I have some cherry pepper seedlings that seem to be getting unhealthy. The came up fine and were doing well for a while, but they seem to have stopped growing and are dropping leaves. A few other details:
Growing medium is MinuteSoil+ amended coco coir.
Lighting is a 100W LEd grow light with about 2ft of distance
On a heating mat set to keep the soil between 70-80F
I dont think I am watering them too much. Excess water is able to drip through the bottom.
Once your seeds sprouted, turn off the heat mats. Keep ambient temperatures above 65 degrees F and you should be ok. If you are using the heat mats to heat ambient temps, put a thick towel under the tray so you don’t fry the roots of the plants.
I saw many ways the peppers are dying, but nothing like that. I don’t know what MinuteSoil+ is, but I know that coco coir may have an extra salt content. Did you rinse it before usage? Second question,does your mix have slow release fertilizer? The color of your peppers is too light, it could be either chemical damage (salt) or nitrogen deficiency.
@Marco, I will see if turning off the heating mat helps, thank you for the advice!
@Galinas, this is the link to the Minute Soil: True Leaf Market. Supposedly it is amended with enough NPK for a growing season. I have seen mention of coco coir having enough salt in it to cause problems, but I haven’t seen any reviews mentioning that as an issue. Based on the site Q&A, it has been “thoroughly washed” and doesn’t contain any salt. Doesn’t taste salty either, for whatever that is worth.
I have started peppers inside for the last 8 years, they are very fussy. One year I had some that looked like yours, I checked the pH and found it was very acid, I changed potty soil. Once planted outside they recovered. I use Happy Frog Potting soil, and put a very small amt of fertilizer in my water and water from the bottom
Thanks for the advice. Looks like coco coir has a ph between 5.2–6.8 or so. May try a little bit of calcium carbonate and a little bit of fertilizer next time I water to see if that perks them up. I’m watering with reverse osmosis water, so it should be pretty neutral.
I used to have all kinds of issues with peppers, but as soon as I switched from “sterile” potting soils to potting soils with something biologically active like compost, worm castings, mycorrhizae, etc., my seedling survival rate went way up. From a quick glance, this Minute soil doesn’t seem very active. Keeping temps and humidity at moderate levels as mentioned by others here also helped for me.
Why not wait until you plant them outside to go eco-organic? I’ve used the equivalent of Pro-mix for the last 50 years fertilizing with either a liquid Miracle-Gro type or simply mixing Osmocote in the potting mix once. When they go into the ground I go all organic (OK, I’m not a purist). Every year my peppers are as green and robust as any nursery’s, but they do get the benefit of both grow lights and a southern window. I move them from one to the other to accelerate growth- by the time I put them in the ground they already have small peppers. Plants grown the same way with only cheap fluorescent lights and no sun tend to be spindly from what I’ve seen of friend’s plants.
The only thing that ever sets them back is if they get an aphid infestation. I deal with that synthetically and it’s only ever an indoor problem. Even if I deal with them immediately they will set back growth a week.
Just another way to skin the same catfish. My improved success with seedlings coincided with adding some aged compost to my potting soil, so I stuck with it. I always have lots of messy plant experiments going on in my growing areas, so I think of beneficial microbes and fungi as a sort of inoculant against pathogens. No research, just anecdata.Totally agree about adding some natural light in the indoor stage for better seedlings.
I think Zumo and Alan have it right. If you transplant your peppers to a different potting media I think your peppers will perk up. Your challenge is determining the right amount of calcium carbonate and fertilizer to add. Suggest moving them to 4" pots, shaking off the media on them and using an organic potting soil
Just wanted to throw an update in here…after adding a bit of fertilizer to my water, my pepper seedlings seem to have “stabilized” and are starting to green up a bit. I also move the grow light down an inch or two. Thanks again everyone for your advice!
At this point I cant put the lights down that low; too many other plants. My light is supposed to adequately light a 2ft x 2ft area, but maybe they are overly optimistic about that. In any case, I’ve started hardening them off in real sunlight; they are still a little small and probably root bound, but they will be in the ground soon.
In such case I use used polyethylene foam that often comes as packing materials. You can cut and stack it as needed to raise the pots you need to rise.
