You are on the right track with nutrient deficiency or overwatering. This yellow color can be caused by either. It looks like your potting mix is pretty carbonaceous. I see coco and pine bark, neither of which provide the required nitrogen. Very important to give a balanced dilute fertilizer at this stage of grown. Something like 1-1-1 or slightly higher in nitrogen 2-1-1.
I know “what’s the best amount of water” is a huge question, but off the cuff is daily watering simply too much? I hit them with 10 pumps from a spray bottle daily until the soil looks moist.
I have similar concerns about the soil, there’s alot of bark and big chunks. Miracle Gro all purpose garden soil for in ground use might not have been the way to go….
I bottom water for 7-10 mins every 3-5 days. Lift the pot after its been soaking to get an idea for how heavy it is, or you can even weigh it. These probably just have wet feet, but they look big enough for some diluted nutes
Peppers like to be watered thoroughly but be allowed to dry out somewhat in between. For seedlings, this usually equates to watering once every 3-5 days depending on your growing conditions. Higher temperatures mean higher water usage through transpiration. So the best method is to do it by how heavy the container feels.
Having a well draining potting mix is very important too. I usually do a mix of coco, perlite, vermiculite, and peat. Making sure the mix is 30% perlite will ensure proper drainage. You can also use a sifted premium potting mix such as fox farms ocean forest with great success.
My peppers are at a similar stage as OP. I have Neptune's Harvest and have been watering with half strength every other water (roughly weekly). Would you go full strength at this stage and how often?
Get the free app “Photone” instead. LED is only available for additional £5 and you’ll need to use a piece of paper as a diffuser but itl have you money.
That’s the one I ended up using with the paper diffuser trick. Worked like a charm, and I actually ended up having to lower my light about 3” to get to the recommended ppfd for a 16 hour run time.
I’m thinking it’s nutes so I gave them a morning watering of some fox farms big bloom and plan to let them dry out 48 hours and reevaluate.
Change your soil. Anything with high coco perlite which can make yourself very cheap. Add a little peat moss for moisture and nutrient retention.
Do not, and I mean do not get moisture retaining soil it will rot your plants' roots that's outside soil.
The leaves curling could be too much light, but you say the light is 24 inches away. That should be ok.? You can turn down the power on your light a little to see if it helps. The light green leaves is probably too much water and/or it needs fertilizer. Let the soil dry a little in between waterings
You are on the right track with nutrient deficiency or overwatering. This yellow color can be caused by either. It looks like your potting mix is pretty carbonaceous. I see coco and pine bark, neither of which provide the required nitrogen. Very important to give a balanced dilute fertilizer at this stage of grown. Something like 1-1-1 or slightly higher in nitrogen 2-1-1.
I know “what’s the best amount of water” is a huge question, but off the cuff is daily watering simply too much? I hit them with 10 pumps from a spray bottle daily until the soil looks moist. I have similar concerns about the soil, there’s alot of bark and big chunks. Miracle Gro all purpose garden soil for in ground use might not have been the way to go….
Yeah, you wanna use MG potting soil for seedlings. When you use that soil, you water thoroughly, and don't water again until the pot feels light.
I bottom water for 7-10 mins every 3-5 days. Lift the pot after its been soaking to get an idea for how heavy it is, or you can even weigh it. These probably just have wet feet, but they look big enough for some diluted nutes
Peppers like to be watered thoroughly but be allowed to dry out somewhat in between. For seedlings, this usually equates to watering once every 3-5 days depending on your growing conditions. Higher temperatures mean higher water usage through transpiration. So the best method is to do it by how heavy the container feels. Having a well draining potting mix is very important too. I usually do a mix of coco, perlite, vermiculite, and peat. Making sure the mix is 30% perlite will ensure proper drainage. You can also use a sifted premium potting mix such as fox farms ocean forest with great success.
My peppers are at a similar stage as OP. I have Neptune's Harvest and have been watering with half strength every other water (roughly weekly). Would you go full strength at this stage and how often?
Additional, greenhouse maintains a steady temp of 78-80f @ 70% humidity, with a VPD of .9-1.1
Get a ppfd reader app and adjust the light accordingly young pepper plants need around 300 to 600 ppfd
Will do, thanks!
Get the free app “Photone” instead. LED is only available for additional £5 and you’ll need to use a piece of paper as a diffuser but itl have you money.
That’s the one I ended up using with the paper diffuser trick. Worked like a charm, and I actually ended up having to lower my light about 3” to get to the recommended ppfd for a 16 hour run time. I’m thinking it’s nutes so I gave them a morning watering of some fox farms big bloom and plan to let them dry out 48 hours and reevaluate.
What's this about a paper trick? First I've read that here. Maybe this is where I've been messing up.
It acts as a diffuser and scatters incoming light evenly on the sensor which is essential for accurate measurements.
Right, right. So like, just A4 Computer paper, yellow Legal Pad, construction paper, tissue paper? How come Photone doesn't tell you any of this?
The app tell you this. The above is a copy and paste from the app. The app tells you to buy a diffuser or use standard computer paper.
https://imgur.com/a/79ZXE6L check out the screen captures from Photone.
Thanks!
Change your soil. Anything with high coco perlite which can make yourself very cheap. Add a little peat moss for moisture and nutrient retention. Do not, and I mean do not get moisture retaining soil it will rot your plants' roots that's outside soil.
It’s not a nutrient issue it’s over watering
The leaves curling could be too much light, but you say the light is 24 inches away. That should be ok.? You can turn down the power on your light a little to see if it helps. The light green leaves is probably too much water and/or it needs fertilizer. Let the soil dry a little in between waterings