One more thing to note is we had a big swing in temps the last few days don't know if that matters but we jumped from high 60s low 70s to high 80s low 90s in a couple days.

Could be the plant is stressed. Let it dry out before watering again.

Stoney

Leaves are dropping or gone?

Kevin

Kevin,
Dropping off you can see some on the floor. As I was picking some up others would fall by just brushing up against the bucket and barely shaking the plant.
Rey

This post was edited by flipback23 on Mon, Jun 9, 14 at 23:35

I believe it is stressed from the fluxuations in weather we just had. The leaves will grow back, but it will look ugly for a while. I moved most of mine to a shady part of the house for a few days until this heat goes down. You may want to move it to a cooler and less sunny area.

I guess some are just more sensitive to the extremes of our microclimates.

Falling leaves can be caused by many things. But overwatering, root rot, and even mites seem to be the case often.

I doubt that it's the weather -- Down here in Socal, we've had a couple Santa Anas so far with temps in the 100's and humidity in the single digits. I took precautions by shading and mulching, so maybe MY plants don't count ...lol.

Blossom, bud, and pod drop is very common with weather extremes, but leaf drop is more of a root problem.

It might even be a case of being rootbound. I've noticed that large fruited annuums, like bells, tend to want larger than a 5 gal bucket.

Could be weather.. I just doubt it. Check the soil temp. If you've had the bucket sitting on bare ground or concrete, it can definitely shoot temps up. If so, try to prop it off the ground(bricks et al), shade the bucket with a piece of plywood, etc., move the plant to a patio during midday, or shade cloth midday.

What sucks is colored bells need that foliage to prevent sunscald on the fruit while ripening. :(

Keep us updated.

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Tue, Jun 10, 14 at 2:03

Yes they were originally on concrete in direct sunlight. They are now under my patio and only get morning sun. I don't think I overwater since I usually wait til the leaves droop a bit before watering. Root bound hmm possibly. It was transplanted from a smaller pot in Febuary to the bucket. It was not root bound in the smaller pot but I do know that when I stick my finger in to check moisture there are roots all the through the mix. I'm goona have let it ride it out though don't wanna stress it out anymore by transplanting again. Thanks for the info. Will keep ya posted.