Peppers-Medusa peppers ( "Christmas Peppers") shriveling!

I am trying to grow three ornamental peppers called Medusa Peppers
or Christmas Peppers - the little brats are getting plenty of sun and rain
this week, so do the need different soil? It is well drained already.

HeatherY

I grow Medusa peppers in pots. If you have pics it might help we need more info. There is no way to tell what they need if we don't know more info.

What kind of potting soil are you using, Number 1? Is your climate wet? Dry?

I do grow in my backyard - high clay (due to underground stream that makes the city need to resurface our street every few years a few more times than the rest of the nabe!) high Ph, I have added LOTS of organic material greens, AND browns, some sand, more finished compost this year.

Peppers are the problem. These leaves look dried up. They are not dry.

It is always something with peppers. Tomatoes are happy, resist disease, potatoes, same. Peppers like what kind of soil?
Heather

Two of my plants survived, one died- as the summer got hotter all the plants started curling their leaves inward for protection until sundown!

Here are pepper pictures.BTW they are supposed to be edible is anyone sure of that? What do they taste like?

HeatherY

Heather - looks to me like fertilizer burn.

I grow most of my Medusas inside. They like a much wetter environment then many peppers. Some of mine are actually setting in water. Like all peppers Spider Mites can be an issue. Which will cause them to dry up when they aren't dry. Do you see any webbing? Yes, they are edible, but don't have a lot a flavor. I can't remember if they are hot ot not. Lol

Thanks, everybody!
Hey# 1, we have had a very wet spring and early summer -like the tropics, week after week we have had day after day of a little rain every two hours for about five to fifteen minutes. Not much like most of Texas!-wait, the Gulf Coast is humid, right?
Glad to know I can eat them- I will report how hot they are or are not.
Spider mites? OK-maybe that is what's bothering the Goji, I hear it is a nightshade.
Honeybee, I don't think it is fertilizer burn- I almost never use anything out of a package, but it was months ago.
cheers
Heather Y

This is a picture of the surviving Medusa - btw I ate one, tasted like a mild flavor pepper.
Heather Y.

That one looks fine. Medusa pepper plants have a droopy appearance, and don't get very big. I grow mine in 4" pots. If that is the only pepper your growing in the area you can save seeds, they are Open Pollinated.

Thanks Number 1 for the seed hint I will try to save seed- I did not grow these from seed, could be interesting to try. My Cubanelle ( sp?) pepper is actually growing and setting some fruit - got that as a plant, also.

My main trouble with peppers is that they will not seem to grow from seed for me.

I am happy to hear they don't get too big, it will make it easy for my mother in law who got the other survivor -she's been in the hospital with a broken hip and I had really better go round to check on her house plants!

cheers HeatherY

Sorry been gone for a while. Peppers need heat and moisture to germinate. Without bottom heat they take forever and the seed can rot in the mean time. I have a plant heat mat but some people just stick them in the oven (not on) or on top of the water heater. You can google ways to germinate pepper seeds and get some great ideas. I just happen to have a room that I can keep very warm, for very little money.

Bottom heat definitely helps all peppers. For some it's a necessity. Peppers also take longer in general than tomatoes to germinate and I've found that covering the seed pots help, because I was running it to the tops drying while the pot in general was wet enough to too wet.

Another thing is Peppers are sensitive to too low a pH and I've never have been able to get then to germinate in straight peat or mixtures with a lot of peat moss.

This message was edited Oct 23, 2013 9:49 AM

Doud that's funny I always use peat to start my pepper seeds. Either peat pellets or loss peat. BUT my well water is very alkaline so that may offset the PH of the peat. I always keep any seeds covered until they germinate. But heat is a must for peppers or Eggplant.

A funny thing happened with the peppers I gave to my mother in law-she broke her hip,( in August) she gave them back to me, seemingly dead from lack of water.But the dried up peppers produced seeds and now I have a small pepper plant - doing fine despite two nights last week that dropped to 34 % Farenheit.(Farenhiet?)

I think I will bring both plants inside soon - all the way inside if they do not make cats sick.
(My dignified boy would only sniff them, but Mom's cats nibble on everything, like small goats in cat suits.)
The taste is mild like a bell pepper - I think they taste good in "kitchen sink" omlettes.

HeatherY

I have some seeds - sprouts now- that might have survived the winter of 2013-2014. If they turn our to be baby Medusas I will be astonished to say the least and put the pictures up here!
cheers
Heather

They are pepper;, they were pepper seeds!

I am going to see if I have some pictures to post- also,it seems as if I should save
the seeds, see what they do next year.
now for pepper pics!
Heather Y.

let's try some less recent shots
Heather

Congratulations, those are Medusa Peppers. I've never heard them called Christmas Peppers but you did grow Medusa Peppers from seed.