What am I doing wrong? Capillary related.

[gardening_gal]

I have my chillies and pepper plants in pots. Each pot has a hole in the bottom.

There are strips of capillary matting about an inch wide going through the hole and are interwoven with the soil in the pots. The bottom 'tail' of the strip goes into a tub with a lid. The pot sits on the lidded tub and the capillary 'wick' goes through the hole in the lid into the water.

I had assumed the plant would just drink when it needed but it seems to be soaking up water all the time, they are very wet and there is now green algae everywhere, on the pots and the soil. Ironically the plants themselves look as happy as heck right now but I don't think that will last if they stay wet for too long. So where am I going wrong?

[Martin H]

Sounds like it's working pretty well. The compost will stay moist but won't get waterlogged; gravity will see to that. Personally I wouldn't have "interwoven" the wick with the compost, just left it at the bottom of the inside of the pot with the compost on top. It just makes it easier if you repot for any reason.

If the algae bothers you, you could scrape off the top compost and put on a layer of perlite or grit. This will stay dry and help keep the fungus gnats off.

[bario1]

Won't the soil take up as much moisture as it can retain, regardless of whether the plant needs it or not?
I thought chillies preferred a drier soil on the whole, originating as they do from hot, dry climates?

[gardening_gal]

Won't the soil take up as much moisture as it can retain, regardless of whether the plant needs it or not?
I thought chillies preferred a drier soil on the whole, originating as they do from hot, dry climates?

Haven't a clue.

Just Googled and apparently they like a moist but well drained soil. Mmmmm, that is definitely not what they have going on here.

[MarkPelican]

The way I've seen peppers watered (and I try to do it when I remember) is to let the soil go dry, then plunge the pots in a bucket of water until they're sodden, then leave them to drain and do it again when they're dry. Its too much of a faff for me so I just let them go dry then water from above.

[bario1]

Me too... water comes from above in Nature, right? (Having said that, my chillies don't look half as good as other peoples' here! I blame the Scottish weather.)

[Jay-ell]

I've a couple of peppers and chillies on the same drip feed irrigation as my toms and they're thriving getting regular watering. Looks like they're going to produce loads per plant and give the best crop I've gotten for the number of plants.