Something is wrong in my Garden

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Lorri D

I like organic, but I'm thinking it isn't going to fix this problem within the growing season.

If the microorganisms aren't there or are in low numbers, it would't make sense to me to keep going organic. It is my understanding that it takes weeks if not months for them to break down nutrients to be available to plants in high enough quantities to stop deficiencies.

Lorrie, you can buy biological inoculants for cheap. 1 oz of MycoGrow Soluble is only $5,95 + a little shipping. It doesn't get much easier to get a hungry microherd going fast Anybody who tells you it takes weeks if not months for them to break down nutrients either has never used them or doesn't understand how to use them. I have no deficiencies using organic methods.

[Mojave]

The top peppers look like chinensis. I go through this every Spring with mine, whether in the ground or pots. I think, in my case, it's a Ca. deficiency caused by environmental factors, Cold/cool/ rainy weather.

I used to add a lot of bone meal to make up for it before I realized it didn't make any difference what I added or did. As soon as the weather settles they always make a miraculous recovery. We've finally got a full week of warmth and sun and mine are starting to go gangbusters.

[RayR]

Originally Posted by Bipetual

I wonder if a calcium foliar spray designed for blossom end rot (like Rot Stop) would help. Couldn't hurt, could it?

That's a good point, you can use foliar applications of certain compounds to treat calcium deficiencies. Rot Stop is just a 9.2% solution of Calcium Chloride. That's got to the cheapest thing to make and sell for a very nice profit. Calcium Chloride is used many times in Ag, other compounds are also used as a foliar treatment like Calcium Acetate, Calcium Formate, even Calcium Nitrate but applying nitrate salts to the leaves can be dangerous.

Then there are chelated calcium products like Calcium Citrate (Calcium chelated to citric acid) and Amino-Chelated Calcium (Calcium chelated to the Amino Acid Glycine).
I don't have any noticeable deficiencies but I'm trying out the Biomin Calcium product by JH Biotech this year which is a combination of Amino-Chelated Calcium and Calcium Citrate. It's a proven organically certified product, has rapid absorption by the plant via foliar and the roots and provides multiple benefits for the plant. No PH issues, and no chlorides or nitrates.

[luigiwu]

Teach me Ray! Where do I get that MycoGrow Soluble stuff? How do you use it and what does it do? I've tried making my own compost via Bokashi but the jury is still out if I will be successful with that or not... Anyways should I send my mix somewhere or a litmus test will do it? Could a bout of cold weather/weather fluctuation have done the leaf wrinkling? Its hot as heck right now but 2 weeks ago I remember it was cold!

Lori, I wish I was organic but I seem to have trouble already doing it the 'easy way.'

[Gerardo]

1) you can get it here: http://www.fungi.com/product-detail/...uble-1-oz.html

2) 1 oz goes a long way. Sprinkle directly into hole before you transplant (the "just a pinch" measure is perfect) or you can innoculate seedlings.

3) Make sure it comes in direct contact with the roots.

4) Dechlorinate the water, at least for the 1st dousing.

5) Enjoy your lush plants.

[luigiwu]

I'm still a relative newbie so esp. when it comes to the science of gardening so bear with me a bit. When you say "ammonium heavy fertilizer" you're talking about the 10-10-10 that I'm on my 2nd year of using correct? There are 'salts' in these 'chemical-based' fertilizer, right, the ammonium?
I'm not doing hydroponics so there is no way to flush out the 'salts' in my potting mix, is there? And the salts don't really breakdown either right? I think I need to start another thread about how to organically garden in containers....

How do you test PH?

Lastly, I'm subirrigating and there is always water in the reservoir so I don't think that's the issue?

Originally Posted by Lorri D

I like organic, but I'm thinking it isn't going to fix this problem within the growing season.

If the microorganisms aren't there or are in low numbers, it would't make sense to me to keep going organic. It is my understanding that it takes weeks if not months for them to break down nutrients to be available to plants in high enough quantities to stop deficiencies. MG has products that contain calcium and magnesium, I just googled it. But, it sounds like you are already fertilizing your plant enough and now adding calcium nitrate, so I don't think I'd change and add any other types of fertilizer.

The calcium nitrate won't acidify your soil as much as an ammonium heavy fertilizer will, but Rayr gave very good advice about testing your p.H. first. You can have all the nutrients needed to grow a plant, but if the p.H. is off, then they won't be able to uptake them.

One more thing I didn't see mentioned is that you need to keep your pots consistently moist. If they dry out during the day, then the plants aren't going to be able to uptake the nutrients consistently and will show signs of deficiencies too.

Good luck,

[RayR]

Originally Posted by luigiwu

I'm still a relative newbie so esp. when it comes to the science of gardening so bear with me a bit. When you say "ammonium heavy fertilizer" you're talking about the 10-10-10 that I'm on my 2nd year of using correct? There are 'salts' in these 'chemical-based' fertilizer, right, the ammonium?
I'm not doing hydroponics so there is no way to flush out the 'salts' in my potting mix, is there? And the salts don't really breakdown either right? I think I need to start another thread about how to organically garden in containers....

How do you test PH?

Lastly, I'm subirrigating and there is always water in the reservoir so I don't think that's the issue?

If you look at the fertilizer analysis of your Sta-Green 10-10-10, the nitrogen is in the form of Urea, both immediately available and a slow release form. When urea comes in contact with water, there are certain species of bacteria that will become active that produce the urease enzyme that begin the process of converting the urea N to ammonia (NH3). Ammonia is a gas so some N will be lost to the atmosphere, more so at higher soil water PH and higher tesmperatures. What isn't lost is converted by other bacteria to Ammonium (NH4+) I guess that's why you could say Urea is a ammonium heavy fertilizer. Urea is not really a salt but in the process of breaking down, much of it becomes ammonium salts. It doesn't stop there because the Nitrogen cycle is very complicated, other bacteria can covert Ammonium to Nitrates, some N is immobilized in the bacterial cells, and even other bacteria called denitrifying bacteria can covert nitrates to atmospheric nitrogen gas (N2). Anyway the plant gets some inorganic N in all the chaos.
Nutrient salts are important in plant nutrition, even in the natural organic system nutrient salts are formed. The problem that arises in a closed system like hydroponics or a subirrigated container or even standard containers with trays is salts will build up in the medium over time. This can cause problems with the plant being able to take in water and nutrients. Some plants are more sensitive to salt levels than others.
Flushing salts from the medium can be as simple as forcing a large volume of water from the top allowing the dissolved salts to exit drain holes at the bottom.

You can do PH tests with a good electronic PH meter, liquid PH test kits or PH test papers.
For an electronic glass probe meter you can get a simple pen style meter for $50.00 or under. Most are disposable since the probe wears out after a while and the probes are not replaceable on the less expensive models. Do some research on the different types, they all need to be calibrated often when in use, so you also need to buy calibration solutions and storage solutions to keep the probe hydrated when not in use.
For a cheap and easy way to test soil samples you can get PH papers, I'd recommend Hydrion papers, either Hydrion O67 or Hydrion 95 for soil samples.

[roper2008]

Every year some of my container peppers get distorted leaves. Never know why, but
sometimes they grow out of it. I could show you pictures of some really distorted
leaves now.