Chilli plant... not looking so good!

[headshot_harry]

Hello everyone,

(disclaimer: I am a total beginner!!)

I'm wondering if I may gather some advice. I have a chilli plant (Bhut Jolokia) which I planted last year as a little random venture around June. The plant grew well, since and has bushed out a lot, but not produced any fruit (I didn't expect it to start till this year to be honest).

In the last 4 weeks or so it has been looking a little worse for ware. It hasn't grown any bigger (most probably pot size?) but leaves have brown tips, and quite a few have fallen off.

I make sure the soil isn't over watered, and the plant sits on a south facing sill (as per picture). Once every 2 weeks I give it some chilli focus in the water.

There appears no sign of any insects or bugs... I'm a bit lost to be honest.

Anyone be able to offer some advice? I was quite looking forward to sample some of these chilli's this summer.

http://www.zen87038.zen.co.uk/image/WP_20130422_002.jpg
http://www.zen87038.zen.co.uk/image/WP_20130422_003.jpg

[Naga]

Jolkias can be a pain in the bhut, they need more special care than most.

What are you feeding him? I would repot but add a good helping of perlite to help soil aeration but first I would try giving him extra magnesium by using Epsom salts. 2tbl spoons of Epson salts per general spray bottle size and alternate its use, the lush green look will come back.

[headshot_harry]

Thank you Mr Naga - just the kind of advice I was looking for (i.e. stuff I'd not ever heard of lol).

I only have the one (this one) chilli plant at the moment, so keen to do all I can to resurrect him - become quite partial to the old boy in recent months - love to see him bare fruit... and I do love a hot chilli :-)

Thanks for that - I'll get Googling to find some of the above shortly.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Certainly looks a large plant for that size of pot.

Potty

[SarzWix]

Also, keep an eye out for red spider mite which can be a problem with indoor chilli plants. It's a bit early for them, but even so... If you see fine webs appearing on the plant, that's a sign of a colony. You can get a biological control to get rid of them: Defenders - Safe Effective Natural Biologist Pest Control for Gardeners

More info about them on chillis here: Chilli Pests - Identify and Cure

[headshot_harry]

Should I consider trimming it back a bit? It does appear to have a LOT of leaves on it, but then again, I've never grown a Jolokia before...

[Potstubsdustbins]

First I would gently remove it from the pot and have a good look at the roots. If you have a large root ball I would consider repotting to allow the roots to grow and take up more of the nutrients the plant needs.

Then I would remove any damaged foliage.

Potty

[headshot_harry]

Thanks all for the help - I'll find a bigger pot for it, and some fresh stuff to pot it into. I'll try to give a report back in a couple of weeks or so!

Thanks all - great help!

[Naga]

One more thing, see if you can get a plant bucket from Morrisons or ebay, your Bhut will like it! If your not feeding him then grab some tomato food, works great for chillis. Also I would not bother pruning him, not at least untill the end of them season.