Chicago based. Been growing peppers in a plastic bin for years to great success. Built a raised bed this year and was extremely excited Five days later everything looks terrible and I think I'm going to lose most everything in here. Gave a big drink when first planted and watered twice daily after that. Everything gets 9+ hours of direct sun per day. Downloaded an app and it told me everything is overwatered, under-sunned, and diseased. Hard for me to believe that, but I can't denyy shit is looking horrible. What can be saved, what needs to be pulled out, and does it need more or less water? Feeling absolutely fucking miserable right now. Appreciate any help.
by Ok-Bodybuilder5060
35 Comments
Could be transplant shock! How warm are your night temps? With the stuff that’s still green like those peppers and just a little wilty, I’d keep going and just check the soil with my finger before watering.
A few things come to mind that might be helpful. First, if it has only been 5 days, don’t be discouraged. This is still within the normal “transplant shock” window. Don’t pull any of them out.
I would not be watering twice a day despite what your app says.
I would suggest shading the plants for a week or so if you can rig something up to similuate “dappled sunlight.” It would not surprise me if 9 hours a day of bright direct sun is a lot too much for this stage in their growth.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/vegetablegardening/comments/1t2pr6i/shade_for_new_transplants/](https://www.reddit.com/r/vegetablegardening/comments/1t2pr6i/shade_for_new_transplants/)
Your cucumbers need thinning and they probably don’t appreciate our 40 degree nights. I’m in Chicago too and I water once every few days maximum. It’s been raining enough and raised beds don’t dry out as fast as pots. And then as others have said, transplant shock.
It’s been a bit cold
Some tips for transplanting. My plants dont even show signs of transplant shock anymore.
Get these ingredients.
1) Rock dust
2) Worm castings
castings
3) Mycorrhizae (optional)
4) what ever organic fertilizer of choice.
Dig the hole
Put in a half a teaspoon to a teaspoon of each.
Mix it in with the bottom of the hole with your hands.
Give the hole some water
Transplant as normal and give the plant a good watering.
The idea is to have what the plants need already right there after transplanting giving the plant time to eat and send out roots.
I forget where on the internet I saw this but much to my surprise I haven’t seen any transplant shock since!
I think potentially a combo of over watered and transplant shock. Did you harden them off well? Did they get less sunlight where they originally were? If they weren’t well hardened off they can be getting stressed from the changes in sunlight strength. Try to shade them between like 10 am to 2-3 pm for a couple days. Watering 2x a day sounds like a lot to me also.
I think it could just be over watered if they were fully hardened off. This raised bed isn’t very tall — taller raised beds where there’s a large amount of soil above the ground means most plant roots will be above the in ground soil level, they typically have more drainage (raised bed mixes have perlite) and can/need watered more often vs a smaller raised bed which is essentially more like a “mounded in ground bed” if that makes sense.
I wouldn’t worry about what the app says re disease and all that. I’d try to give them more shade less (less sun = less stress) and then pull back on watering for a few days. You may notice they perk back up in the evening or with more shade.
Watering twice a day is way too much. I do every other day even when it’s 110 degrees outside. Your roots and plants only grow strong and healthy if you let them and too much water leads to small weak roots.
You’ll probably be fine but you might have jumped the gun a bit. Our nights are still too cold for most of the summer crops. I’m seeing what looks like transplant shock and some sun scalding (whatever is to the right of the cukes).
I wouldn’t be surprised if next week things start to recover.
you’ve had mornings in the 30s yes?
Doesn’t look too bad. I guess the main question is what does the moisture level feel like when you put your fingers a few inches below the surface, particularly near or under the plants themselves. Other than going by that for figuring out watering, I would only add that the basil looks like it is getting sunburned.
The golden rule is water deeply and infrequently. Meaning if you’re going water, soak it down deep. Then let it go for a couple days and check before you water again.
And overall you’re too early for summer crops.
How long are you watering for each time? Even in 100 degree days with full sun and 0% humidity out here in the desert, I water every other day for 3-4 hours.
“Over watering” is watering too little volume too often. It’s one of the main issues I see when teaching new farmers how to water.
When you water, it should be a thorough soaking. If you’re doing it by hand this could take 30 mins to an hour for that small of an area, depending on your watering wand and what level of dryness you’re starting with.
You need to make sure you’re watering deep when you do water. I’d put a sprinkler on and let it run for like four hours. Then don’t touch it for a couple of days.
Too much water! The first week after planting I usually water once a day, then move to an every other day schedule. You want those roots strong and deep
Plants normally freak out for a few days after being transplanted. They were living nicely in a container, and you rudely evicted them and put them in a new home. Give them some time to get used to it.
(I will say, that looks like there are like 10 cucumber plants all jammed together. You might need to thin those down to 1-2 plants.)
the way you are applying water is not the right way, install spray irrigation and lightly water every morning
this “Big drink” you describe is going right through, also you feeding these?
They look fine to me, just transplant shock. Don’t water quite so much and buy a bale of straw and mulch around the beds thoroughly, it’ll keep the soil from drying out as quickly and you won’t need to water nearly as much.
You probably planted too early (too cold) and are giving too much water. We’re they hardened off? There appears to be some combo of sun scald and/or transplant shock.
Cucumbers can be transplanted, but I always find them to be very dramatic if the roots get disturbed. Were they direct sown? I think they might need to be thinned a bit.
It’s been nowhere near warm enough at night to be planting cucumbers, tomatoes, or anything like this.
I don’t know why u think everything is dead?? Keep watering (morning).
Forget apps. Next time make a deeper raised bed. U can do it.
Two thoughts.
1:Like everyone mentioned. Nightime temps.
2: Hardening off. When I put my plants out. I leave them in the original containers. In a fairly shady spot AND under 30-50% shade cloth for a week. The tiny pots will need frequent watering. Plant after a week outside. It’s simple too. No plant shuffle.
It’s just going to be cucumbers in about 4-6 weeks after it warms up.
Honestly everything there looks mostly fine. You’re gonna wanna thin out some of those basil plants and leave all about one or two cucumbers in a bunch.
You are not going to lose everything.
A few tips:
– Plant roots need oxygen. For most of these plants, stick your finger in and see if the top inch feels dry before you water again. If not, they’re doing fine for water.
– Plants adapt to their surroundings. They need to “harden off” before going to their new home. Transplant shock is a thing if they’re asked to adapt too much too soon – like going from a protected greenhouse to cold night air.
– Cucumbers don’t really grow below 63°F. Peppers are also warm weather plants. If it’s 40 degrees at night, they’re probably cold stressed. You can bend a small arch with wire or piping or put stakes in and cover with clear plastic at night only (sun can fry them if they get too hot daytime!)
– Cucumbers are vines. I recommend a trellis or putting a tomato cage over each plant. They really need to be 12” minimum spacing per plant – you can google the variety. In the spot you have I’d snip off all but one strong shoot so as to not disturb roots. If you bought a pot they likely put several seeds in to hedge bets that they would get one strong start. It’s not meant to be planted this close together.
– Your cilantro looks like a squirrel or something messed with it. That doesn’t look wilted to me, leaves are too flat and open.
– the broccoli feeling wilty is probably due to overwatering.
I would: Back off the water until it feels dry at the top inch. Trellis the cucumber. I would throw plastic over the bed (not touching leaves) late evening to give it a little help at night. If that mulch is brand new and you didn’t fertilize at planting, I would water with diluted fish emulsion at the next watering to give it a little nitrogen boost. (You can buy a bottle of Neptune’s Harvest for $10 at most garden stores, even big box ones. It is concentrated. It smells weird but plants love it.)
Stay excited! You will look back on this and see it differently someday. 💛
Oh one more thing. If you grew peppers in black plastic before, or even clear, that probably helped trap heat. Peppers like it warm. This bed will not be the same as plastic. Raised beds warm faster than the ground does, but pots can sometimes get hotter especially if set on concrete. Even a few degrees can make a huge difference to a plant. So don’t expect the exact same results at the same time of year with a bed vs plastic.
Keep going!
When raising them in containers, they absorb heat better during the day. They also hold less water for when it’s cold at night. Raised beds don’t warm as easily as containers and they hold more water.
I suggest watering in the morning and not as thoroughly until it warms up more. Or cover them up during the night.
Everything looks good. Keep watering and add 2 layers of mulch.
Also. Please look into straw mulching.
The title of this is so dramatic lol.
Raised beds hold a lot more moisture than containers. Watering once a day is probably more than enough. My theory about containers is they are more prone to being dried out by the other elements. My containers will be bone dry when the surface of my raised beds is still wet. I think it’s the wind going over the top and the sun heating the sides of the containers and causing evaporation.
Hi from Aiken!
(Also from north…)
We are planting early, as nights go lower than 50s in occasions.
Also, soil here is a pain to battle. Even when purchase compost is based on the same soil and bark.
Your plants like mine has a the transplant shock. Dont let this put you down.
Also, careful with the fertilizers to be use, measure the PH and work based on.
Happy Gardening
Honestly I think you’re overreacting. Has it rained yet since you planted? You can water all you want, nothing can compare to a good natural rain. Also, are these actually full sun plants? Not all plants can handle 9 hours of direct sun, but I imagine you know that already.
Woosah my friend take a breath and plug into the natural rhythms of your garden plot in your local environment which is a part of your geographical region. Apps are great but they’re not a substitute for a true green thumb. Plug in to your garden!
As others have said- transplant shock. But also- many plants hate life below 50 degrees. It damages toms, pepps, some flowers and cucurbits on the cellular level. They have to fix that serious case of shivers before they can take off.
(Here near StL- we’ve had the same problem. You can put little plastic heat caps on them at night – I use a lot of produce clamshell packaging from big Sam’s sized containers. Because I despise buying more plastic from China. )
And please thin those cukes soon. You’ll thank us in August.
I personally don’t believe in bare soil. I’ll cover the soil in wood chips as mulch, slow down the evaporation of moisture and also reduce the drying sun on the surface. An inch or two layer would be enough imo
I’m in Chicago too. They will be happy once these 40 degree nights are over, we all jumped the gun this year putting stuff in the ground early. I’m waiting to put my peppers and (second round) of tomatoes out til Thursday pending a better forecast. Cover the warm weather guys (peppers tomatoes cukes etc) at night with like a Tupperware or extra pot and they’ll be less upset. Cucumbers HATE transplanting and hate competition more; those white brown spots are sun scorch from the cold nights and not being used to sun. One cuke should be planted like every 2 feet or so, the tag ought to say. They will also need a giant trellis so be ready to tie and prune them and make sure they don’t choke everything else, they are very close. They will probably look like sh*t until mid July and then they’ll become your most uncontrolled weed. The herbs are fine they’re just dramatic. The kale/broccoli you have there? They also are dramatic about transplanting but will get prolific soon, give it a few weeks. Watch brassicas for aphids they’ve been hell the past few years. You’re fine just thin and cover the cukes and cover any warm guys until 40s are gone, as people said water less than 1x a day, this will look much better if not overcrowded by July
I think just give them time. So long as they aren’t rotted or crispy, they’re probably just being dramatic about the change. I had some dill i transplanted that totally wilted then shriveled up… But then sprouted new green at the roots and is looking great. Plants are really resilient. Don’t call it until they’re really dead.
It’s wayyyy too cold out to need watering twice a day. That’s like a July/August thing. You’ll probably be fine with once a week until it warms up.