HELP with Green Pepper plants.

[napi21]

For years I grew bell peppers in our garden, in 3 different States, and had NO PROBLEMS!

THEN we moved to Ga. For 7 years, I've planted the pepper plants, watched them grow fine, get their first blossoms and itty bitty papers would appear, THEN THEY ALL FELL OFF! Fell of while they were still less than 1/2 inch in size! I've tried every hing I can think of and nothing works. This year I even planted 2 in the regular veggie garden and 2 on the side of the house, thinking it was maybe something in the soil. Well, the same thing happened, and the blossoms and little peppers have all fallen off within the last few days. The leaves look great, the plants look strong. I have tomatoes, zucchini & yellow squash growing in the same bed and they are all fine!

Does anyone have ANY suggestions, or do I just have to give up on trying to grow bell peppers ever again?

[China_cat]

1. I don't know but I'm hoping you get some good answers.

My bell peppers have just set a few blooms BUT they're less than 6 inches tall even though they've been in since March and have lost all leaves but the top 5 or 6. Other peppers in the same area, same soil, (garden salsa, serrano and habanero) are all doing great and have been staked for a week or 10 days.

Maybe I can trade some of the hot ones for bells at the farmer's market.

[napi21]

2. Thanks. The plants & leaves on my peppers look GREAT. Want

to trade for some blossoms? ;o))

[China_cat]

7. You want some 'wtf' is going on?

Those spindly, less than 8" tall, practically leafless bell pepper plants actually have PEPPERS on them. My hot peppers have exploded with fruit but I never expected to do anything but chalk the bells up as a loss.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. Since your plants are healthy looking, I'd guess it's either trace mineral deficiency or watering.

You don't live in a low humidity climate, but if your location is windy the plants may be drying out faster than you think. Water them deeply and a bit more frequently and see what happens.

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies/peppers1.html

Peppers thrive in a well-drained, fertile soil that is well supplied with moisture. Use a starter fertilizer when transplanting. Apply supplemental fertilizer (side-dressing) after the first flush of peppers is set. Because a uniform moisture supply is essential with peppers, especially during the harvest season, irrigate during dry periods. Hot, dry winds and dry soil may prevent fruit set or cause abortion of small immature fruits.

The other possibility is that they're not getting enough calcium or potassium etc and are thriving because they are getting plenty of nitrogen. Try cutting back on the general fertilizer and give them a dose of seaweed based stuff to mix up the blend of nutrients.

[napi21]

4. Maybe I'm not giving them enough water. Do you know if these plants

will get new blossoms after the original ones have fallen off? They are not in a windy place but it has been getting pretty warm during the days.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. If the plant is healthy, it will continue to bloom.

Pepper plants need good drainage (assume you have that) and deep watering that gets to the roots. I live in a very dry, hot and windy climate and we've never had fruit fall. We build up the soil around each plant so that there is a good size well and water it by filling the well. We water less as the season progresses because the plants develop very good roots this way. We have had reduced blooms and blossom drop when there wasn't a good mix of fertilizers. Too much nitrogen was the cause in our case.

There is a weevil that causes fruit drop but I believe that you'd see signs of it on the plant. Since your plants seem to be okay, start by changing the watering schedule and if you're using a general fertilizer, back off for a couple of weeks and see if that helps.

[Blue Gardener]

6. This is what my book says

I have the Reader's Digest Garden Problem Solver book, and this is exactly what it says about your problem:

Problem: The plant has good color and flower form, but they fall off without making fruit.
Cause: Peppers will not set fruit if the soil is too dry or if temperatures are too high or too low. All peppers drop blossoms below 60 degrees, and sweet peppers also shed flowers at temperatures above 90 degrees. Hot pepper varieties may continue to bear fruits in hotter weather than do sweet or bell varieties. Also, a plant that receives excess nitrogen fertilizer will form few or no blossoms.
Solutions: *Water deeply anytime the soil is dry 1 to 2 inches beneath the surface. *In midsummer in a hot area, provide afternoon shade with a shade cloth or a light-filtering fabric floating row cover. *Where summer nights are cool, plant pepper varieties that are described in seed catalogs as setting fruits well in cool weather. *In a hot area, time the planting of sweet peppers so that they mature either before or after the hottest days of summer. *Transplant pepper plants when small (about 4 inches tall). Peppers are sensitive to transplanting; larger plants often drop flowers and immature fruits after being moved. *When planting, use a fertilizer that contains more phosphorous than nitrogen, such as a 5-10-10 formula. Follow the directions for fertilizing peppers if they are listed.

Hope this helps!