Applying Heat

[crazy8]

I know that peppers love heat. Some even seem to love it more than others. Or others can be just fine without intense heat. Well I was thinking the other day and was curious about something. If someone who lives in a state that has a similar climate as me (Minnesota) and may see temps in the hi 90's and only have a chance for that in maybe 2 out of 12 months. On a little side note my dad bought these weird looking plastic things that you fill with water and you stand them up right around your tomato plants (though im sure it could be used for other plants) Using this is supposed to create heat and allow the plant to have a longer season. So I guess I have a few questions...

1) Could this be applied to the peppers and might it help them at all with growth and producing?
2) What kind of temps to most peppers like and for what length of time.
3) Other than using black mulch is there any other ways you guys have tried to get more heat to your plants if they are out in the garden?

 

[RichardK]

Peppers, the pods, and the plants like heat, the flowers however do not.

If you have flowers and too much heat, you get little or no fruit.

No Fruit Set (Assuming Flower hasnt dropped or been aborted):
Mean temps lower than 16'C (60.8F) or greater than 32'C (89.6F)

Flower Drop:
Nighttime temps greater than 24'C (75.2F)

Maxiumum Flower Set:
Day and Night temps between 16'C (60.8F) and 21'C (69.8F)

Pollen Germination:
Optimal temps between 20'C (68F) and 25'C (77F)
Pollen is harmed at temperatures above 30'C (86F)
Pollen is sterile if temps are above 30'C (86F) 15 days prior to anthesis (bloom)

Fruit Set:
Pollen tube growth (pollen travel) from stigma to egg (fruit) takes between 6 to 42 hours.

 

[POTAWIE]

1. I've seen those wall of water thingies and they are good early on if your going to have frost. You can make your own with large pop bottles

2. About 80-90F+ day, and about 70F night temp

3. Add compost or manure to your soil to get it working and warm. Don't add mulch until the ground is good and warm. Use warm(ish) water to water your plants if possible

 

[Blister]

1) I assume that you are talking about Wall-O-Water. I've never used them, but I can't really see why you couldn't use them on your pepper plants.

2) I keep my plants in a greenhouse, but even then it rarely reaches much above 90F. My plants really start to wilt when it does. They seem to really like it between 68F and 90F, but not much above. I bought a thermostatically controlled switch for the greenhouse that turns on a couple of fans when it hits 80F to help keep them cool. I'm not having much of a problem growing peppers and I'm much further north than you are.

3) If you don't have a greenhouse you can always make a few temporary greenhouses with some plastic and some wood. You basically just build a small tent over them to help retain heat.

You may also want to try just planting them in pots. I've had far better luck with pots than I have with plants in the ground in the greenhouse. I dunno why, but the plants in the pots are just doing better. The nice part is that you can move them to direct sunlight as well as get them into the house/under shelter if a storm comes along.