tutorial Growing Hot Peppers Guide + FAQ

 
 
Light:
-More indepth about lighting
Germinating peppers don't require any light.
All the other stages require light, adult requiring the most to produce peppers.
 
Inside peppers can be run on lights 24/7 but most prefer to run on a 18 on / 6 off light schedule as it saves electricity and some think the plants enjoy the "rest" they get in dark time. 

Outside peppers enjoy the full sun all day. In Hot climates with full sun (southern us, aus, dubia) they can become stressed from being too hot! It's a good idea for them to have partial shade in times where temp is  100+F. 
 
Temperature:
Peppers love warm temperatures. Optimal range is 65-90 degree Fahrenheit.
Peppers will die in a freeze, do anything you can do to prevent them being exposed. Common ways to keep the plants warm are keeping them inside house, greenhouses / hoophouses, space heaters, and heat mats.
 
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I dont know how much 65-90 degF is, but here its 30-35 degC and at 8AM there is already so much sunshine, the leaves like to hang down. A friend of mine is gardener here and he, too said peppers need a lot of sunshine but when it comes to heat and sun...there can be a too much.
 
Eireann said:
I dont know how much 65-90 degF is, but here its 30-35 degC and at 8AM there is already so much sunshine, the leaves like to hang down. A friend of mine is gardener here and he, too said peppers need a lot of sunshine but when it comes to heat and sun...there can be a too much.
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If you are growing in pots, it might be a good idea to get those babies under some partial shade, my friend!
 
There most certainly is a limit when it comes to heat and sun... especially when you are growing in pots.
 
In-ground, not so bad because the roots are far more insulated, albeit your plants may suffer severe wilting and/or some sun-scald at first when extremes hit, they should bounce back no dramas.
 
Where I am, temps often hit 30-35 C with the UV index hitting 13+ late spring/summer and I have literally cooked plants in their pots by leaving them out under full exposure to the elements.
 
If you are growing in pots and those temps are the norm and prolonged where you are, partial shade is a REALLY good idea.
 
Position plants under a tree that lets through patches of sun or rig up some shade cloth, etc. Also, positioning your plants where they receive morning sun for a few hours but are shaded for the remainder of the day works too.
 
Honestly, chillies I position in partial shade, without exception, FAR out-perform those grown in full sun. At least as far as growing in pots in summer goes.
 
I have same temps in july. 34 C with 11 hours of sun. 11 uv index. the plants will adapt.
Lots of farmers in caribbean grow hectares of unshaded plants, they get tons of sun as well
it is impossible for farmers to shade acres and acres of plants yet they are producing just fine, this should make you think, hmmm shading does help and work on a small scale but it is not necessary.
 
You should be more worried about water availability. Plants will drink the water very quickly on a hot day. also it will evaporate from pots very quickly. Increase your watering to everyday, or even twice a day (in morning and evening) so plant will always have water when it needs it. My plants drink about a gallon(~3L) a day in the height of summer.
 
juanitos said:
Lots of farmers in caribbean grow hectares of unshaded plants, they get tons of sun as well
it is impossible for farmers to shade acres and acres of plants yet they are producing just fine, this should make you think, hmmm shading does help and work on a small scale but it is not necessary.
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I guess you missed the part where I pointed out that I was specifically talking about growing in pots and even made note, in a sense agreeing with you, as far as ground growing goes anyways, that it is a different story?

(Although, I do believe that even when growing in the ground, if you have the means to reduce stress, why not utilise them? And of course I realise this may not be feasible if one was growing hectares of plants.)
 
juanitos said:
You should be more worried about water availability. Plants will drink the water very quickly on a hot day. also it will evaporate from pots very quickly. Increase your watering to everyday, or even twice a day (in morning and evening) so plant will always have water when it needs it. My plants drink about a gallon(~3L) a day in the height of summer.
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You have given me no reason to doubt you if this is the case for you and you have successfully grown in pots out in full sun during the height of the extremes there. I legit wish you well and hope you continue to be successful.

For me, though, I have never had a chilli plant growing in a pot adapt while out in the full elements of the extremes here, regardless of how well-watered I have kept it. Unless by 'adapt' we are not talking about thrive but to not die and maybe kinda do alright, then I will concede that I have had plants adapt....
 
ah i was trying to state that the plants ability to deal with intense sun / uv does not change whether it is in a pot / container of some kind or whether it's in the ground.
Other factors change like availability of water and medium temperature. 
 
the reason i take a stand is to keep people's $$ to startup pepper growing low. I don't want everyone who grows in a hot climate to think they have to buy a shade.
 
 
I can put my foot in my mouth here: It's been my experience growing tomatoes in 3-5 gallon pots in direct sunlight that the pots themselves will turn into cookpots. The plant doesn't so much need covered, but I wound up wrapping my pots with white towels and eventually lined the outside with foil to reflect heat. It helped immensely. I plan to do similarly with potted hot peppers this year.
 
stettoman said:
I can put my foot in my mouth here: It's been my experience growing tomatoes in 3-5 gallon pots in direct sunlight that the pots themselves will turn into cookpots. The plant doesn't so much need covered, but I wound up wrapping my pots with white towels and eventually lined the outside with foil to reflect heat. It helped immensely. I plan to do similarly with potted hot peppers this year.
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panda film bags are good. white on outside to reflect extra heat. black on inside so roots are protected.
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but yeah if you don't want to buy them then you're correct mylar or whatever you can put on the pots can help.
Also keeping the pots watered in the evening / afternoon can help keep temps down as well.
 
Juanito, thanks for sharing all of your knowledge here.
Question, as far as watering goes Im in Tucson and it's already in the 90s the top soil seems dry to the bone but ten I stick my finger about an inch and is nice and moist. I water every morning should I give them two or three days off?
 
Thanks for the very helpful post!!
 
As a suggestion for future growers who were curious about epsom salt dosage like I was, perhaps you could add this to the post?
I have commonly seen a suggested dosage of 1 tablespoon per gallon, every 2-4 weeks. Would be great to know if you have had success with a different prescription.
Thanks again.
 
You can experiment. give them a day off and see if they are starting to wilt too much. When it is 100 you will water everyday probably.
 
 
~1.7 grams per gallon is what my hydro nutrients call for.
 
epsom salt (mgso4) is not a complete fertilizer, it is ok to supplement it but i would rather you just figure out a complete fertilizer or compost.
Gardens are usually low on calcium so CalMag supplement or dolomite lime is better than epsom salt (imo)
 
It's been a year and I have learned a lot. First off is my watering habits. I was definitely overwatering, this had cascading effects on my nutes, flower and foiliage. Now I water only when the wilt passed 10pm. This tells me they are just not sun wilted. Also my ferts go stronger realized these babies are hogs. I do GH trifecta one week with calmag and one week with MG. maybe too much but it seems like it's working, and isn't that what maters.
 
Questions, when pruning topping or trimming your plants, do you pickup the foiliage or let it decompose around the plant?
 
juanitos said:
pick it up so it doesn't attract pests
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I'm totally the opposite.  I mulch the bejesus out of my plants, including any foliage that falls.  I find that I have less pests with a heavy mulch, than without.  If you're just talking about a few twigs and leaves on  bare ground, then yeah, pick it up.  Go big, or go home... :D
 
Gotta agree with solid7. I picked that advice up from a woman at a farmer's market in Jacksonville with a small forest in her area. Her plants were amazing. Though, something a bit more controversial she did was break up a pod and throw it down every once in a while. I guess that could be a decent pest attractant, but after seeing her plants, I'll do it til the day it causes any trouble.
 
I planted several varieties that I started in paper towels (Caribbean red habs, Bulgarian carrots, lemon drops, jalafuegos, scotch bonnets and chiltepin). It is true that some hot peppers are slow to germinate. The chiltepins have just emerged after being in jiffy pot for almost five weeks.

My first go with seed starting. So far so good. I am eagerly waiting for first week in March, my planting time in north Florida.
 
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