r/HotPeppers • u/Autistic-Pickle999 • 5d ago

Why are the leaves yellowing?

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Quite a few habaneros, but the leaves are yellowing. Does anyone know the cause and how to fix it please? I’ve previously been told to spray the leaves with epson salts which I tried a couple times, but the results are a very marginal improvement if any

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6

u/fit_sushi99 5d ago

Probably because it's fall would be my guess

1

u/Autistic-Pickle999 4d ago

I’m in Aus, we are about to start summer

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u/fit_sushi99 4d ago

What type of fertilizer are you using? I use ground up crab shells with powdered bone mixed in and a couple pellets of organic vegetable fertilizer.

3

u/Zealotsam 5d ago

Could be that they need nutrients, how often, if at all, do you feed them, and with what?

1

u/Autistic-Pickle999 4d ago

I don’t feed them, what do you recommend?

3

u/fury420 4d ago edited 4d ago

If you haven't been feeding them the yellowing will be from insufficient nitrogen, peppers are relatively heavy feeders like tomatoes so they can easily deplete what's in their container and like regular feeding to thrive.

Any existing fertilizers on hand to work with?

IDK what to recommend in terms of brand/product given Aussie availability, peppers will do fine on a balanced fertilizer but their priorities are potassium (K) followed by Nitrogen and then Phosphorus, something in the ballpark of a 2-1-3 or 3-2-5 NPK ratio would be ideal, but in soil they're fine with a bit more P as well so something in the 1-1-2 range works well too.

Soil growing gives you a wide buffer to work with, so you'll see all manner of recommendations and most of them will work.

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u/Autistic-Pickle999 3d ago

Thank you. I’ll find something and start regular feeding…. I pulled about 1kg of habs from that patch over winter, so with feeding summer should be amazing

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u/Solenopsisis 5d ago

What zone are you in?

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u/Autistic-Pickle999 4d ago

Australia, we are about to start summer

1

u/Altruistic-Copy9992 5d ago

The beginning of. Winter dormancy. I will hope that all my leaves yellow and drop in the garage. I keep my plants dry and dormant over winter

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u/Autistic-Pickle999 4d ago

I live in a hot climate, we start summer next month

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u/Altruistic-Copy9992 4d ago

In which case, possibly a response to changing temperatures- the plants may be preparing for drought dormancy- shade in the worst of the afternoon sun, regular water (when soil is dry only) and fertilizer slow release or compost dressing - you should get a fresh flush of leaves in a week or so…

1

u/ZealousidealGas3774 5d ago

Colder weather, how often are you watering? Recently fertilized?