What is causing this

[Dollarbill300]

These are 3 pepper plants I recently bought from a garden center. I slowly got them used to being outside in the full sun, before I transplanted them and put them outdoors full time 3 days ago. What is causing the plants to do this. I don't understand why this is happening. Some of the plants I buy from a garden center do this, others don't and are perfectly fine.

 

[Chuck]

Looks like transplant shock but mainly too much water before transplanting

 

[Dollarbill300]

I only gave them water when they needed it before I transplanted them. If it's transplant shock, does it mean they will recover from it?

 

[Beth_B]

They will recover from transplant shock yes.

When you say you're watering only when needed, how often is that? For comparison, I'm in MI and we are having near-drought conditions and it has been warm (for MI - high 80s/low 90s.). We are watering the veg garden once every 7-10 days. It is heavily mulched which keeps the soil from drying out, but the un-mulched plants I have in containers and such maybe get watered every five days or so.

 

[Dollarbill300]

Beth_B,

I give all my plants just enough water to keep them moist, not soaked or water logged. Usually what I do is turn the hose on to the lightest possible spray and water the plants everyday. Sometimes I will wait until I can tell the plant is starting to droop slightly.Should I use mulch? What kind do I get?

 

[Beth_B]

I am speaking generally here and I do not have experience with your long hot growing seasons.

But generally, spraying or misting is not great for vegetables. It is harmful really.cNor is just giving them wee daily sips of water. Shallow watering encourages weak and shallow roots. If you water deep and infrequently it encourages the roots to go deep and strong.

If your peppers are wilting after just one day of no water, this is a sign that they are not resilient, and just a little stress makes them start to fall over. Seriously, frequent watering is the number one killer of all plants and the number one most common mistake people make. You can google this.

Stop spraying your poor plants daily right now. You may have already killed them with your keeping moist approach, which will kill many plants. It is ok for them to dry out. THINK for a minute. Research where most vegetables thrive naturally. Is it in sub-tropical conditions? NO. Most vegetables we grow in the US originated and thrive in desert or Mediterranean conditions. Which tends to be very dry.

I do not understand where this "constantly moist" notion even came from? It is so common...but you would think common sense would prevail, especially with the internet. Common sense isn't that common, apparently.

OH. Mulch. Google your region + mulch. I use straw mainly. This is not a difficult thing to figure out depending on your region.

 

[Chuck]

Not only what @Beth_B said but by spraying or misting plants in the heat of day when they are wilting can just about guarantee sunscald to the leaves.

 

[Dollarbill300]

I don't spray the leaves on the plants, just the soil.The temps here are upper 90's everyday and the soil dries out fast. I do have common sense. I will stop giving those transplants water everyday. Just to let you know, one of them is wilting badly because of no water. On another one, all the leaves have fallen off except for one. Now, let me ask you about my larger plants that are fruiting. I have tomatoes and peppers. So should I not water them regularly either? Because if I don't, the tomato plants start to wilt, the leaves and stems get soft.

My one last question is what should I do when the plants start to wilt and get soft. Because if it is more than 1 day with no water, it will droop over(larger plants).

When I water, it usually is not done until at least 7:30 pm. And again, I do not water the leaves, just spray the soil. I use the lightest spray mode so I do not overload them with water. I'm confused. If the larger plants start wilting and getting soft, then I should not water them?

 

[Beth_B]

Morning watering is better.

Drooping and wilting a bit is OK. Really it is. You have to realise this...commercial growers intentionally stress their plants for greater yield.

Do. Not. Over. Water. Wilting and getting "soft" and droopy is a classic sign of overwatering. You are killing your plants. Well, you may have already in your zone, by drowning their roots.

And I dont know how you "spray" soil without also spraying the entire plant. Use your soaker setting. Soak your plants from below. Do not spray from above. Why is this such a difficult concept?

 

[Chuck]

When you water you water SLOWLY AND DEEPLY. All plants will wilt and droop in 90F afternoon sun. It is natural. Google transpiration. If the plant has been correctly watered and it is wilted in the morning hours it needs to be watered but if not it doesn't. When leaves wilt and become soft it is because they cannot transpire all of the excess moisture the roots are sending up. They will first wilt, kind of shrivel up, usually turn a darker green color, become soft, then start yellowing and then they will fall off. Many times the plant will die. You cannot overwater a plant but you can and will kill a plant by watering too often. It doesn't rain everyday does it so why should you water every day. Commercial tomato growers often stress their plants by with holding water. It makes them produce more.

 

[Ian]

I've had to delete the last couple of posts and close this thread due to a very unpleasant reply from the thread starter - safe to say, they're no longer on this site!