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Chilli seedlings have wilted over!
Chriscore
Posts: 155
in Fruit & veg
Hi, a while back i posted about my chilli plants. I recently repotted some of them from the propagator and a few days later (today) i noticed that at least four of them have wilted right over.
They are only small seedlings but they did have their second lot of leaves through and i heard thats when its best to repot. Im not sure what i did wrong that could be causing this, however i dont think it was the repotting because there is a couple still in the propagator that are doing the same thing. However i am a little anxious about moving them now. As it stands they are all indoors in a south facing window sill.
Last edited: 10 April 2017 12:44:32
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We've had a couple of days of strong sunshine and those little seedlings don't have enough root system to take in enough moisture to cope with the transpiration/loss of moisture from the leaves on a hot day in a south facing window. .
I would have moved them into the shade yesterday or shaded them with newspaper ... but today the weather isn't so bright ... my guess is that your seedlings will recover if you just leave them alone. No watering unless the compost is really dry.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thanks, im going to leave them in the shade for a bit but i diont have a lot of hope for them.
I lost my first sowings by going out for the day and left them in full sun, I had to start again, Cayennes are doing well, but no show from Jalepenos or Peruvian Lemon Drops. Given up on them for this year as I now have tomatoes and melons in the propagator.
I was under the impression that chillis loved the sun, I had no idea they could have too much! You said you started again, when was this? do you think its too late to sow some more now? Mine are the hot wax and ring of fire varieties.
Chillies do love the heat but only when they get to the teenage stage as it were. When a plant germinates it uses up what store food it had in the seed, it then puts a pair of 'seed' leaves up and a little root down and therein lies the problem - a little root can't take up water quickly enough to keep the moisture in leaves when in hot sun. I don't know if you noticed how much root there was when you pricked out your plants but it's usually not a lot compared to the leaves and that often surprises people when they first start out. You should still have time to put another couple of seeds down if you want, I've sown mine as late as the first week in May and they have caught up with the earlier sowings.