Hello everyone. This is my first time using the aerogarden and getting into hydroponics.
So essentially my plants (mini bell peppers from Baker’s Creek and cherry tomatoes) have been growing for 80 days. The cherry tomatoes are growing super well and have around 40 tomatoes growing. Leading me to think that my nutrients are sufficient.
However, my pepper plant is a slightly different story. The are a large number of flowers growing on the plant, and I hand pollinate them daily. The flowers shrivel up over the next few days, then proceed to fall off, leaving behind what looks like the bud of a future pepper (outlined by the circle in the picture). However, the baby pepper never increases in size, and I remove them after about 7 days of no growth. Other than the first three peppers on the plant, the rest have stayed as a small bud/pepper. The stem connecting them to the plant does not shrivel up or does not fall off, leading me to think it’s not a lack pollination. Should I be leaving these little buds/baby peppers on the plant for a longer time or is there something I’m doing wrong.
The plant is about 10 inches tall and 18 inches wide, I use aerogarden nutrients, and I try to maintain an EC of 1.5/PPM of 750.
by TheRealShiv
2 Comments
The plant looks kind of smallish and it has one fruit already. I have found pepper plants prioritize their energy use while bearing fruit. I have an outdoor chili plant that was very productive, decked out in growing peppers and many pollinated ones ready in wait. Those didn’t grow out for several weeks until I harvested some green or others ripened. The plant knows it can’t support lots of fruit at once so it keeps those waiting for a while. When they are fruiting, they also slow down or stop their growth of leaves.
Once that pepper is mostly mature just clip it and let the plant refocus. Same thing happened to me. I had 3 peppers they both got large fast and none of the their flowers sprouted new fruit until I harvested the others. Managing the plant properly especially in a less than ideal environment is important.