Need help with Chilli plants

[MickandDan]

Hi everyone I am new to this forum. I apologise in advance for the huge story. Just hoping someone can help me out with our chilli plants. We bought 3 of them as tiny seedlings and its been amazing watching them grow. We repotted them from seedling pots into bigger pots then when they seemed unhappy we repotted them again all at the same time with the same sort of potting mix into even larger pots. 2 of the plants thrived whilst the 3rd truly didnt. It stayed a very pale green/yellow colour and did not grow at all. After much searching i came to the conclusion that it was a sulfur deficiency. Regular spritsing of leaves with an epsom salt solution and keeping it out of extreme heat and it has perked right up. Leaves are now a much deeper green though still seem very tough and rather curled. Wondering if anyone has any idea how i can better help it to thrive? Also althought the biggest plant is still thriving and has grown beautiully, the middle sized plant (which was the first to flower and is starting to produce) just recently developed black spotting on leaves and curling of the leaves. We also bought an already developed brain killer chilli plant that started to bloom then bottom leaves started turning yellow and falling off at an alarming rate. In the end we cut all ill leaves off and transplanted it from a pot into the ground in the hopes of saving it.. so far it is still alive but wilts the second the weather warms up and still doesnt look particularly healthy . I had been spraying it with the epsom salt solution as well in the hopes it might help. It didnt seem to make a difference and it too has developed black spots on leaves like middle sized plant. They are located next to one another if that makes any difference? Thank you in advance for and help and advice lol

[Scoot]

Have you tried feeding them?

[bramble]

Hi Mick and Dan and welcome to the vine. Are you just new to growing.? Is this a first with Chillis. Are you living in the UK. Have you your plants inside or out side.
Thry look very healthy but we need more info so we cam offer advice.

[MickandDan]

Thanks so much for replying. Gosh i feel silly, I only just saw that it was a UK site..I have been searching for a growing forum that doesnt request and arm and leg as payment lol. Im actually in Australia. So middle of summer here.. sitting between 35-40°C most of the week. I had been feeding them with Seasol complete garden health, I recently started using trace elements

As from the leaf curling I thought maybe it was a calcium defiency. This is my first time growing pretty much anything at all lol. Other than some veggies when I was younger so I am feeling rather lost.

[Nicos]

Hi there MnD!... and welcome to the Vine

No problem that you are in Aussie land-you won't need to wait 6 months for a reply
We are Grapes from all over the world, but mostly Europe, so we're a few hours behind you in our replies.
We have some brill chilli experts on here(I'm not one of them so will leave it to them to reply)

[jackarmy]

They look pretty good in general there MicknDan. Only thing i would ask is how deep are those containers?
Im guessing they look about 12 inches deep?. if so maybe an extra 6 inches or more could help .

Yea, looking again the pots are also only half full so their probably only in about 6 inches of soil, id certainly look at taking them out and planting deeper or transferring to a deeper pot.

[Tripmeup]

also try some chicken poo pellets as an alternative to the feed

[Jungle Jane]

Do you think they could be too hot? They could be shaded to get the temperature down & mulched to protect the roots,it could be photosynthesis problems because of temperatures of 35-40 degrees celsius,plants like peppers suffer with heat stress.
Effect of Heat Stress on Photosynthesis of Pepper Cultivars at Seedling Stage--

http://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/18/11/13471/pdf
"High temperature stress is defined as the rise in temperature beyond a critical threshold for a period of time sufficient to cause irreversible damage to growth and development of a plant. The growth and development of plants involves a countless number of biochemical reactions, all of which are sensitive to some degree to temperature. Consequently, the plant responses to high temperature vary with the extent of the temperature increase, its duration, and the plant type. Worldwide, extensive agricultural losses are attributed to heat, often in combination with drought or other types of stress.
Pepper plants are originated from tropic regions and require high temperature conditions for their development. Consequently, the optimum growth temperature is between 25 and 30 °C. Temperature changes affect a variety of physiological functions and morphological development. Very little fruits occurs when temperatures are above 30 °C during the day or below 15 °C at night and usually are small and poorly shaped. Some of the small fruited pungent are more tolerant to high temperature fruit set problems than type Bell pepper. Pungent peppers, such as Jalapeño, grow well in hot weather and can often produce fruit throughout the summer. The contents of capsaicinoids are thought to vary under water or nutritional stress conditions."

[the big lebowski]

g,day mate ,what type of feed is that ? flower or veg type or general purpose ? and can you get the nuitrient strengths ,it will be (fingers crossed ) shown as n-p-k ,they look good and the 2 have got flowers just coming thro so it might be time to change to a flowering one ,cheers

[TrysHard]

Could be.

heat fluctuation/stress

The need for a Bigger pot

Aerated the roots add grit or perlite to the mix.

Or just gardeners bad luck.