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Old 05-27-2013, 08:34 PM
 
Location: Metro Phoenix
11,048 posts, read 16,812,223 times
Reputation: 12949

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Hey everyone, I'm somewhat a newcomer to gardening. I use my mom as my primary resource - she's the dictionary definition of green thumb and a wealth of knowledge. However, as it'd turn out, she's never had success with pepper plants... family curse?

I've grown this habanero plant from a 3 inch seedling and it's been doing great for the last couple months... however, over the last couple days, some of the leaves have started to get brown and yellow around the edges:





Note: the white stuff you see in some of the lower leaves in the first picture is because they got splashed with some of the plant food.

Any idea what could be going on? It's been healthy and flourished up to this point, and it's so close, I'd hate to accidentally kill it! It's on the roof of my building here in sunny Beverly Hills (don't tell anyone ), so it gets PLENTY of sun for most of the day, and temperatures lately have been up to the 70's-90's during the day and down to about 60 at night. The soil is usually dry by 1-2pm, so I water it at that point.
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Old 06-03-2013, 10:56 AM
 
Location: Michigan
2,198 posts, read 2,725,849 times
Reputation: 2105
Looks like fertilizer burn which is characterized by yellowing leaf marigns and tips, followed by these areas becoming nectrotic. Peppers, especially the hotter ones, aren't super engineered like tomatoes and other crops, they don't need and can't tolerate a lot of fertilizer.

What kind of potting mix is that and what have you fed it? Miracle Gro (potting mix) has burned every pepper plant I've ever put in it. Especially with frequent watering which accelerates the breakdown of the time released fertilizer.

Looks like it could use a bigger pot too, which would also help it not dry out so fast. If the pot dries out by 1 PM that's not good. Plants don't like wild water fluctuations every day, they like more consistent moisture levels. I would pot it up in something without time released fertilizers and water it with a weak fish emulsion solution.
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Old 06-03-2013, 12:11 PM
 
25,619 posts, read 36,604,458 times
Reputation: 23293
Reflective heat burn.
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Old 06-06-2013, 03:16 PM
 
Location: Aiken, South Carolina, US of A
1,794 posts, read 4,895,817 times
Reputation: 3669
Bulldog is right.
Your frying your pepper!
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Old 06-06-2013, 08:58 PM
 
Location: Michigan
2,198 posts, read 2,725,849 times
Reputation: 2105
The roof absorbing too much heat and transferring it to the pot/roots could be exacerbating things but look where the damage is: leaf tips and margins. That plant has leaf scorch/tip burn which is caused by the plant's inability get sufficient water to the distal parts of the plant which is causing them to yellow and become necrotic.

Most common causes...excess salts (from excess fertilizer and/or water softener salts) or root problems (root bound, over watering/poor drainage/root rot, medium drying out too much, etc.)

I've grown 500+ pepper plants to maturity from seed and the overwhelming majority of the time when people have problems with potted pepper plants it is one of 3 things:

1. Too much fertilizing (they're not tomato plants)
2. Over watering
3. Poorly draining potting mix

You need a bigger pot, more consistent moisture levels, and to lay off the fertilizer and that plant will be fine.

A few links...

Leaf Scorch
Indoor Gardening and Houseplants: Burned Leaf Tips and Leaf Margins (edges)
Leaf Tip Burn—Dealing with Leaf Scorching and Tip Burn
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