help sick chilli plant

[the big lebowski]

hi all i`ve been growing this chocolate chilli for a while now and its not looking to good any ideas whats wrong with it ? cheers

[skeggijon]

Is that definititely a chilli? Looks more like a tomato plant to me

[the big lebowski]

yeah it does look like a tomato ,they all are like that guess i`ll find out when they fruit

[skeggijon]

This is a chocolate chilli plant

[WendyC]

I would definitely go with tomato plant. Rub a leaf, what does it smell of?

[the big lebowski]

looking good ,ive had a bit of a mix up with the labels so im not 100% sure what chilli it is and my 1st thoughts were that it was a tom i had another one but the same thing happened to it ,it went all limp and died not to fussed what it is more interested in whats wrong with it ,cheers

[Zelenina]

It's a tomato for sure, so my first diagnosis is a seed or label mixup. Maybe it's one of the chocolate tomato varieties like Chocolate Cherry or Chocolate Stripes or Cherokee Chocolate.

Then the way the leaves are going pale between the veins before they go brown and withered looks to me like a nutrient deficiency. Exactly which one I'm not expert enough to say. The ones that look most like it according to this site are magnesium, potassium and zinc. And it could be deficient in more than one.
Tomato crop guide: Nutrients deficiency symptoms

So I think you need to feed your plants with a good tomato fertiliser. And look at the list of ingredients to make sure it particularly includes magnesium, because some are sold for tomatoes that don't include it. They really need it more than most other plants do.

[the big lebowski]

it smells of toms ,that lovely smell that you get in the greenhouse each year ,so i guess there has been a mix up somewhere along the line,oh well these things happen ,more importantly anyone no whats up with it ? cheers

[the big lebowski]

ok thanks i put some blood ,fish and bone in and i'll get some get some feed tomorrow

[Zelenina]

looks like we posted at exactly the same time , BL, but mine just pipped yours. Just to add to my reply above, I should think if you haven't been feeding it , then it could be deficient in a few things and a good general tomato fertiliser should give it a boost. If you have been feeding it, but not with a specific tomato fertiliser, or with one that doesn't contain magnesium, watering it with epsom salts might do the trick. A tablespoonful per gallon of water seems to be the generally recommended amount.

I posted this before I saw your reply about Blood fish and bone. I know it's a good baseline organic fertiliser, but it looks like it doesn't have the specific minerals in the right proportions to keep tomatoes healthy on its own. Probably the same for peppers and aubergines and other plants with particular requirements. Maybe someone else will come along who knows more about it. Or you could Goggle it to find out exactly what it does contain.

[the big lebowski]

thanks zelenina , i only put the blood fish and bone in the other day after i repotted it ,i thought id over watered so moved it up a pot size with some dry soil in to dry it out abit so its only been in the soil 2 days ,i also have some vitalink soil bloom which has a 2\2\4 nutrient level can i use both this and the blood fish and bone at the same time ? or will it be to much ? cheers

[Zelenina]

The short answer is, I don't know!

But here's a longer answer. I keep hoping someone with more experience and knowledge about fertilisers than I have will jump in, but for now it looks like you're stuck with me so I'll do my best.

Most probably the plant ran out of nutrients in its old pot. There could also be a problem with calcium metabolism due to irregular watering, but that seems to cause browning more at the base of the leaves, whereas yours plant has browning at the edges. The BFB is unlikely to have had enough time to work yet. If you used new potting compost to re-pot it, that should also have some nutrients in it, but they haven't had much time to work either. In some of those deficiencies the affected leaves can return to normal when the missing nutrients are provided. In others the affected leaves don't recover but the new leaves are OK. So you need to keep an eye on the new growth.

The 2/2/4 only indicates the ratio of the major nutrients N/P/K or nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. BFB according to Wikipedia is 5/5/6 so they are both highest in potassium (also called potash) which is the way tomatoes like it. And lack of K is a possible cause of your symptoms. But that doesn't tell me whether either of them contain the other nutrients which tomatoes need, or whether there is any extra benefit from using both.

You might find a complete list of nutrient content in small print somewhere on the bottle or packet, or on the supplier's website. But I would say that if you don't have a lot of experience it's better to stick to a fertiliser specifically formulated for the kind of plant you are growing, especially for fussy veggies like tomatoes and peppers.

[Martin H]

You've only just repotted it, I'd give it another week or so to settle down before doing anything else to it.

[Kristen]

That's the second one looking like that in a couple of days - I wonder if there is a common cause.

I wouldn't expect a young plant like that to be showing starvation symptoms. Can't remember this coming up in previous years (this early on) either.

What compost are you using? Maybe that is a common factor

I'll now go and find the other thread ...

[Kristen]

Typical ... its on a different forum!!!!

Here's a photo instead of the promised link: