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Help! Whats wrong with my Aubergines and peppers
biggaz007
Posts: 8
Hi Guys, im new to GW and to gardening in general, so any and all advice is welcome. The problem is mostly with my Aubergines, though the peppers aren't looking great either... can any of you identify whats wrong from the pictures?
Background: Bought a new house with an existing weed overgrown greenhouse, dug all the weeds out, filled the bays with horse manure and planted the aubergine, pepper and toms about 6 weeks ago. The Toms have gone mad, about doubled in size and already have fruit on them. The peppers have grown buds and the aubergines looked to be just about to flower while never really getting any bigger. They looked alright this weekend then over the last couple of days this happened. Both the peppers and aubergines had green fly but I had just about got them under control with soapy water about a week ago...
Thank you for any help!
Gary
Background: Bought a new house with an existing weed overgrown greenhouse, dug all the weeds out, filled the bays with horse manure and planted the aubergine, pepper and toms about 6 weeks ago. The Toms have gone mad, about doubled in size and already have fruit on them. The peppers have grown buds and the aubergines looked to be just about to flower while never really getting any bigger. They looked alright this weekend then over the last couple of days this happened. Both the peppers and aubergines had green fly but I had just about got them under control with soapy water about a week ago...
Thank you for any help!
Gary
0
Posts
The soil seems to be very, very wet. There's even algae forming on the surface.
That's likely to be a significant factor. There have been some chilly nights recently and if the roots have been sitting in cold waterlogged soil, that will cause problems.
Was the manure you used well rotted? if not, then fresh manure can burn the roots of plants of any age.
Soapy water is useful to help dislodge aphids, but you need only 2-3 drops of detergent in a litre of water. I also avoid washing up liquid as it contains lots of grease-busting enzymes that I'd rather not spray on plants, I use a couple of drops of ordinary shower gel
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
They need a reasonable amount of water, but like their leaves to be warm and dry, so should only be watered in the mornings (and only when they need it, don’t drown them) and you need to keep the GH well ventilated during the day, as humidity is not good for them either, even if the conditions are warm enough...
Lyn: Yes I was checking everywhere for green fly, squashing most with my fingers then the soap bath all over... which now sounds like I was over doing
Pete: Yes the greenhouse is very leaky! So I haven't had to do too much watering myself with the weather we've had recently! And no, It was very fresh manure. Should I be leaving it in a pile to rot down before using it? And thank you for the heads up on the soapy water... I was probably over doing it!
Nollie: There are no Toms in the pictures, I think you're looking at marigolds? I will post a pic of the Toms tomorrow. But no, they are in the exact same conditions are are very happy. So it sounds like the leaky greenhouse with the humidity and damp conditions are not good for these guys? Are they worth trying to save? Should I try transplanting them into some potting compost pots and seeing if they recover?
Fresh manure contains lots of strong chemicals that are broken down to plant nutrients as the manure rots. Manure in its fresh state is toxic to plants. You need to wait until it's rotted before using. It'll look like really nice garden soil and smell pleasant when it's ready.
Your plants do look in a bit of a state, so if you can replace them that's what I'd do.
But you need to replace the fresh manure in the bed first with compost and/or well rotted manure (Levingtons Farmyard manure in 50L bags is OK)
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Thanks for the info on the manure! Its weird that the toms (Pics above) are alright. Best dig the other side out and see if I can find some seedlings to replace them then ey.
Best intentions Nollie, guess I will have to learn to relax and be gentle with everything. Thank you for the support guys!