Dropping Pepper Leaves and A Plant Murdering Shelter Cat

9 years ago

I'm having a sudden issue with some of my pepper plants. In two days, the leaves of my Pimento and Fresno peppers have almost entirely fallen off! I looked at them just now and they look a fright!

My husband has taken it upon himself to water some of the plants in the morning before he heads off to class... Helpful, but.... That is the main change, so is it the dreaded overwatering again? Is it his turn to over love the balcony garden lol?

I am hoping if I leave them be for a bit that they may live...but they look pretty dramatic. The Fresno even had a few little peppers on it... I assume I should snip them off to let it's energy focus on surviving whatever has happened to it. Anything else I should do? Other than leave it alone and maybe see if I can get them more sun?

In other news, our new cat has secretly been attacking my indoor plants.... My bamboo palm in particular is showing the scars of battle (AKA chew marks and clumps of the entire thing being uprooted, joy!). She has also been eyeing my aloe plant, which has been placed far out of her reach, I hope. Oh, cats!!

My dog on the other, is a perfect gentleman when it comes to the plants. He did take a few corrections here and there and seems very interested when I fertilize, shooey! He sits quietly with me on the balcony as I tend what needs tending, in hopes some freshly snipped herbs, especially stevia or spearmint, should come his way.

Good times. Happy 4th, everyone!

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Comments (5)

ZachS. z5 Platteville, Colorado
9 years ago
If he is watering peppers every morning, that is too much. Most things don't like wet feet, but peppers HATE it. I water my peppers every other day because they are on the same irrigation system as everything else, but, it would probably be better if I did it every 3rd day. My one hot pepper, which is in a pot, gets watered much less often and is growing tremendously. The bells, in ground with the irrigation system, are not doing as well, probably for a number of reasons, but I know one of them is they get more water then they really like. Poke your finger around the dirt and see how wet it is.
gjcore
9 years ago
Zach probably has it right. Peppers prefer soil that is somewhat dry. What type of container and mix are you using?
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garnergarden
Original Author
9 years ago
I think it's definitely over watering at this point since not even the pepper next to it (in with an eggplant so drank water faster) was affected. I told hubby to slow down on the "love" on the plants lol so hopefully anymore drama can be avoided.

As for the container, they are your basic 3 gal black pots from nursery. The potting mix is an organic potting mix, can't recall if this one was Nick's brand or eko or something like that. Also some perlite mixed in.
gjcore
9 years ago
Haven't used Nicks mix but I do like the Eko brand.

I use black plastic also for most of my container peppers which get full sun most of the day but I think if I were balcony gardening I would use unglazed clay containers.
NBM81
9 years ago
I have all 17 of my pepper plants in self-watering containers of some kind (Earthboxes or self-watering 5-gallon buckets). All are thriving because they don't get top watered at all and only use what they need.

A neighbor has her 4 pepper plants in a large 20-gallon container and she hand waters one gallon every 3 days (the top of the soil dries out the first day, but the soil just beneath stays moist for a while). Her plants are not producing as well as mine are, but they are taller at around 3'.

Pepper plants are tough fellas. Back off on watering and they should sprout new growth very quickly. Also be sure you have adequate drainage in the bottom of your container.