Thread: pH for sweets?
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Old March 17, 2017   #10
rdback
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Virginia
Posts: 56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Starlight View Post
...I have no problem growing productive hots, but can't get a decent sweet to grow for anything...

I been raking my brain trying to figure out where I going wrong. I grow in containers. Peppers will get 3 to 5 gallon containers. They get the same as hots for water and ferts. I use MG 6 days a week than one day clear flushing, Tomato Tone will be used on sweets for first time, since I only learned about it last year, and I use Epsom Salt.
Star, I think the paragraph quoted above may give a few clues. Here's what came to mind:

If you can grow "hots", you can grow "sweets". With your sweets, I think you may be experiencing flower drop. As hot as it gets in Alabama in the middle of Summer, the peppers are going to shed blooms to help the plant survive. Try using partial shade or sun-cloth during the hottest part of the day. Your "hot" peppers are probably c.Chinense, which usually originate from more temperate climates and can tolerate the heat somewhat better than c.Annuums, which is what most "sweet" peppers are.

3 gallon containers are a little small; 5 gallon will work better; larger would be better yet.

Watering every day is WAY too much for a pepper plant. Peppers do NOT like wet feet. Rather, let the plant tell you when to water. If the dirt is dry to the second knuckle or if the plant begins to wilt are a couple of ways to tell. If your plant wilts every day, either the sun is too hot for it or your planting mix is a problem.

Fertilizing every watering is WAY too much fertilizer. I fertilize at plantout and then side-dress during mid-season. That's it. Tomato Tone is a great choice for peppers.

Hopefully, if you consider some or all of these things, your success with sweets will improve.

Best of luck and hope you have a great growing season!

Last edited by rdback; March 17, 2017 at 01:48 PM. Reason: typo
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