Chillies going downhill

[Marb67]

Well, it took me long enough to get them to germinate indoors with a humid propagator after soaking the Cayenne seeds in tea BUT now they have been potted on in seed cutting compost they are wilting and keeling over. Absolutely gutted as they were doing so well. Have transported them in the cold greenhouse which gets plenty of sun and covered over with fleece at night just in case. I am soaking the pots in some water to try and revive but so far to no avail. Why does this happen when I am doing all the right things to care for them ? One has a stem that has gone very thin in the middle to almost a thread. It CANT be damping off as the pots were washed and new compost.

[ameno]

It's damping off. The stems shrivelling to a thread near soil level is an unmistakable sign.
Damping off isn't always caused by lack of proper hygiene. Over-watering or simply too much humidity can also cause it. Seedling disturbance can also make it more likely, as it can cause slight damage to the stems, which then allows the pathogen an entry point.
Hell, my cape gooseberry seedlings all damped off this year for no reason I can pin point, and I've never had seedlings damp off on me before.

Removed any affected ones, root and all, and hope that the others don't get it, too. Maybe increase ventilation and reduce watering, too.

[Nicos]

I’m not very experienced with chillies but you say they are fleeced at night in a greenhouse?

My gut feeling is that wouldn’t they be doing better indoors at night where it’s warmer ( and less damp) ?
What is the minimum temperature they are experiencing?

I read this…..
”Chilli plants will tolerate a minimum night temperature of 12ºC (54ºF), but better results are achieved above 15ºC (59ºF) “
( taken from the the site…..https://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/ch.../grow-your-own)
Do other people keep their seedlings indoors at this stage?

[annie8]

I agree with Ameno. I never water my chillis as much as I do with my tomatoes. They don’t like to sit in water and best to dry them out between watering. In terms of temp Nico I keep them indoors longer than other plants and wouldn’t leave them in gh overnight unless it was going to be about 10 degrees or warmer.

[Marb67]

Well its beyond me as they grow naturally in the wild in humid conditions (inside propagator) so they should be resistant to damping off. I have repotted the 2 remaining and binned the weak, wilted stems. Its just so depressing as I can also see some of my rocket going thin at the stems. I just don't seem to be any good at this.

[Jungle Jane]

I’m still keeping my pepper plants in overnight until it’s at least ten degrees out there. They like a constant temperature,to go from a heated propagator to a cold greenhouse overnight is not good,fleece won’t keep the compost warm. They look very small,you could pick up some plants at the garden centre & not worry about these ones?

[Marb67]

They were not in a heated propagator, just normal in the cool kitchen. I could sow some more.

[Jungle Jane]

Even going from a room in the house to outside overnight it’s the same thing,it’s too cold overnight in the greenhouse at the moment. Its quite late for sowing pepper seeds now I think but you could try & then bring the plant indoors in the autumn before the frosts. There’s usually reduced plants later in the season at garden centre

[Marb67]

My toms have been in the greenhouse since I potted them on and they are fine, if still a bit small but will catch up. Its amazing how plants do acclimatise and become tougher if not coddled too much. Having said that the chilles are now indoors.

[ameno]

My toms have been in the greenhouse since I potted them on and they are fine, if still a bit small but will catch up. Its amazing how plants do acclimatise and become tougher if not coddled too much. Having said that the chilles are now indoors.

They may well survive, sure, but they won't thrive.
Tender crops like peppers and even tomatoes are borderline in our northerly country as it is, so you need to give them every help you can in order to make the grow as fast and as well as possible. You can't afford to just let them tough it out, as you likely won't end up getting much, if any, ripe fruit.

[Marb67]

They may well survive, sure, but they won't thrive.
Tender crops like peppers and even tomatoes are borderline in our northerly country as it is, so you need to give them every help you can in order to make the grow as fast and as well as possible. You can't afford to just let them tough it out, as you likely won't end up getting much, if any, ripe fruit.

On the contrary, my toms last year thrived with plenty of fruit from the same conditions. They soon grow when you get sunny days in the greenhouse.

[Rabidbun]

Also worth adding, when you transplant them again, if they look a bit spindly then bury the stems up to the first set of leaves (like you can with tomatoes) - then they don't fall over if they're a bit spindly.

Mine are always picky in the greenhouse with the warmer days and cooler nights and prefer staying damp rather than wet, as others have said, so I tend to keep them on windowsills until quite big. I'm quite mean to my plants mostly though and chillies do quite like tough conditions as long as they're warm enough. ☺️