Note: If your plants have been outdoors for several weeks and are still not growing, your soil may be compacted. More often than not, the plants integrate within a couple weeks or so, and then take off in growth! Most important is to be patient after transplanting while the plant gets established. Direct sunlight is much more intense than grow lights, and pepper plants must be hardened off gradually to avoid damage. Sun shock is a related issue that can occur when transplanting peppers to the outdoors for the first time. We also recommend avoiding fertilizing for the first 1-2 weeks after transplanting. Be patient and allow the plant to recover and establish itself without too much disturbance. When peppers move to a larger body of soil, the root systems need some time to adjust and grow into the new surroundings. Shortly after transplanting seedlings into larger pots or into the ground, the plants may grow more slowly for several weeks. Transplanting is a necessary step in growing peppers from seed. After that, leave the flowers on to grow and produce fruits! We typically recommend picking any flowers or young fruits until the plants have been outside in their permanent location for 2-3 weeks. However, this will only set your plants back and cause them to perform poorly overall. It can be tempting to leave an early bell pepper on your plants for a quick harvest. Small bell pepper plant with early fruit. The early growth translates to a larger harvest later in the season. This helps the plant direct more energy into growing roots, branches, and foliage. During the first few weeks of outdoor growth, you should pick off flowers and fruits. One of the most common causes of smaller peppers is leaving early fruits to form. If you are fertilizing consistently or have healthy soil, look to other possible causes. If your pepper plants are not growing, consider your fertilizer regimen and adjust if necessary. Note: If you use a nutrient-rich soil, then fertilizer is likely unnecessary for the first 2-3 months of growth. This encourages the plant to stop growing new leaves and focus on producing peppers. See all our recommended soils and fertilizers here.įor plants that are beginning to produce flowers and fruits, we recommend switching to a phosphorus-rich fertilizer and reducing nitrogen. Alternatively, you could use a nutrient-rich potting soil without fertilizing at all. For young plants 4 weeks or younger, we recommend 1/2 strength nitrogen-rich fertilizer. They don’t need much at first, but as they grow larger, they will use more and more.ĭepending on the stage of growth, the type and quantity of fertilizer you use will vary. Once pepper seeds sprout, they will start to use nutrients. Without adequate energy, your pepper plants will grow more slowly.įor a quick recommendation, try this budget grow light on Amazon.Ģ. Light is the energy source for your plants, and this energy is used to form new leaves and branches. If you already use a grow light, make sure it is strong enough for your peppers. We recommend to provide young pepper plants with 14-16 hours of light per day. For best results and the fastest growth, use a grow light on seedlings indoors. No, a sunny window is not ideal for young pepper plants. Young plants are the most susceptible to poor growth if given too little light. Peppers come from a warm climate with lots of sunshine. For each possible cause, we’ll cover some other symptoms you will likely see in addition to slowed or stopped plant growth. Your routine may simply need one adjustment to get your pepper plants to start growing normally again. However, we recommend reading all of these causes to ensure that you take preventative measures next season!Īll of these methods are part of basic pepper plant care. The first few tips in this article will pertain to younger plants, while the later tips apply to more mature pepper plants. We have put together our top tips for when your pepper plants are not growing. Are your pepper plants not growing as expected? Slow or stunted growth happens to peppers sometimes, but there are methods to fix it.
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