poor guys..
woohooman San Diego CA zone 10a
9 years ago
Fertilizer burn. TWO TB per gallon is double the recommended rate.

The leaf drop is probably from overwatering AND the ferts

Let that soil dry out and switch to half doses of ferts. I wouldn't fertilize until they're done stressing though.

Kevin
djoyofficial
9 years ago
Does the ground slope towards the worst looking plants? That would just confirm what Kevin said if it does. I am new to all this and already know that to much water is a no no. I am watering every 3 two 5 days depending on the conditions and things seem to be just fine. I haven't started playing with a lot of fertilizer but I have seen a lot of pictures of burned plants so I would just take it slow. I just use a little fish fert every few weeks and have a half dose of osmocote in the soil. I figure less is more until I get the hang of all this.

One more thing I noticed a LOT of splash on your fence, is that from rain? I read somewhere that splashing fertilizer up onto the leaves is a no no and can burn them.. I only spray leaves if they are getting dirty and rinse them off if I splash soil onto them.

Nice looking garden! Hope ya get it sorted out.

dj

This post was edited by djoy on Wed, Jun 25, 14 at 14:26
esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
9 years ago
Yep, I noticed that the plants get worse as you go from the top to the bottom of the picture. That tells me it is probably something to do with the location of the plants which could result in differences of soil, moisture levels or sun exposure. I would try to determine what changes from one side of the garden to the other.
Bruce
linksusmaximus
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks everyone! Good to know - i'll definitely cut back on the fertilizer dosage, and try to only apply to the base of the plant. I am working on a solution to limit the amount of watering. I turned the sprinklers down to run once every two days, but unfortunately yeah, i think the rain is what's killing me. I built a structure this past weekend and i think a few days of covering with some clear plastic should dry out the soil. Hopefully they bounce back :/