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Best species for full sunlight, hot summer temps.

THECHRISE

THECHRISE

What species of chiles do better in super hot and direct sunlight? Nothing did well for me in that sorta area. I am putting all my plants in a 1/2 shaded 1/2 filtered light area on the west side or in an enclosed area south side. But, if there is something that I can plant in full sunlight that would great (it can be ornamentals).
 
I would look for landrace strains from the hottest parts of Africa and Mexico. I would think some Mexican annuums could handle it, serrano, fresno, pequin, etc. Where abouts you at?
 
I live in So Cal and 50% shade cloth is my friend. I pretty much grow everything under it, even my raised beds. I have grown stuff in the ground with partial shade. But when temps hit triple digits in July and August, pretty much anything without some protection will burn up. 
 
Trinidad Scorpions and Bhuts are where it's at. Here, once it hits july and august, the only plants that can handle the full sun have been my superhots. My Scorps usually go about 4-5 days without even needing watered, whereas Jalapenos and the lesser varieties need it every day.
 
OK cool! I have a half dozen scorps growing already and have a bunch of bhuts that I got here. I assume you have high humidity in TN, which I don't have here.
 
I'll put the bhuts, naga's and maybe a scorpion and see how they fare in the extreme summer heat (I won't have natural humidity though). In another forum, some one was recommending shade cloth.
 
Just a thought... would purple-leaved strains fare better or worse in areas of intense sunlight?

The purple pigments -- anthocyanins -- are UV protection (much like our suntan response), and might reduce leaf burn.

On the flip side of the coin, their darker color might cause such increased temperatures as to increase leaf burn.

There are many annuums with this foliage color, and a few chinenses (Mata Frade, CGN 21500 and Fidalgo Roxa, for examples). If you tried some of each species, you could have a fascinating thread to start, once you have observed results.

I'll speculate wildly, and guess that the semi-wild chinenses will probably fare better than most. If they weren't bred for ornamentals (like most purple-leaved annuums), then those plants are purple because that's what works for them in their natural habitat.
Your location, California, ranges from (approximately) 32-42° N. Latitude whereas Mata Frade's range (for example) is something like 15 or 20° Latitude (South) from the equator. Unless they have partial shade, or a much lower elevation, they're getting more intense sun than your location.
All other things being equal, i'd assume this strain would have greater resistance to intense sunlight than most.

I have a feeling that a shade-cloth awning is probably more useful then my casual guesses, but a comparison between green and purple-leaved plants alone might be useful. A further comparison between domesticated ornamental purple-leaved annuums and Brazilian wild purple-leaved chinenses might yield results more conclusive
 
THECHRISE said:
OK cool! I have a half dozen scorps growing already and have a bunch of bhuts that I got here. I assume you have high humidity in TN, which I don't have here.
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Boy, do we. In the summer, going outside is like stepping into a large body of water. Or like breathing in a pool.
 
I'll see if I have any Frutescens in this box. I'll tell you my pubes HATED > 80F and direct sunlight!

mikeg said:
Just a thought... would purple-leaved strains fare better or worse in areas of intense sunlight?

The purple pigments -- anthocyanins -- are UV protection (much like our suntan response), and might reduce leaf burn.

On the flip side of the coin, their darker color might cause such increased temperatures as to increase leaf burn.

There are many annuums with this foliage color, and a few chinenses (Mata Frade, CGN 21500 and Fidalgo Roxa, for examples). If you tried some of each species, you could have a fascinating thread to start, once you have observed results.

I'll speculate wildly, and guess that the semi-wild chinenses will probably fare better than most. If they weren't bred for ornamentals (like most purple-leaved annuums), then those plants are purple because that's what works for them in their natural habitat.
Your location, California, ranges from (approximately) 32-42° N. Latitude whereas Mata Frade's range (for example) is something like 15 or 20° Latitude (South) from the equator. Unless they have partial shade, or a much lower elevation, they're getting more intense sun than your location.
All other things being equal, i'd assume this strain would have greater resistance to intense sunlight than most.

I have a feeling that a shade-cloth awning is probably more useful then my casual guesses, but a comparison between green and purple-leaved plants alone might be useful. A further comparison between domesticated ornamental purple-leaved annuums and Brazilian wild purple-leaved chinenses might yield results more conclusive
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I am planning on making a frame for some shade cloth probably in May, when I see how they start reacting to my climate. I used tarps over my pumpkins last year and that helped .
 
The mustard habanero did well for me in high sun, high heat, AND high humidity ... and was the only variety save the tepin-types with "bark" to come back, let alone thrive after BLS ...

Based on how they preferred the Fall and Spring, I'd expect them to LOVE hot and dry.

Pretty tasty for habs, too.
 
as long as they are getting watered when they need to and are supported properly most peppers will do good in direct sunlight. The leaves help shade the fruit so you don't get sun burn on the fruits.
 
I think plants in the ground do better because the ground stays cool a couple feet down where the roots are. For pots they can get really hot, especially if you have black plastic pot and they are on cement or asphalt, those will not do well.
 
Lots of people do pepper growing a little too much like helicopter parenting. Do you really think they NEED shade cloth?! how the hell would they ever survive as a species if they couldn't tolerate full sun. What about the big growers that grow peppers by the acre? do you think they shade cloth the whole thing or have trees shading every few feet? no... 
 
+1 black pots do not help at all when battling hot temps. Also our humidity is very low during the day which doesn't help with chinense either. During the hottest months my pubes get less than a couple hours direct morning sun and shade the remainder of the day and full sun in the winter. My Fresno's always seem to thrive through whatever mother nature can throw at them.
 
hogleg said:
+1 black pots do not help at all when battling hot temps. Also our humidity is very low during the day which doesn't help with chinense either. During the hottest months my pubes get less than a couple hours direct morning sun and shade the remainder of the day and full sun in the winter. My Fresno's always seem to thrive through whatever mother nature can throw at them.
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My best looking pubes were on the north side of the house in 100% shade. Although they took forever to ripen. My highest producing pubes were on the west side against a wood fence with very little shade. My worst looking and worst producing pubes were on the south side in full sunlight (hence my original question). The low humidity is bunk around here. I will be using a lot of black 5 gallon pots, so we'll see. I am planting mostly chinense. I'll plant a row of bhuts in the scorching area just to see. But, most will be in pots that will be moved around accordingly. Which plants haven't done well in Sonoma Co? and which have besides the Fresno's?
 
My aji amarillo did nothing but drop flowers all season long, not one pod set. On the bright side it seems to be surviving winter without any special treatment, see what it does this year. Our dry heat causes a lot of blossom drop. But each season is different and timing is everything. As long as they are making blossoms not during a heatwave they should do just fine. I'm going to try and get my supers out earlier this year in hopes of setting more pods this year. My chinense did OK last year nothing produced very well. I would have to say my Moruga's from Jim Duffy did the best with the heat. All my mexican peppers have no problems setting pods here, Fresno, Serrano, Jalapeno, Pequin, Onza amarillo, Goatsweed. My Aji Pineapple also did really well with the heat, cool little bushy plants set lots of pods. And aint no Manzano wanna be a southsider...cause they gangsta.
 
edit: Try wrapping black pots with panda plastic to keep them cool.
 
I bought giant white habs from Jim, the rest are from THP and pink tigers from Enrico. I grew Aji's in the Pittsburg area (CA) and they didn't do so well either (ten years ago). I started more bhuts and morugas yesterday
 
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