Pepper plants not growing any further

[ItsEssexRob]

I have about 9 Sweet pepper plants in my greenhouse and 1 scotch Bonnet Chilli plant.

They are various sizes ranging from 8-10 inches tall with many sets of big leaves to about 6 inches tall with only 3 or 4 sets of smaller leaves.

They are all in medium sized pots about 10-12 inches high and about 10 inches wide tapering down to about 6-7 inches at the bottom. I am starting to worry these pots are too small and stunting their growth. Or should they be big enough?

My scotch bonnet is growing up nice and big but I keep that indoors not in greenhouse.

I recently bought some 'Chilli Focus' off Ebay so maybe that will make a difference.

How big should Pepper plants get before flowering? Also what date would you expect them to flower if they were germinated in Mid April?

Thanks.

[binley100]

Mine were germinated in Feb and they're not flowering yet...pot them on and give a seaweed feed ...

[dominic10]

Mine are two inches tall and showing not the slightest inclination to grow.

[Moo's Mum]

Mine are like that too dominic10. I've grown both chillies and peppers or 3 or 4 years on the window sill (I dont have a greenhouse), and they've always done well. This year both sweet peppers and chillies are only about 2 inches high and only have 1 set of true leaves. Don't know what's going on with them.

[VirginVegGrower]

Mine are about 8-10 inches high and are in Morrisons buckets. They are behind previous years' growth. Don't worry.

[ItsEssexRob]

Ok so mine dont sound that bad compared to some! Any had any experience with this Chilli focus I bought? Going to make it up tonight, and see if that gets them going on a bit more. Do they not need really massive pots then just the 8-10 inch ones ok?

[binley100]

I don't use massive pots for mine ......I'm probably bit mean

[DGoulston]

I planted my scotch bonnets on 12/1/12 it is about 2ft tall and loads of flowers (in a small 7" pot) still no fruit yet though, all my other chilli's have fruit on them!

[Chef_uk]

All my greenhouse stuff seems to have had a check in growth although all have some flowers on them and i've yet to start feeding.

[Shadylane]

I have some with flowers and one with fruit but the majority are woefully behind. I've just repotted a load in to fresh compost as they've been sitting doing nothing for ages. It will probably end up being a bad chilli year I reckon.

[The Large One]

the weather has not been great for chillis this year
iv'e got a few at different stages in growth although most germinated within a few weeks window.
a friend i sent some seeds too has got a butch t about 3 times the size of mine and his were sown 2 weeks later but his were brought into an area of the house which had a nearly constant tuble dryer heat most of the night, mine were in unheated GH with fleece covering...they do seem to be growing on a daily basis now though with the hot sun
they'll all catch up sooner or later and hopefully like last year we can still be picking in December

[Pa Snips]

Sweet peppers seem to be strange beasts. I have three that were all sown at the same time, in the same way, in the same place and they are each a different size. One of them split into two stems immediately after the seed leaves were produced, so it's very nearly two plants in one, though one stem is shorter than the other. The tallest plant is perhaps 16" but I haven't measured it so can't be certain about the height. The one thing I do know for sure is that I have, in total, approximately 35 buds, 6 flowers and 4 fruit.
They were sown at the beginning of March and were potted on and moved to the greenhouse a couple of weeks ago.
My chillies (2 Cayenne, 2 Jalapeño) are still on the kitchen windowsill and have so far, between them, produced about 45 buds, 5 flowers and 1 fruit.
They were all sown from seed by me, and this might be the crucial difference, because my bro' decided to have a go at growing some and bought plug plants from B&Q and his look like the way you described yours, Rob. So did you start them from seed yourself or buy them in as small plants?

[lottie dolly]

must be the daft season we having,everything is behind,first it was silly bean seeds,then the squashes were not even chitting,then suddenly after several weeks,most are going mad,the sweet peppers on the other hand are useless,in loo rolls/pots/yogurt pots,all the same,i expect they will get a shift on before long,out of a whole pkt of sweet corn,i got 5 and they are only 3in high,we can only do our best and hope,

[WendyC]

Mine have only just started growing now the weather has warmed up.

[Tripmeup]

My chilli plants are growing quite well but sweet peppers (as others say) have been very poor..Couldn't even get them to germination stage and only have a few teeny ones now...and they don't look like progressing either...
Thought this latest spell of weather might help them but not yet...all other things flying lately