Looking for help with this problem with my Cayanne chillis.

Leaf wilt slowly starting deveolping on the newest leaves 2 weeks ago, the plants are flowering and producing loads of fruit although none is quite ripe yet.

Ok soil wise, not perfect but this is my first year growing, i simply used a reduced peat, tomato growers compost. I had the seeds and grew from them and repotted as necessary .

I am giving a once weekly feed of organic fruit and veg fertilizer when watering i only started this when the flowering begun.

The leaf wilt has only begun the last 2 weeks , the new growth leaves are curling in and almost feel papery and light rather than waxy like the healthy leaves.

Growing conditions they are in a conservatory , they get excellent light with good air flow through the room, they arent getting huge amounts of direct sunlight as the weather here in ireland the past month is rain every day. And therin lies the problem.

In cork, Ireland the last 4 weeks or so its been constant rain , but more importantly the humidity is lingering generally above 80% and often at 99% for periods , so very little evaportation from soil is happening. And being an idiot i have been watering more often than necessary in these conditions i think.

Could the leaf wilt be related to the compost being too soggy from me overwatering

I have moved to rectify this today by repotting to a bigger pot , it needed it anyway and lining the base of the new pot with pebblestones, and adding a small amount of gardening sand to the new compost when repotting.

Any tips for how often to water etc, i find myself sticking my finger in the soil to try and judge , should my finger be feeling the soil to be nearly dry ??

Firstly, welcome to the forum!

One of the best ways I've found with regards to watering is to pick the pot up. If it feels light then I water the compost until it starts to drip out of the drainage holes - deep watering encourages root growth whilst providing water to any roots at the bottom of the pot. Don't just surface water, as that does no good whatsoever.

Doing this regularly means you soon get a feel as to when the compost in a pot is dry enough to warrant watering. The other method - poking your finger in the soil - works to a certain extent but I wouldn't trust it as you cannot tell how moist the compost is towards the base of the pot. You could always use a stick or something to poke into the compost all the way to the base of the pot, leave for a few minutes and take back out - if hardly any compost sticks to it or it doesn't show much in terms of dampness, then you can water safe in the knowledge that you're not applying too much.

Also, do a check for any bugs as some - blackfly, greenfly etc - can curl leaves around themselves as protection from predators. That said, I believe leaf curl is perfectly natural and happens for physiological reasons when the plant is under mild stress - high/low temperatures, for example - so it's probably nothing to worry about.

Hope this helps

Ya that helps, just another quick question or two.

Would you reccomend misting the plants regularily ?
And would you add a small amount of liquid plant food when misting ?

No sign of any bugs on any of the plants and i have been especially thorough on the ones on which the new leaves are wilting.

They are indoors in a conservatory so bugs arent as much of an issue as outside.

Misting the plants helps to increase the humidity around them, but I'm not sure it's essential or even necessary unless you're in a really dry environment. A friend of mine grew chillies in a conservatory and to my mind never misted them and they did really well, but that's entirely up to you.

As for the fertiliser on the leaves - if anything, use seaweed extract in the form of a spray as that apparently helps to both enhance chlorophyll production and provide nutrients to the plant, as I've read the plant can absorb nutrients through the leaves. I wouldn't use the same fertiliser that you use when watering them though, as that may be too strong and end up damaging the leaves.