Thanks Odif, the plant was doing well till the new growth that have flower buds. Thrips definitely no, I check it physically every now and then, if doubtful I will take photos of it at high resolution and enlarge it 200 times to inspect them. Melody you have a good point there, thank you. The potting soil I use is from my bed on the ground and is usually planted with leafy veggies and only fertilised with compost. After each harvest the bed is left to its own devices where weeds will grow for about 2 months or so, sometimes less. When preparing the bed for replanting, I'll dump the old earth from the pots in and fill the pots with fresh earth from the bed. The only chemical fertiliser I am using is Epsom salt and is only for the chili. The amount of the magnesium I add in is about 1/2 a teaspoon each time ... err is it too much? I do this only when the plant start to flower, sorry I did not mention this earlier, for the prevention of blossom end rot. Today I decided to remove some of the leaves to have better ventilation and less chances of bugs attack. Still hoping that the natural blood and bone meal powder will help.
Sorry Dirtmechanic you'll have to wait awhile because this is a new plant and it just started fruiting. I'll take a photo of it when I repot it and if I remembered. Melody I made a big mistake about the frequency of adding Epsom salt to mine chili plant, it should be once a month and I just found out that Epsom salt does not stop blossom end rot!!! Please refer to this link - The Epsom Salt Myth — Yard & Garden Report (ndsu.edu) Maybe I should stop feeding them with Epsom salt. I have got myself a new packet of Cayenne pepper seeds and it is a hybrid. I am going to try them out and had just sow the seeds.
The magnesium allows for better absorption and the sulphate helps flavors, but those elements like Calcium must be there to be absorbed in the first place. Try Calcium Nitrate for a fast response to BER. It is one of the few immediately plant available forms of calcium which is useful since you are running pots and not a soil based self composting system where you started eggshells or other sources to be enzymatically digested and made available from the previous fall.
I'm happy that you found that article KK. Perhaps with your new peppers, try not using epsom salts and see how they do. You showed a photo of your plants roots a while ago, and they were not as largely developed as you thought they should be. Too much epsom salts could also explain the stunted roots. It might be a good idea to really flush out any soil thoroughly with water before you recycle it. I had a close call with my tomatoes one year when I tried epsom salts. A good flushing helpd some of them bounce back. I no longer use Epsom Salts. I do like @Dirtmechanic's suggestion of calcium nitrate. I'm going to do some reading about it and maybe keep an eye open for that. Good luck KK. New seeds are exciting.
https://gingerhillfarm.com/water-soluble-calcium-a-recipe-for-regenerative-agriculture/ This page explains how to make water soluble calcium with eggshells and vinegar
Thanks Dirtmechanic, I assume that BER is blossom end rot eight? I understand your explanation but I do not have calcium nitrate at hand and I am going to buy it. A long time ago I was told that Epsom salt is good for BER and I went round looking for it. It wasn't a common thing then in gardening in this part of the world to use Epsom salt and I finally got it from a pharmacy. I had to pay a premium for it and I used it sparingly and it did not really solve the BER problem then. Now I can get the so called agriculture Epsom salt from a seller online and instruction was to use it online. Comparing the price of what I paid in the pharmacy and online, the online purchase was really cheap. So I started using it quite freely and now I realise it is a mistake. Melody thanks for your comment and suggestion. I think the remainder of the Epsom salt is going to be for foot soaking. I have never done soil flushing before and it looks complicated on the net. I'll just use some fresh garden soil where I did not use Epsom salt in it. Thanks for the interesting link Odif.
Sorry for the confusion KK...when I say flushing I just water the #@% out of it and let it run through. Then do it a few more times. I'm afraid I've never looked online for directions. That is very interesting about your search for Epsom salts. I purchase large containers of it for soaking in the tub, and also feet Your feet will thank you.
The colour of the leaves looks better but there are still yellow patches. I guess the blood and bone meal did do something to it
I totally have no idea Pacnorwest, I wish I knew ..... Anyway I hope that this is an improvement. I'll give it another month and if no real recovery I'll get rid of it.
I have had leaves like this before. Once all the environmental factors are sorted out, it will normally grow fine. Your plant is being poisoned by something. This is not a virus.
