Topic: Lack of roots

[caroline7758]

Some of my pepper plants are really slow growing and when I tipped them out of the pots they appear to have very few roots (they're still in 3" pots). The leaves look healthy enough and I couldn't see any sign of weevils etc. What should I feed them with to encourage roots?

[craggle58]

Try just potting them on anyway. I always find hot and sweet peppers dont really start thriving untill they have been potted on.

[goodlife]

..and you need to be very careful with watering. Peppers roots will rot off easily and other thing they don't like is getting their roots hot in a plastic pot. You can see them avoiding warmth by having fewer roots on sunny side of the pots so re-potting into slightly larger container will help this and their roots will soon romp away.
It could be also down to nutrients...if they've been some time in same compost..it could be that there is not much nutrients left there to support new root development.
Or it could be just 'one of those things'....everything in good time!
Just like craggle said....re-pot..

[antipodes]

MY peppers are already 30-40 cm high! They have been planted out for six weeks!  Sounds like yours need to be set free :-)

[caroline7758]

Thanks- iof it is nutrients, would comfrey liquid help?

[Tee Gee]

As I mentioned in another thread I am finding that the compost on the market these days seems to remain saturated for a long time longer than the peat based composts did.

This means the roots are being suffocated  and the only cure I have found is to get them out of their pots a lot sooner than I would usually do.

Next year I am going to add some grit to my compost to open it up a bit so that the compost will be a bit better drained and hopefully allowing the roots to breath.

[caroline7758]

I've used multi-purpose peat-free and think that by sieving it I may have taken out the most nutritious bits!

[goodlife]

As I mentioned in another thread I am finding that the compost on the market these days seems to remain saturated for a long time longer than the peat based composts did.

This means the roots are being suffocated  and the only cure I have found is to get them out of their pots a lot sooner than I would usually do.

Next year I am going to add some grit to my compost to open it up a bit so that the compost will be a bit better drained and hopefully allowing the roots to breath.

yep...I'm adding now as 'standard' some sand or grit for almost any compost. Other day I had some Wickes 'compost' left over from a job where cheap stuff was acceptable. I haven't used it for long while and this was first lot I've bought since they changed the recipe. Well...It wasn't that much improved stuff even they do advertise in bag that 'it can be used for seed sowing'. Similar shredded wood fibre stuff than before, though it was more finer than it was before 'improvement'.
I did used up what I had after mixing lots and lots of other ingredients with it....AND lime and fertilizer!...I doubt it has enough either stuff.