• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

Pepper Plant In Window With Heater

Hi, I have brought two plants in for the Winter and have placed them in a south facing window, but there is a baseboard heater beneath the window. I live in Canada so that heater will be heating the room all Winter. Will this hurt the plants being next to it? Or will I just need to water more frequently?
 
Watch the soil for dryness and make sure a heat wave not coming up to the plant from the radiator. Put a thermometer next to the plant to see how high the heat gets near the leaves.
 
You can probably figure out when they need water just by picking them up.
 
Get an idea of their heft now, and water them over the winter when they get too light.
 
Even with the south facing window, your plants will likely figure out that it's Winter, and go dormant.  This will be fine.
 
 
The surface of the window will be colder than the air in the room in winter: don't let the plant touch the window.
 
Yep, water needs could definitely increase given that the room will be dry to start with and the warmed air coming up to them will be even drier.  Like many have said already, you can simply read that in the soil and the plant and adjust to maintain proper, but not too-wet, moisture levels. A "heat wave" coming up could also be a concern, one watering wouldn't fully correct, in which case it might need to be somehow deflected.
 
Light will likely be another issue for you with the shorter days at your latitude. At 49 degrees north (roughly Vancouver BC) day length drops as low as just over 8 hours in December. If your plants will be keeping sufficiently warm, they won't necessary go dormant and as the days become shorter and the light weaker it can lead to weak, stretched plants. I'd consider adding at least a small grow light above the plants to extend their "days" to healthy levels.
 
Good luck!
 
Thanks for all the info, but what signs should I look out for this winter if it is too hot for the plants by the heater?
Also, I have a couple 50w LEDs I'm going to hang over them for a little extra light in the evening.
 
I just noticed some of the leaves on one of the pepper plants look like this....
2018-10-08 22.51.14 HDR.jpg

Also, a lot of small young leaves are turning yellow and dropping. Could this be caused by being next to a running heater?
 
Back
Top