Wobbly pepper
Panoply
Posts: 75
in Fruit & veg
I've got three padron peppers on the go, all in the exact same conditions, but one of them keeps getting a wobbly stem. The other two have strong firm stems and stand upright, but since about three days ago this one has taken to leaning over and being really bendy. I thought maybe it was thirsty, so gave it a drink, and it perked up and the stem was firmer, and then the next day it was bendy again. The soil looks really moist in all three pots, so I don't know why this one plant is being odd. It looks healthy otherwise and the leaves aren't affected, though it is less vigorous than its peers, since it doesn't have any sideshoots yet.
All three are in 5" pots in the greenhouse in multi-purpose compost. No sign of flowers yet.
0
Posts
I'd put a cane in to support it.
Have you tried swapping the positions of the pots around, maybe your wobbly one is getting marginally less light?
I have just been and swapped them around. Shall see if that makes a difference.
Are the pots full of roots? Do the plants need potting-on? It sounds as though support is required.
No change from moving them around.
The roots haven't shown up at the base of the pots yet so they've got room still.
One thing I noticed is that the wobbly plant has 6cm of stem between the first and second pair of leaves, whereas the two strong plants have only 2cm and 3cm. This is probably why it's bendy, but I don't know why it would've had a growth spurt!
It's really best to use canes as the weight of the fruit is enough to snap the stems. Mine have 3 thin canes tied at the top with a few rings of twine tied between. Their stems are quite brittle.
I shall get out and put some supports in for them.
I would like if it were a different variety. I don't like hot peppers myself! I sowed some bell peppers as well but I thought they were all lost to the slugs and whatnot. Would be good if one survived posing as a padron!
Thank you all.
Well, I've propped wobbly pepper up but it continues to baffle me. Yesterday morning it was bent right over, but by the evening it had found some inner strength and was supporting itself, albeit it in a loose s shape. This morning it's much the same.
I do have a beer trap in the greenhouse, to catch the slugs, so maybe my pepper chum is getting sloshed after nightfall and waking up with a tremendous hangover.