Stunted peppers

[groshesa]

All of my peppers seem to be stunted in growth. They produce an appropriate quantity, but very small for all varieties (bell, banana, jalapeño, cayenne, etc.)
This is the second year with the same issue! The peppers are delicious, and cute, but a bell pepper ripens at 1/4 the expected size.
We fertilize with a homemade fish emulsion, I hand cultivate between plants, and mulch between rows with grass clippings. Also, composted chicken manure gets mixed in in fall. I'm theorizing that the earth packs too firm and the roots are stunted. My husband argues that with the cultivating, that shouldn't be a concern. We are in growing zone 4... Central Wisconsin.
Any advice is appreciated.

[Wanda]

Weather is the big thing with peppers and tomatoes. They like it very warm at night and hot during the day.

[Horseyrider]

I agree with Wanda. While your soil may have too much nitrogen from all the fish emulsion and manure (which tend to produce lots of luxuriant leaves but not so much fruit), I'd have to weigh in with the bad weather too. It's been a lousy year in the Midwest for the heat-loving crops. My peppers aren't quite that small, but they're way undersized. I also mulch heavily and apply shredded leaves and some manure in the fall. We've also been drowning in rain, which can damage the roots too.

The cabbages and broccoli, however, are doing a dynamite job.

[groshesa]

It has been cool and rainy. That must be it. I don't think I'm over fertilizing with the fish (once every 5 weeks as a diluted root soak was the plan, but we only did one application), so I'll blame the weather!
My cabbage and broccoli and brussels are doing great!
Thanks so much!
Here's to hoping the polar vortex doesn't effect us much longer this growing season!

[Vickie44]

Interesting ! My pepper plants are also very small this year. They are covered with peppers but the weight of them is pulling the little plants apart.

[Callieslamb]

Where do you get your plants?
Could they be mislabeled? Pimentoes rather than bells? I have some long hot ones that were supposed to be bells this year Grrrr.r.r.r.r.

[campfiregirl]

Try putting black plastic down where your peppers are planted to heat the soil.

[PrincessFerf]

I grow all of my peppers in pots which can help with the heat issue (also in Wisconsin). This year I would be surprised if I get any peppers at all. Our temps are just not hot enough. Other things are doing just fine... but peppers... they're sad.

[Oggie]

Why did the farmer put a jacket on the stunted pepper?



It was a little chili.

[Wulfespirit]

Two things:

1) First and most likely issue as others have pointed out - soil temperature. You're in zone 4 which means you might need to take extra steps to boost it (black plastic, raised beds, creating a heat trap around it, and only growing the most cold hardy varieties). Peppers need hot feet. I'm in zone 3 and keep my pepper plantings to hot microclimates only. Anywhere else and they barely grow (though will attempt to put out small amounts of fruit).

2) If its not soil temp it may be an imbalance in your soil. Too much potassium in relation to nitrogen/phosphate can mean stunted plants too. But the fact that you've stated its been cold and rainy is good evidence that number 1 is the issue.

[unregistered5595]

WI here too. Too cool! The lettuces are gorgeous and the peppers are lagging.
Next week it will be hotter and August will be hot, and I'd expect to see them coming about and producing more, bigger, just later.

[Use Less]

I hadn't planned to plant peppers, then stumbled across some bell plants for free at the nursery. Since it was quite late to be planting, that they have peppers at all, even if tiny, and the plants are all growing feels fine to me.

[spur]

Are you planting the same plants in the same places year after year. If you plant tomatoes and peppers the same place they don't do nearly as well as if you move them around to different places in the garden. I'm not sure if they deplete essential nutrients from the soil or if there is some kind of bacteria that get in the soil if you keep planting in the same location.

[puddlejumper007]

every year my peppers just sit there, then when i put egg shells around them they seem to take off,

[Helena]

We live in the mountains of PA..have always had beautiful green plants but few peppers too. This year my husband spoke with a women and she suggested to plant the young plants touching each other. I thought they would be so crowed they wouldn't do well. To my surprise...they plants are huge..and the peppers seem to be getting very large and plentiful too !! You can hardly tell one plant from another due to the closeness to each other...but it seems to work for us. Good Luck !!!

[greenworld]

Originally Posted by Wulfespirit

Two things:

1) First and most likely issue as others have pointed out - soil temperature. You're in zone 4 which means you might need to take extra steps to boost it (black plastic, raised beds, creating a heat trap around it, and only growing the most cold hardy varieties). Peppers need hot feet. I'm in zone 3 and keep my pepper plantings to hot microclimates only. Anywhere else and they barely grow (though will attempt to put out small amounts of fruit).

2) If its not soil temp it may be an imbalance in your soil. Too much potassium in relation to nitrogen/phosphate can mean stunted plants too. But the fact that you've stated its been cold and rainy is good evidence that number 1 is the issue.

For what it's worth, the most cold hardy variety I've found so far was the fish pepper.

And yes, as other people are saying, temperature makes a huge difference. I've lived in places with hot summers, and places with mild summers, and grown peppers in both, and the difference in result is quite pronounced. In my experience, growing them outside of their preferred climate zone takes fussing with.

[Terrabus]

I'm in WI, too. I need to figure out a way to make the containers warmer. Middle of July and we just don't have enough heat.

[jumpstartjack]

Without a soil test it's kinda like wondering how much chlorine is in a glass of tap water