Transplanting and survival // Pepper plants

Exactly two weeks ago from the time of writing this article, I gave it a thought and decided to try the option of buying grown pepper plants (nursed seedlings) from the market, where they are usually nursed in a bed before being uprooted for sale. It's one of the easiest ways to grow these plants if one does not have the proper bed to nurse them from the seed stage.

It was in the morning, and I told someone to buy them for me when coming back from the market.
I expected to get them in the evening when the market closes, but fortunately, I got them in the afternoon when the sun was blazing very high. As you can see in the photos below, the leaves were already weakened, making it feel like they were not going to survive.

As someone into farming, I knew the trick to use in reviving them, which is by sprinkling water on them and keeping them in a cool place where the sun does not directly hit them.
Sprinkling water was not the issue, but the challenge was finding a place to keep them where the sun would not touch them directly. I didn't want to keep them in my house or corridor because children around could play near the spot and throw them away.

I found a place close to the bitterleaf plants in the garden. I sprinkled water on them and kept them under the shade of the bitterleaf plants.

I left them there till the evening when the sun went down. When I picked them up, they had bounced back to life—the leaves that appeared dead were alive again.

I did the transplanting, placing two plants in one hole and just one plant in a hole for those that were very big.

After that, I watered them thoroughly. I made sure I soaked the entire area with water. I didn’t want to take any chances at all because I believe that’s what made the ones I nursed myself and transplanted at their infant stage not to survive. Only two to three plants survived whatever happened to them.

Those ones I nursed by myself and transplanted lasted just three days before I saw them die off. It's not like they lacked water because the soil was wet due to rain. But even in the midst of the rain, the sun was merciless in the afternoon. I guess that’s what killed them. Maybe I should have placed some shade to cover them after I did the transplanting...due to how infant they were.

But anyways, that’s the reason I decided to go and buy the grown ones from the market, and it’s good that they are catching up and are already growing.
Even as they are catching up, I still water them every morning and evening. I don’t want to hear any stories at all.

The next stage is to look for fowl droppings to add and also to fence them, either individually or fence the whole place, to prevent chickens from entering and causing their usual disasters.

Thanks for reading.

Photos are mine