buds falling off habanero

12 years ago

I have a jalapeno and habanero plant I bought as seedlings at the same time. I transplanted them both when I brought them home and then transplanted them again into 12" pots about 2 weeks ago. the whole time the habanero has looked much healthier than the jalapeno until now. the jalapeno has at least 15 buds on it with some of them flowering and some of them starting to form fruits. the habanero did have about the same number of buds but all have fallen off except two which are starting to flower. the habanero otherwise seems healthy. I used jungle growth organic potting mix (meant for container veggies) ammended with espoma garden tone organic plant food when I transplanted to the bigger pots. any ideas why ones doing so great and the other not when all the conditions have been identical?

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Comments (6)

romy6
12 years ago
Peppers are very finicky. Could be shock from transplant,too much nitrogen, temps below 50 or above 90 degrees or a hundred other things. Sorry not much help but it is very hard to diagnose these things.
ka0ttic
Original Author
12 years ago
appreciate the response. it definitely hasn't been too cold or too hot for the peppers. one thing I did forget to mention is that I also noticed most of the smaller leaves at the top with the buds are shriveled but still green.
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esox07 (4b) Wisconsin
12 years ago
I would have to go with transplant shock. Maybe the Jalapeno just took it better. Plus, I am not sure how big the plants are but when I pulled mine out of my 15" pots a week ago, I found the plants had used all the space. I would not consider them root bound but they definitely had roots throughout the soil mix in the container. How big was the container that the plant was in prior to the 12"?
ka0ttic
Original Author
12 years ago
the habanero plant is about 1.5ft high. both plants were in 8" pots before.
willardb3
12 years ago
Flower drop probable causes:

1. Day temp too high >95F
2. Night temp too low 3. Too much nitrogen fertilizer
4. Too much water
5. Low light levels (reduces fertility).
6. Very low humidity (reduces fertility)
7. Poor air circulation (air circulation contributes to pollination).
8. Lack of pollinating insects.
9. Size of pot
1. Too much mineral in feedwater.
2. Too much grower attention/anxiety.
ka0ttic
Original Author
12 years ago
thanks for all the responses. at the time of my original post the temps hadn't dropped below 65. the last 4 or 5 days have had lows in the 50s though. despite this the jalapeno is still setting flowers and the fruits are getting bigger. out of the two flowers left on the habanero, one flower and bud fell off and the other started to fruit so that's a positive. no other new buds have formed though.

these are my first pepper plants and I know I didn't pick the best time of year to start them. I'm not expecting much and if nothing else its a learning experiment for spring. I've been very careful not to give them too much attention and over water them. if there's no improvement in the next few weeks what's my best course of action? prune back the top? just leave it be?