Problems with my rocotos

[gonz]

Hello

My name is Gonzalo, and i live in the Canary Islands. This is my first year growing many varieties of peppers.

I am trying to grow rocotos now, but i always have the same problem. They begin to grow and later they stop and die.

I sow the rocotos in comercial soil, they germinate without problems, and begin to grow. But a few month later the rocotos "fall" into the seedlings and die.

What could i do?. I am very interested to grow rocotos.

Cheers
Gonzalo

[macmanmatty]

How many sets of leaves do they have when they die?? What color do the leaves turn if any?? Are they getting enough light?? Sounds a lack of some nutrient to me. Possibly nitrogen. You may need  to start feeding them afer a month. I start to feed mine after they get there full set of 1st true leaves. Rocotos are  very picky when it comes to growing conditions.

[gonz]

Hi Mac

They have one or two true leaves. The colour of the leaves is normal, green. I begin to add nutrients, when they have one true leaf. They have a "pinched" look and the seedling fall over.

I have the seedling in a mid shadowed place. I use a formula NPK 11-6-4.

Cheers
Gonzalo

[cornell]

Hi gonz,
you wrote that your rocoto seedlings die after a few months of growing but they have only one or two true leaves? Something is really wrong with your soil man!
I would suggest to germinate them on rockwool cubes and plant them first into sterilized soil... could be pathogens in your soil... if the stems are kind of drying out you probably have some sort of pathogen.. without leaves there's no need to fertilize, right? could be also over fertilizing...

Hope your sucseed! I got healthy plants but no harvest from rocotos on last season... tricy plants they are

Cornell

[gonz]

Hi Cornell

Yes. I will try to get rockwool cubes in a growshop, here you can not get rockwool cubes in a garden center, lol.

For my seedlings i only use comercial soil. Now i have bought perlite and i am trying to get vermiculite, and i will add to my soil, when i am going to do the seedling for the winter, and i also will use new soil.


Thanks for your advice Cornell

Cheers
Gonzalo

[luca]

Hi Gonz,

Maybe the temperatures are too high for the rocotos? You know, rocotos like lots of light, dry weather and cool nights.  If the nights are too warm (as it probably is in the Canary Islands!) the rocotos will not grow very well...

[gonz]

Hi Luca

I will try to grow rocotos in the middle of december again, when i finish my exams. Now the temperatures are more "low" and the relative humidity is more high and the days are cloudy.

Luca the rocotos grows very well in the Canary Islands. I know one seed suplier that lives in the Canary Islands and he grows rocotos without problems, he said me, his rocotos are very "ugly" on summer but in autumn the rocotos blooms again.

Abçs
Gonzalo