They did not die! I thought I’d get right to the point.
In spite of my bad timing, the peppers that I relocated to a new bed appear that they are going to survive. I ensured that I grabbed a lot of root and soil, and I prepared the new location with Happy Frog amendment, gypsum and fertilizer. I continued to use the cylinder hole planting technique and one by one I exhumed and relocated 3 of my pepper plants. Once I am assured of success I will move the others.
My “bad timing” issues was associated with not knowing that the Tucson area was to have sustained temperatures above 105 degrees, so far it has been 4 days running. With temperatures like these, even well established plants will suffer not to mention transplants.
Watering by hand three or more times a day, ensuring to water the soil and not the plant combined with providing shelter from the sun, after 4 days I woke to a beautifully overcast day! The peppers are as they had been each morning, standing rigid and with crisp, non-wilting leaves. Hopefully today, unlike previous days I expect that we won’t reach 100 degrees by 9AM and maybe not at all. Maybe today the peppers will get through the day without trauma. My fingers are crossed.
Glad you could save them. Are these bell peppers or other peppers? And, I’m wondering if they were bearing fruit when you transplanted them. I have a green bell pepper that had stopped producing and had some sort of infestation, so I cut it off at the ground, leaving just a 1″ stump. I hadn’t watered it for about 3 days so it was bone dry. I was gonna pull out the stump and root ball when I noticed that there were tiny leaves growing out of the stump. So, I watered it and added it to my “experimental” bells that I am waiting to see if they’ll be productive when summer is over. Must say, I think they are a little hardier than I had previously thought. And I like that idea. Perhaps your peppers are, too. Don’t ya just love it when a plan goes together?
Well, I am still in the process of saving them. Although the overcast day was a moderate relief, each subsequent day was more of the same; crips leaves in the early morning and wilted leaves during the day. I’ll keep at it. I moved my gypsy peppers, they were in direct conflict with the first stage of my clearing and rejuvenation/rotation plan. If I have success I will relocate the too. The fact that your stump is still showing life does speak to its durability, I am interested in following the progress. Of the peppers that I moved one had 2 peppers and the others had flowers and buds. After several days I harvested the peppers, I figured that would help the plant to equilibrium after the move. I am still in the “experimental” mode with you on my tomatoes.
The two peppers I’m experimenting with are looking VERY rugged. They are attracting insects more now, so I did cut them back to half their size (to reduce their stress). Don’t know if they are gonna make it or not. The one that came back “from the dead” has thicker, leathery leaves, which I don’t count as a good thing, but I’m curious to see what it’s gonna do. The heat no longer seems to affect it….hmmm. Those 3 bell pepper plants and the lonely watermelon plant is all thats left of my spring garden.
The three that I relocated are beginning to show signs of self sustainment, they are no longer showing the major degree of suffering from the heat, although I am still shading them. I did not trim them at all, I did remove the semi-mature fruit and I did provide shade and multiple mid-day waterings of the soil only, not the plant. I currently am only doing one mid-day watering (1). All three have dropped some leaves and the immature fruit has softened, not sure if these established fruit will remain viable.
The “leathery leaves” may not be a bad sign, perhaps it is indicative of a healthy, active root system pumping nutrients to satisfy a much larger plant and without that larger plant to consume the nutrition, more of it goes to the existing leaves. I hope!
(1) typical watering is by drip for 30 min each morning.