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Length of time from flowers to peppers?
- Thread starter Bruce159
- Start date
When the flower has been pollinated, pollen tube growth (the part where the pollen grows a tube down the pistil to the ovary) takes around 24 to 48 hours. After a successful set, the ovary (immature pod) and the stem will start to enlarge and the petals may or may not start to wilt (if the growth is rapid enough, the pod will push the petals out before they can wilt).
Once it's fully set and growing, the pod should grow pretty quickly assuming the plant has the nutrients it needs like adequate light (> 6 hours direct sun) and water (don't let soil dry out for extended periods) and day and night temps that are not too low (above 50F). Once the pods reach full size, they may sit around dormant for quite a while (especially C. Chinense) which could be weeks. Some varieties will gradually take on a darker green color during this period and eventually they will start to show signs of ripening (faint color changes around the stem or side most facing sun). Once they start to ripen, depending on the variety they could be fully ripe (deepest color) in 1-4 days.
So for typical C. Chinense varieties, from bloomed flower to ripe fruit could be 3-4 weeks or longer.
Tip: Once the plant is fruiting, it helps to give extra feedings of Magnesium (Mg) Phosphate (P) and Potassium (K) but don't over-do the Phosphate or it will block uptake of Potassium and cause a Potassium Deficiency (-K) which to make matters worse, only rears it's ugly head when it's severe.
Magnesium source: Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) which can be had for cheap at a drug store
Phosphate source: Bone meal or Ammonium phosphate
Potassium source: Muriate of Potash (Potassium chloride)
Hope that helps
Once it's fully set and growing, the pod should grow pretty quickly assuming the plant has the nutrients it needs like adequate light (> 6 hours direct sun) and water (don't let soil dry out for extended periods) and day and night temps that are not too low (above 50F). Once the pods reach full size, they may sit around dormant for quite a while (especially C. Chinense) which could be weeks. Some varieties will gradually take on a darker green color during this period and eventually they will start to show signs of ripening (faint color changes around the stem or side most facing sun). Once they start to ripen, depending on the variety they could be fully ripe (deepest color) in 1-4 days.
So for typical C. Chinense varieties, from bloomed flower to ripe fruit could be 3-4 weeks or longer.
Tip: Once the plant is fruiting, it helps to give extra feedings of Magnesium (Mg) Phosphate (P) and Potassium (K) but don't over-do the Phosphate or it will block uptake of Potassium and cause a Potassium Deficiency (-K) which to make matters worse, only rears it's ugly head when it's severe.
Magnesium source: Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate) which can be had for cheap at a drug store
Phosphate source: Bone meal or Ammonium phosphate
Potassium source: Muriate of Potash (Potassium chloride)
Hope that helps
I couple of my flowers have fallen off complete with its stem. In comparison to the number of buds that have yet to flower I'm not at a concerned stage as yet. Very happy that ALL 4 of the plants are now budded. Was worried about the 7pod as it was last, apprx 10days after my 2 Bhuts and 1 Scorp... Fingers are crossed that I don't come home one day and ALL the flowers are laying there.
In my experience, the average pepper (70 DTM) needs about 1000 Growing Degree Days from the date it is transplanted to produce ripe pods. I planted Hot Wax (~70 DTM) at the end of May. By the middle of July, I was starting to get ripe pods. We had accumulated a total of 1817 GDD by then. From some of the superhots I grew last year, and when they were ripe, I figured it takes about an extra 10 GDD for every DTM above 70. Thus, a 150 DTM pepper would require 1800 GDD from the time of transplant, if weather conditions are right (not too hot or too cold, average rainfall, etc.)
The figures can be skewed a bit by starting seeds earlier than normal, thus cutting back the DTM from transplant time. Additionally, extremely high temps >100 can cause problems.
YMMV,
Mike
The figures can be skewed a bit by starting seeds earlier than normal, thus cutting back the DTM from transplant time. Additionally, extremely high temps >100 can cause problems.
YMMV,
Mike
Well my peppers are indoors in a hydroponic setup and I have complete control over the environment. They receive 12 hours of 400 watt hps and temps stay near constant 75degrees day and 70 night. Nutes are still at around 1100 PPM as vegetative nutes. I will be switching the nutes over to fruiting nutes in the next week or so when I get around to pumping out the old nute solution.
Thanks for all of the help and info everyone!
Thanks for all of the help and info everyone!
Genetics is probably the biggest factor for ripening and then temperature and environmental factors.
In the fall when there is more red light spectrum, peppers seem to ripen much faster for me. Even peppers in a closed environment(greenhouse) may ripen quicker due to accumulation of ethylene gasses. I think temperature and humidity also play a big role.
In the fall when there is more red light spectrum, peppers seem to ripen much faster for me. Even peppers in a closed environment(greenhouse) may ripen quicker due to accumulation of ethylene gasses. I think temperature and humidity also play a big role.
Thanks for the advice potawie! I figured they wouldnt need a bunch of bloom nutes but Im goin for big and hot. The bigger, the hotter, the better! I have some humbolt countys snow storm ultra that I will be using as well to try and increase capsaicin content. Im not sure that it will, but I wanted to try it! And I figured the nutes were way up there but they are tolerating it very well and just exploding with growth! The tent is completely filled.
And I figured the nutes were way up there but they are tolerating it very well and just exploding with growth! The tent is completely filled.Well, I doubt that it really means much, but my tabasco plant last year took an eternity to ripen to red. Of all the peppers on the plant (in the hundreds), only a small handful were red-ripe by fall. A larger number were orange, but the vast majority were still light green. To be honest, I didn't care for the few fully ripe red tabascos I had, and would much rather pick them green instead (learned my lesson...).
The plant was grown in an area that received very little direct sunlight--but so was my habanero plant, which ripened a much higher percentage of peppers. Almost all of those ripened by killing frost. But damn, did they slow down as the temperatures plummeted...
This is my first year growing the nagas and the Aji Lemon / Hot Lemon, so I'm waiting myself to see how those two turn out. I'm especially anxious to try the Aji Lemon for some reason. My plants this year are all being grown in much different conditions (around 35 plants in ground receiving full afternoon sun, and another 12 or so in containers on the porch receiving full morning sun), and they seem to be mimicking last year. Got a couple orange habs ripening already, but no sign of color change in the tabascos (which I'll use as a signal to harvest a bunch of bigger ones before they all actually change color).
Adding excessive bloom nutrients won't make your pods any bigger or hotter. The plants can only take up what they need which is very little with chiles. I'd recommend using a dilute mixture of both the grow and the bloom(+ possibly micro) for the duration of the grow.
If you really want to make your pods hotter you should try to heat stress them and/or deprive them of water. The problem however is that this stress is not good for future production and you often sacrifice much of the plant's next flush of peppers. If you start with super hot peppers then you really don't need any extra heat in my opinion.
Another observation is that you really don't need a grow tent since chiles don't need a dark period to produce, and the tent limits air-flow and heat distribution. Your probably better off with some mylar
If you really want to make your pods hotter you should try to heat stress them and/or deprive them of water. The problem however is that this stress is not good for future production and you often sacrifice much of the plant's next flush of peppers. If you start with super hot peppers then you really don't need any extra heat in my opinion.
Another observation is that you really don't need a grow tent since chiles don't need a dark period to produce, and the tent limits air-flow and heat distribution. Your probably better off with some mylar
Thanks for the tips potawie! I will save my bloom nutes then! What PPM would you recommend for chiles? As for the tent, I have that because I like to keep my light contained and not seen because the kids would be attracted to it and think they had to go play with whatever was around there. Not to mention it keeps all of my supplies besides nutes in there and contained/out of reach from kids.
As for air flow, with the exhaust fan I have airflow is great. It is never ever humid in the tent and stays at 75-70 almost all times, unless I want it colder in there for some reason. There is plenty of fresh air moving in through the tent at all times.
As for air flow, with the exhaust fan I have airflow is great. It is never ever humid in the tent and stays at 75-70 almost all times, unless I want it colder in there for some reason. There is plenty of fresh air moving in through the tent at all times.
