drooping in the afternoon

[scarfguy]

SO... I started a corbaci pepper a few weeks ago and it now appears to be a healthy seedling about 4" tall.

The leaves are drooping in the afternoon and they are standing up strong by the next morning. I didn't notice this phenomenon on the other peppers I grew previously (a jimmy nardello and a liberty bell).

All I could find on the internet was insufficient water or too much sun.  Neither of which seem to apply to an AG.   Maybe too much light??? ( its in a harvest XL) or too much heat??? (runs about 80-83 F with the light on)...

Any ideas? or perhaps this is normal???

[maskedsonnet]

All I can guess is a heat change from afternoon to the next morning - my outdoor peppers sometimes droop when it gets hot out, and are back to normal by morning, but we’re usually in triple digits when that happens. Maybe indoor pepper are more sensitive to that, or the type of pepper? I’ve never grown that one so can’t say for sure.

[maskedsonnet]

Replying again because I just got a chance to Google the Corbaci and Baker's Creek says that ideal temp is 70-95, so I'm thinking that the heat indoors probably isn't the problem. It also said that 8-12 hours of sun was ideal, so I don't think they are getting too much light. I'm afraid I'm stumped!

[lynnee]

If memory serves, the transpiration rate of plants goes up during the daytime as it gets warmer, and down during the evening and nighttime as it gets cooler. When it's very hot, plants can lose more water by transpiration than they are able to take up from the roots. When this happens, the leaves and stems droop from water loss.

Transpiration is the reason that California bans the watering of outdoor landscaping between sunrise and sunset during droughts. By watering at night, plants are best able to take up and retain the water they need, and less water is lost to transpiration.

It is probably the heat that is causing the plant to droop. Presumably the room temperature is also high, if the water is 80-83. If you can relocate the Harvest XL to a cooler spot, the plant may stop drooping.

My outdoor plants share your phenomenon. They survive for a while, but it is hard on them.

Anyone who knows more about transpiration, please jump in to correct me if I'm wrong! I had this explained to me some years ago, when I was on a homeowner's association board, and we were trying to figure out how to save our landscaping in the face of water quotas.

[scarfguy]

Jun 27, 2022 20:55:56 GMT -5 lynnee said:

If memory serves, the transpiration rate of plants goes up during the daytime as it gets warmer, and down during the evening and nighttime as it gets cooler. When it's very hot, plants can lose more water by transpiration than they are able to take up from the roots. When this happens, the leaves and stems droop from water loss.

This is probably the mechanism I'm seeing.  Since the plant is sitting in water, I assume it has enough water available to it.  So, perhaps, the plant is outgrowing it's root structure?  Hmmm... how do I stimulate root growth???.

[Shawn]

I have grown peppers since the start of me starting to AG.  Many of my peppers do the same thing.  Standing tall then they tend to bend down at night.  Unless they are looking limp and sick I would not worry.  You can try adding a fan (not directly on them) for air circulation.  Lifting the light a tab may help too.  I may still have threads on here that show what mine did.  I will take a look to see if I can find those.

mike may have more info.  I never heard of transpiration and will have to look that up. 

[mike]

Heat will make them sag. But the best growing pepper locations are hotter so it won't hurt them too much. Just make sure there is enough air circulation or you will get edema.

[scarfguy]

Thanks for the comments, guys...   I always get a lot of good information here!

[slw]

I recently noticed the "drooping phenomenon" with poblano pepper plants.  I got nervous the first time I saw the leaves drooping in the evening, but in the morning they were all fresh again.   After poking around on the internet I found this guy's video which includes a time-lapse of his hydroponic pepper plants comparing the growth of aerated vs non-aerated (Kratky) plants.  

Starting at about 2:30 in the video you can plainly see the "cycle of drooping". 

The video is very interesting.  I was amazed at how much the plants move around. 

[scarfguy]

Fascinating video, slw.  Thanks!