I got these Thai chili pepper plants from a group a few years ago and these babies have been doing very well, successfully growing till about two months back.
Since I was traveling, I left them with friends where these guys unfortunately experienced overnight weather shock and possible over watering.
When I got them back, I repotted them using organic miracle grow outdoor potting mix but they struggled to show signs of recovery. So, after about a week I switched the soil to burpee organic indoor potting mix and they exhibited signs of recovery with the leaves blooming. Unfortunately, they're still continuing to lose leaves along with a lot of stems drying and dying. And for some reason, they're not responding well to sunlight anymore – after the transplant, whenever they are placed in direct sunlight, the leaves become wilted. They used to love direct sunlight!
It pains me because this is years of hard work and I do not want to give up on them. Any help would be appreciated.
by curryboinyc
8 Comments
The way they keep wilting no matter what reminds me of the bacterial wilt I was battling on my cukes this summer. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can pipe in with a more positive prognosis
Hot window sill
2x transplants in 1 week? You could just be seeing transplant shock.
They could have possibly been tricked into going into hibernation.
Hard to tell but the leaves do not look like overwatered leaves usually would look like, they would curl the edges up and get a bubbly structure.
Leaves yellowing and hanging leaves could be a sign of bad drainage/ root stress… did you check the roots while you changed the soil ? Those pots are closed so it could be the cause of root molding due to water staying in the bottom of the pot. Check the roots and remove the brownish soft spots if it has some.
Especially considering you mentioned it has been a few years old, repotting can cause stress to older plants and it will take 2 weeks or more for a full recovery
When you transplant thoroughly drench the soil. Then let it dry out naturally for a few days before watering again. Mist daily as needed to prevent wilting in an air conditioned space.
Did you break up the root ball when transplanting? Did it fall apart? Was it root bound? Did you plant it too deep? Did you thoroughly soak the soil after planting? There are many variables to consider.
It may take time to heal from all the transplanting and unusual habits of care. It will need to regrow any roots that were damaged before in can be as healthy as it was.
If you have a drainage hole, you can put a tray under the pot and just water the tray to encourage the roots to grow deeper. This would also help avoid over-watering in the future
Those ikea buckets don’t have holes. Did you make some holes for the excess water to drain?