I think I killed my Pepper plants?

[Dandytown]

Arrived at the allotment yesterday evening and the temp in my GH was 40oC!!!   Must leave some windows open.

Anyway, I removed the propagator lid from the pepper plants (2-3").  Shortly after they looked terrible, leaves all pale, papery and wilted.

I am sure they were okay before I removed the lid but am not 100% sure.


I have moved them to the cooler GH with a large window open and have shelved the cover.

Could it have been the sudden change in temp and without seing the plants yourself do you think they will recover?

[Dandytown]

[goodlife]

Hmm...only time will tell..I might have odd spare plant left if  yours won't make it... ;) ;)

[calendula]

for what its worth I put my physalis plants out the other day and the same thing happened but they now look fine so it is possible they will recover, certainly don't bin them yet  and not to late to sow some more just in case

[picman]

Have you considered fitting an automatic vent you can get one for <> £20

[Tee Gee]

Check the growing tip!

If it is OK then all should be well!

otherwise??????

[pigeonseed]

Bad luck, Dandytown. Hope they pick up again. Have you got spare seed in case?

[antipodes]

Surely it is now too late to sow more? My peppers take ages to get to just a couple of centimetres tall, I can't see myself producing anything from plants sown now?

[calendula]

should germinate quickly now it is so much warmer and catch up hopefully, also depends on location for a longer season

[Dandytown]

Thanks everyone.  All the leaves have been obliterated but I think the tips may be okay.

You live and learn  ;)  Lose some and gain some

Thanks for the offer Goodlife.

[Vinlander]

For  future: remember that when the temp rises in a greenhouse or propagator so does the humidity - doubly so if they are in both - which means the plant has to work harder to transpire (it's main method of cooling - exactly like sweating).

This means their pores are wide open.

If you take the lid off they will start to dry out VERY fast - I don't know if they can't close their pores fast enough - but it wouldn't surprise me.

Stuff like cacti can cope better but peppers come from fairly jungly bits of South America.

Animals move from high humidity to low quite regularly and have developed to cope - plants don't move at all and it's hard to think of any natural phenomenon that could kill them this way - not much point in evolving to cope with something that has happened very rarely in 100M years, and they haven't had  much chance since humans invented glass...

Anyway, it is important not to over-react - add shade first - even better if you can throw a sheet or mat over the outside of the GH. Then add ventilation gradually - in your case max out the GH ventilation but be stingy with the propagator ventilation at first.

In a really bad case it's worth removing any wilted leaves immediately so they can't dry the plant further as they die.

Cheers.

[chriscross1966]

I don't really think those plastic mini GH's are going to be any use on an allotment unless you can get there every morning, or else leave them fairly well ventilated most of the time treating them as something to keep the wind and rain off....

chrisc