why is my fatalli pepper plant wilting?

tjg911 · September 3, 2011

and maybe dying? i am so upset it is loaded with peppers but i need another couple of weeks to fully grow and ripen all the fruits and from the looks of things i have a few days.

tropical storm irene blew from the south then the north. when i went into the garden monday this plant looked fine but was leaning at a 45 degree angle. the ground at it's base was a hole about 2 to 2.5 inches from the plant being pushed by the winds. things looked ok for the following days but friday i saw all the leaves were wilting badly. i hadn't watered anything since friday 8/26 so i gave it 2 gallons of water with neptune's harvest fish emulsion as it was the time to fertilize all the plants. today it is still wilted and i'm worried it will die. the peppers are probably drying not ripening.

is this from being pushed around? something eating the roots? the scotch bonnet is next to it and is fine. 4' away are 3 cayenne plants and if i lost all of them i'd say who cares as they are not hot.

is there anything i can do?????

tom

roper2008 · September 3, 2011

I don't know. Maybe you should post this question at The Hot Pepper Forum.
Maybe they can give you some suggestions.

Minnesota Mato · September 4, 2011

peppers of the the (chinese) family are sensitive to over watering. If they stand in water for even a short period of time they can get a fungus on there roots and start to wilt. I once left my sprinkler on too long and the water started to puddle and I lost ten of my caribean reds. I have tried lots of differant things to try to pull them out of the wilt but haven't found anything that works, sorry..

tjg911 · September 4, 2011

so my watering them is actually exacerbating the problem!

i'm surprised that these types of peppers are sensitive to water. they (chinese family) grow in tropical climates and they get a lot of rain. take jamaica and surrounding islands, they get hurricanes and tropical storms so i'd think lots of water is normal for these peppers?

why would the fatalli be so effected by rain while the scotch bonnet right next to it is not, same for cayennes? the falalli was pushed around so much the base had a 2.5" hole from the base of the plant pushing against the soil whereas the scotch bonnet and cayennes stayed in place and never did that. my assumption was not too much rain but rather the fact the fatalli was pushed back and forth so much breaking roots or harming the stalk?

fatalli are from central africa so maybe excessive rain is uncommon and drought is more the norm whereas scotch bonnets are from jamaica and are used to excessive rain?

tom

Ruth_10 · September 4, 2011

I think you got it when you noted the break in the ground and that the plant had been pushed around--probably some major root breakage. Perhaps that particular spot had softer ground or something of that ilk that made that plant suffer more than the rest.

Time will tell if if pulls through.

tjg911 · September 4, 2011

looks about the same an hour ago, no worse for the watering 2 days in a row. if it isn't too hot and it stays cloudy, and it is supposed to do both until thursday, maybe it can struggle thru and survive. this plant was one of the few happy things that i have to celebrate in the garden this year, some lousy stuff/disappointments have happened this year, so now this looks like it might turn from treasure to trash. great!

tom

oxheart · September 4, 2011

have had a few of mine do that as well , tried everything i could think of to save but with no luck

September 3, 2011	#1
tjg911 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut Posts: 2,570	why is my fatalli pepper plant wilting? and maybe dying? i am so upset it is loaded with peppers but i need another couple of weeks to fully grow and ripen all the fruits and from the looks of things i have a few days. tropical storm irene blew from the south then the north. when i went into the garden monday this plant looked fine but was leaning at a 45 degree angle. the ground at it's base was a hole about 2 to 2.5 inches from the plant being pushed by the winds. things looked ok for the following days but friday i saw all the leaves were wilting badly. i hadn't watered anything since friday 8/26 so i gave it 2 gallons of water with neptune's harvest fish emulsion as it was the time to fertilize all the plants. today it is still wilted and i'm worried it will die. the peppers are probably drying not ripening. is this from being pushed around? something eating the roots? the scotch bonnet is next to it and is fine. 4' away are 3 cayenne plants and if i lost all of them i'd say who cares as they are not hot. is there anything i can do????? tom __________________ I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night He’s gotta be strong And he’s gotta be fast And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light He’s gotta be sure And it’s gotta be soon And he’s gotta be larger than life

September 4, 2011	#4
tjg911 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut Posts: 2,570	so my watering them is actually exacerbating the problem! i'm surprised that these types of peppers are sensitive to water. they (chinese family) grow in tropical climates and they get a lot of rain. take jamaica and surrounding islands, they get hurricanes and tropical storms so i'd think lots of water is normal for these peppers? why would the fatalli be so effected by rain while the scotch bonnet right next to it is not, same for cayennes? the falalli was pushed around so much the base had a 2.5" hole from the base of the plant pushing against the soil whereas the scotch bonnet and cayennes stayed in place and never did that. my assumption was not too much rain but rather the fact the fatalli was pushed back and forth so much breaking roots or harming the stalk? fatalli are from central africa so maybe excessive rain is uncommon and drought is more the norm whereas scotch bonnets are from jamaica and are used to excessive rain? tom __________________ I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night He’s gotta be strong And he’s gotta be fast And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light He’s gotta be sure And it’s gotta be soon And he’s gotta be larger than life

September 4, 2011	#5
Ruth_10 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MO z6a near St. Louis Posts: 1,349	I think you got it when you noted the break in the ground and that the plant had been pushed around--probably some major root breakage. Perhaps that particular spot had softer ground or something of that ilk that made that plant suffer more than the rest. Time will tell if if pulls through. __________________ --Ruth Some say the glass half-full. Others say the glass is half-empty. To an engineer, it’s twice as big as it needs to be.

September 4, 2011	#6
tjg911 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: zone 5b northwest connecticut Posts: 2,570	looks about the same an hour ago, no worse for the watering 2 days in a row. if it isn't too hot and it stays cloudy, and it is supposed to do both until thursday, maybe it can struggle thru and survive. this plant was one of the few happy things that i have to celebrate in the garden this year, some lousy stuff/disappointments have happened this year, so now this looks like it might turn from treasure to trash. great! tom __________________ I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night He’s gotta be strong And he’s gotta be fast And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight I need a hero I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light He’s gotta be sure And it’s gotta be soon And he’s gotta be larger than life

September 3, 2011	#2
roper2008 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Virginia Bch, VA (7b) Posts: 1,337	I don't know. Maybe you should post this question at The Hot Pepper Forum. Maybe they can give you some suggestions.

September 4, 2011	#3
Minnesota Mato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: minnesota Posts: 175	peppers of the the (chinese) family are sensitive to over watering. If they stand in water for even a short period of time they can get a fungus on there roots and start to wilt. I once left my sprinkler on too long and the water started to puddle and I lost ten of my caribean reds. I have tried lots of differant things to try to pull them out of the wilt but haven't found anything that works, sorry..

September 4, 2011	#7
oxheart Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Alpharetta Posts: 18	have had a few of mine do that as well , tried everything i could think of to save but with no luck