Shrinking Poblanos

Starlight · August 29, 2016

My Poblano plants are huge and been loaded with peppers and they were big and huge, even through all the heat and humidty and drought. My plants have still been producing and I have plenty of new blooms coming on, but it seems the peppers have now shrunk.

They are like half the size the new ones of what the older ones were. Is this normal? We still in the 90's, had a couple of weeks of rain everyday and now back to drought conditions. I been feeding them like normal.

I've saved tons of seeds from the big peppers, but don't know if I should save the seeds from these smaller ones or not. Instead of being 5-6" long they only about 2-3 ". I don't know if having smaller peppers and saving the seed from them will make same smaller peppers when grown out next year.

shelleybean · August 29, 2016

Mine are doing exactly the same thing as you're describing. The early peppers were big and a good size for stuffing. Now they're about half that size, though as numerous as ever. My plants are over 5 feet tall. I grew Poblanos 2 summers ago and they didn't produce as well as these, but the peppers were bigger. Very dry here, too, lately. I don't know if that's the reason. I can use the smaller ones for chili but I did want some of the bigger ones for stuffing. Bummer.

dmforcier · August 29, 2016

Yeah, it's stress. Go ahead and save seeds. The genetics are all the same, despite the size.

Barb_FL · August 29, 2016

I'm not growing Pablanos but peppers from other plants are significantly smaller than they were several months ago even though they are all flowering normally.

The Red and Yellow marconis are smaller but still decent. Plants look great.
The giant Marconi size is a joke.

I'm growing AJI Grande for the first time and they took forever to set fruit but are doing so now. They don't look large at all.

For comparison, I'm also growing AJI Amarillo which I grew in spring '15 and even they seem smaller than I remember.

The exception is AJVARSKI peppers which are only slightly smaller

Worth1 · August 29, 2016

The peppers could use more food than you think for bigger fruit, namely nitrogen.

Worth

4season · August 30, 2016

My peppers shrink a bit by the end of the season and I notice shrinking only on one tomato, the red striped stuffers. I should side dress or fertigate. Might need another cup of coffee first.

Starlight · August 30, 2016

Glad to see I'm not the only one having smaller peppers. First time I seen them do this, thought maybe the plants had gone bad or something.

This has been a crazy year for weather, all in all not to bad.

When the temps cool, do they go back to making big peppers or stay the shrunk size.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmforcier

Yeah, it's stress. Go ahead and save seeds. The genetics are all the same, despite the size.

Thanks, good to know. Seems like there is always something new and interesting to learn. : )

Worth .... My plants are 5 gallon buckets and with the heat they get watered sometimes twice a day. Regular watering in the morning and a quickie cool off in the afternoon if they need it. They get Miracle Grow 6 days a week and TT and Epsom Salt every other week. What else should I feed them? I don't have anything that just nitrogen alone.

dmforcier · August 30, 2016

MG has lots of N. Are you feeding full strength 6 times a week? You could be causing a salt buildup.

Do you know the pH of your tap water? Containers are subject to pH changes from tap water because the soil mass is relatively small. Mixes based on peat (like MG) will provide some buffering and hold their natural slightly acidic pH of about 6.2. But with alkaline water you can eventually drive the pH up. I ran this problem last year.

The thing is, if your soil pH rises above neutral, then 'nutrient mobility' is affected. Certain substances are affected more than others (Ca, Mg, Fe to a lesser extent). My big super-hots started showing bad deficiencies even though I was providing Epsom salt. (Big C.chinense have long been known as Ca/Mg hogs.)

Turned out that the water here is in the 8.0+ pH range. Now I add a shot of pH Down (citric and phosphoric acid) to each bucket and the deficiencies went away. (The big Butch still calls for CalMag ever few weeks.)

It may be that a rising pH is having the effect of limiting your plants' ability to take up nutes as the season goes on, resulting in smaller everything.

Starlight · September 2, 2016

What a bummer. Unplugged everything, got everything all braced down and covered up and the storm just missed me. Could have used the rain.

I don't know what the pH of my water is. I know with the drought we had they was adding air to it and they must be draining water out of the Chattahoochee river cuz it loaded with chlorine. It so strong it burning folks grass. You can wash your hands, take a clean, white piece of paper towel to dry them and give it a minute and it will turn yellow.

I do have a problem though. I went and got my pH metter back from neighbor and checked my containers. Oh, Oh they all at 8 and 8.5.

What would I have around the house that I could use to bring the pH back down. I'm watering with just plain water for now. I do check around the holes of my containers all the time to see if the white tail tale white marks from salt build are showing. Haven't seen any so far.

Worth1 · September 2, 2016

Vinegar will bring the pH down.
Do you have an Ortho dial and spray if so set fill it up with 5% acidity vinegar and set it 4 oz to the gallon after spraying the soil wash everything off with straight water.

Worth

Starlight · September 2, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

Vinegar will bring the pH down.
Do you have an Ortho dial and spray if so set fill it up with 5% acidity vinegar and set it 4 oz to the gallon after spraying the soil wash everything off with straight water.

Worth

Ummm. White vinegar or apple cider or does it matter?

Worth, I have a 1 liter, 34 fluid oz, hand pump pressure sprayer. No numbers at all on the side for measurements.

Worth1 · September 2, 2016

Doesn't really matter you just need to saturate the ground.
I use the cheap white vinegar.
Worth

dmforcier · September 2, 2016

POS forum software!! A long reply blown away. Let me try again.

dmforcier · September 2, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starlight

I do have a problem though. I went and got my pH metter back from neighbor and checked my containers. Oh, Oh they all at 8 and 8.5.

Tested how?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starlight

What would I have around the house that I could use to bring the pH back down. I'm watering with just plain water for now. I do check around the holes of my containers all the time to see if the white tail tale white marks from salt build are showing. Haven't seen any so far.

Answer the question, please. Are you feeding full strength 6 times a week?

dmforcier · September 2, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

Doesn't really matter you just need to saturate the ground.
I use the cheap white vinegar.

NO !!

I did exactly that last year before I got the test kit and burned out a few plants.

As per Sheila after the fact (and something that I once knew), water is a terrible buffer. Two oz. white vinegar per gal. (?) produced a 4.0 pH acid solution that was healthy neither for man nor beast.

Starlight, you have a meter. Check your water and report. Once the facts are known we can decide how to proceed.

August 29, 2016	#1
Starlight Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: AL Posts: 1,993	Shrinking Poblanos My Poblano plants are huge and been loaded with peppers and they were big and huge, even through all the heat and humidty and drought. My plants have still been producing and I have plenty of new blooms coming on, but it seems the peppers have now shrunk. They are like half the size the new ones of what the older ones were. Is this normal? We still in the 90's, had a couple of weeks of rain everyday and now back to drought conditions. I been feeding them like normal. I've saved tons of seeds from the big peppers, but don't know if I should save the seeds from these smaller ones or not. Instead of being 5-6" long they only about 2-3 ". I don't know if having smaller peppers and saving the seed from them will make same smaller peppers when grown out next year.

August 29, 2016	#2
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	Mine are doing exactly the same thing as you're describing. The early peppers were big and a good size for stuffing. Now they're about half that size, though as numerous as ever. My plants are over 5 feet tall. I grew Poblanos 2 summers ago and they didn't produce as well as these, but the peppers were bigger. Very dry here, too, lately. I don't know if that's the reason. I can use the smaller ones for chili but I did want some of the bigger ones for stuffing. Bummer. __________________ Michele

August 29, 2016	#3
dmforcier Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,825	Yeah, it's stress. Go ahead and save seeds. The genetics are all the same, despite the size. __________________ Stupidity got us into this mess. Why can't it get us out? - Will Rogers

August 30, 2016	#8
dmforcier Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,825	MG has lots of N. Are you feeding full strength 6 times a week? You could be causing a salt buildup. Do you know the pH of your tap water? Containers are subject to pH changes from tap water because the soil mass is relatively small. Mixes based on peat (like MG) will provide some buffering and hold their natural slightly acidic pH of about 6.2. But with alkaline water you can eventually drive the pH up. I ran this problem last year. The thing is, if your soil pH rises above neutral, then 'nutrient mobility' is affected. Certain substances are affected more than others (Ca, Mg, Fe to a lesser extent). My big super-hots started showing bad deficiencies even though I was providing Epsom salt. (Big C.chinense have long been known as Ca/Mg hogs.) Turned out that the water here is in the 8.0+ pH range. Now I add a shot of pH Down (citric and phosphoric acid) to each bucket and the deficiencies went away. (The big Butch still calls for CalMag ever few weeks.) It may be that a rising pH is having the effect of limiting your plants' ability to take up nutes as the season goes on, resulting in smaller everything. __________________ Stupidity got us into this mess. Why can't it get us out? - Will Rogers

September 2, 2016	#13
dmforcier Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,825	POS forum software!! A long reply blown away. Let me try again. __________________ Stupidity got us into this mess. Why can't it get us out? - Will Rogers

August 29, 2016	#4
Barb_FL Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Indialantic, Florida Posts: 2,000	I'm not growing Pablanos but peppers from other plants are significantly smaller than they were several months ago even though they are all flowering normally. The Red and Yellow marconis are smaller but still decent. Plants look great. The giant Marconi size is a joke. I'm growing AJI Grande for the first time and they took forever to set fruit but are doing so now. They don't look large at all. For comparison, I'm also growing AJI Amarillo which I grew in spring '15 and even they seem smaller than I remember. The exception is AJVARSKI peppers which are only slightly smaller

August 29, 2016	#5
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	The peppers could use more food than you think for bigger fruit, namely nitrogen. Worth

August 30, 2016	#6
4season Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: albuquerque Posts: 308	My peppers shrink a bit by the end of the season and I notice shrinking only on one tomato, the red striped stuffers. I should side dress or fertigate. Might need another cup of coffee first.