Chilli help

[MichelleR]

I have bought my first chilli a few weeks ago, and I am having a bit of trouble...

1. The flowers keep falling off - I have already plantet the plant in a bigger container and keep the watering to a minimum - what else can I do?

2. Something is eating my leaves. I can't find what it is, but i googled it and read, that many mix Water and soap and spray on the plant. That was not a good idea. Now the leaves are all soft and hanging down and the plant realy doesn't look good. What can I do - just wait it out and see what happens? Or is there something I can do?

[rustylady]

Got any pictures of the plant Michelle?

What size pot did you put the plant into? Where are you keeping the plant? You say you have kept the watering to a minimum - I hope you gave it a good soak when you repotted it.

Soapy water is OK to use on plants, but needs to be VERY dilute.

[MichelleR]

Got any pictures of the plant Michelle?

What size pot did you put the plant into? Where are you keeping the plant? You say you have kept the watering to a minimum - I hope you gave it a good soak when you repotted it.

Soapy water is OK to use on plants, but needs to be VERY dilute.

Here is a Picture of how the plant lokked when I bought it - beautiful and with lots and lots of flowers:



And this is how it looks now:

[rustylady]

It's dried out. Take it indoors and stand it in a bowl of water. Let it soak up as much as it needs and stand it in a shady place for a day or two. Hopefully it's not too late to save it.

[MichelleR]

It's dried out. Take it indoors and stand it in a bowl of water. Let it soak up as much as it needs and stand it in a shady place for a day or two. Hopefully it's not too late to save it.

Dried out? That was quick. I put it out yesterday and this morning when I looked at it, it looked fine - until I sprinkled it with soapy wayer and then about two hours later it looked like this... (I then sprinkled it with normal Water, to get the soap off the leaves).

I will tage it indoors again and give it a good amount of Water - hopefully it will survive. Thank you!!!

[MichelleR]

It's dried out. Take it indoors and stand it in a bowl of water. Let it soak up as much as it needs and stand it in a shady place for a day or two. Hopefully it's not too late to save it.

You were right - I took it indoors and gave it a good amount of Water and now (a few hours later) the leaves are starting to look much better. The soap must have dried it out like you said...
Thank you so much! =D

However, do you know why the flowers are falling off? It started when I got it home... The woman where I bought the plant said it might be because I watered it too much, and that I should let it dry out a Little and then Water it - but that didn't do the trick... I have it in my kitchen window, where it gets sun from morning til noon - is it because it dosn't get enough sun or is there something else??? I have tried to put it in another window, where it gets sun the rest of the day, but not much luck there either - and then there is the problem with whatever it is eating the leaves... I hope the soap and Water did the trick... Anything else I can do if it starts Again?
(Sorry for all the questions, but there are not many around where I live to ask, and I have just started growing my own plants)...

[rustylady]

The soap won't have made it flop like that - that was because the compost was dry. Now it has had a good watering feel the weight of the pot then you can judge by the weight whether it is wet or dry. You don't need to water it every day, but when you do water do it by standing the pot in a bowl of water for 20 minutes so it can soak up what it needs.

Probably the same reason the flowers have fallen off. They also need to be pollinated - you can do this by gently tapping the plant mid-morning when it is warm. If you look closely you will see a little cloud of pollen fall from the flowers.

As to what is eating it, what does the damage look like? The most likely culprit is slugs, snails or caterpillars. Have a really close look at the plant.

The kitchen window is probably a good place for your plant. If you are home during the day you can move it in the afternoon to a window that gets sun later.

[Tripmeup]

Also check for greenfly... I have found some and they had some damage done before I spotted them.. Too much in the greenhouse..

[zazen999]

Take a decent picture [in focus] of where it is being eaten; with the leaves not drooping like in your second photo and post those on here.

[MichelleR]

Pictures of the leaves

Here are Pictures of the leaves

Some of them look like this, all eaten:



And some of them look like this, with holes in the leaves:



And since yesterday the plant has lost another five flowers - with this rate there won't be any flowers left in a week. =(



There os a single chili growing, and it looks just fine, but thats it...

I have looked and looked and looked, on the leaves, under the leaves, on the stem of the plant but I can't see any caterpillars or anything I can see...

[zazen999]

I don't think they are being eaten - the top one looks like it has dried out and crisped off rather than been eaten. The middle one looks like it has just been torn.

I haven't got one flower yet so there is hope!

[rustylady]

Those leaves look as if they have been pecked. Any birds about?

Don't worry about the flowers falling off - that's because your plant was dry and stressed. If you now keep it moist as suggested it will form more and hopefully they will set.

[MichelleR]

Those leaves look as if they have been pecked. Any birds about?

Don't worry about the flowers falling off - that's because your plant was dry and stressed. If you now keep it moist as suggested it will form more and hopefully they will set.

No, it has been in my kitchen window since I bought it, so no birds (and I have two cats, so the birds wouldn't dare come inside... =D And the cats can't get to it, så it's not them either)

I took off the worst of the leaves, so I could better keep an eye on what was happening, and more and more leaves look like this. It's realy wierd. The plant is moist, so no dry crisp leaves or anything that makes i break, and I have had it indoors since I boyght it (except the two days I took it outside and the leaves started hanging, then I took it straight back inside), så I should have seen if parts of the leaves fall/breaks off...

On the bright side, there is another chilli on the way, så giving the plant lots of Water realy helped! =D Lets hope it stays linke that...

[kalimna]

I have to say, before I saw your reply above I thought 'I wonder if there are cats in the house?'. It is possible that they have a noses around your plants when you aren't watching, I suppose.
As for the flower drop - I think these points have been covered. Pollination can be aided by using an artists paint brush to transfer pollen, preferably between different plants. And tomorite is a good chilli fertiliser too.
For the last couple of years I have grown a few varieties on windowsill, and the heat from some of hem has been fragrant and brutal, and I'm in Scotland!
Good luck,
Adam

[MichelleR]

I have to say, before I saw your reply above I thought 'I wonder if there are cats in the house?'. It is possible that they have a noses around your plants when you aren't watching, I suppose.
As for the flower drop - I think these points have been covered. Pollination can be aided by using an artists paint brush to transfer pollen, preferably between different plants. And tomorite is a good chilli fertiliser too.
For the last couple of years I have grown a few varieties on windowsill, and the heat from some of hem has been fragrant and brutal, and I'm in Scotland!
Good luck,
Adam

Hi Adam,

Thank you for your reply. I have two cats, but I made sure they couldn't get to the plant, så it cant be them. Anyhow, I started pulling off the damaged leaves and then suddenly it just stopped. Now the remaining leaves and the new ones look perfect! =)
I put the plant outside a couple of times, and it didn't like it. Now it's back in the windowsill and it looks wonderful. The flowers fell off till there weren't many left, but the remaining all set chilis and I now have about 30 small chilis on the way - I have no idea what I did, or didn't do but somehow it all just stopped and the plant looks wonderful now.