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Chilli plants - leaf curl / curling upside down?
johnbaron
Posts: 75
in Fruit & veg
Noticed this evening a number of the chilli plants were exhibiting leaf curl / leafs curling upside down, mostly new growth / growing tips.
I think they are getting enough water as there is no leaf droop lower down the plant and there is a little run off from each bag at the end of each day (the solar auto drip watering system waters them every 3hrs in daylight).
They are in a greenhouse, I've added shade cloth (50%) to two sides that get the most direct sunlight during the hottest part of the day and have been opening the doors a bit each morning.
Theres no discolouration or singing to the leaves. They have had a week of weak strength vegetative growth feed and are on plain water this week with a view to move to flowering feed / tomatorite when the rest have set their first fruits.
There are no obvious pests.
Thoughts?
Photos below:
I think they are getting enough water as there is no leaf droop lower down the plant and there is a little run off from each bag at the end of each day (the solar auto drip watering system waters them every 3hrs in daylight).
They are in a greenhouse, I've added shade cloth (50%) to two sides that get the most direct sunlight during the hottest part of the day and have been opening the doors a bit each morning.
Theres no discolouration or singing to the leaves. They have had a week of weak strength vegetative growth feed and are on plain water this week with a view to move to flowering feed / tomatorite when the rest have set their first fruits.
There are no obvious pests.
Thoughts?
Photos below:
0
Posts
Usually called cal-mag, or mag-cal, thy're in a form easily taken-up by your plants.
That said, I've had a similar problem over the weekend.
Mine are in the g/h - doors/windows all open and blinds down. I've found the top 1" of 6 of my 8 plants shriveled and dead, the lower leaves and stems all fine, so they'll take over, but the tops have had it. They're in 10L pots that have not dried out, I'm blaming the weather
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Probably going to give them a bit of calcium for good measure
I think if it were me, I'd stick to tomorite. If you only have 25-30% coir I doubt it's having much effect. I use seaweed extract on just about all my veg/salad stuff, it does work wonders and contains all the micro-nutrients that plants need. It should be used in addition to your fertilizer as it is not a fertilizer in itself, but not at them same time you give tomorite or whatever..
I believe that chili/peppers are slightly different when it comes to fertilizing. AFAIK start using tomorite when the first flowers appear, rather than waiting for the first fruits to appear as you would with toms.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I also wouldn't overfertilise them. They're like tomatoes, less is better.
Might have to invest in a thermometer and check max temps.
I also just noticed in your OP that they're being automatically watered every three hours. If that means the mix is pretty much permanently wet, it's not helping the plant. The roots can become waterlogged and the plants bloated with moisture. That, along with the heat, may be contributing to the flower issue. Chillies are like toms, they respond better to "tough love" than pampering. In pots, ideally, the mix should be allowed to dry out between watering.