Managed to dial in the rest of my conditions and my young seedlings all seem quite content except for my mattepenos. I understand they’re variegated but I have doubts this is what’s causing the leaves to act up. They’re being fed with 1/4 strength fertiliser with 3:1:4.5 NPK and get a foliar spray couple times a week with seaweed, Epsom salt and chelated calcium (weak mixture). All the leaves seem to contort and twist away from the light and or roll up into themselves. I’ve yet to seen any other chilli let alone mattepeno plant online look like this.
by baileysduke
7 Comments
Both my Mattopeno’s exhibited the same curled leaf. I believe It’s just the nature of variegated leaves on peppers.
I have one Mattepeno left (overwintering) and It’s struggling, the fruit was not worth It but the plants are pretty.
https://preview.redd.it/zrn68s2mjhle1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5ee8bea748ab82846818d250786a8efdaff3d4ae
It seems to be normal for this variety in my experience so far. I’ve had wacky curled leaves almost the entire grow, some new growth recently is looking better
A variagated pepper I am growing seems to have uneven growth in its leaves, which I believe could cause curling. I have no proof of this but since the white parts cant photosynthesize and thus can not create their own glucose, maybe they are growing slower than the green parts? Or maybe auxin (IAA) is breaking down faster in white parts due to pigments not being present there to absorb some of it?
Mine look identical.
Mattapenos can have some funky leaf shapes but they can also be sensitive to intense light because of the white leaves. I put mine off the end of my grow lights so they aren’t directly under it and they seem much happier there, and outside they are planted where they get afternoon shade.
That’s why I don’t waste my time with hype mutant seeds that grow poorly. Most variegated plants grow like shit
if u like the varigated leaves, try raising fish peppers… even the peppers are striped