• Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
    Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
    Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.

sun How many hours of direct sunlight do you think is optimal?

MAFWIZ

MAFWIZ

I was wondering what the more experienced growers feel is an optimal amount of direct sunlight. I had my peppers in 10+ hours of direct light for a while, and they seem to prefer a little less.

Any thoughts?
 
First -
Why do you think they prefer a little less?
Also, how old are they, and if you started them indoors, did you properly harden them off before bringing out in full sun for that many hours?
How often are you watering?
What kind of temps (highs) are you experiencing in your area?

I ask because mine are in full sun that many hours/day, and they LOVE it.
 
As geeme mentioned but it also depends on the variety. Alot of chineese with their big thin leaves in lower latitudes need some shade during the day while others are right as rain.
 
My plants get direct sun from sunrise until 230-300ish and in the shade after that. I'd rather take the morning/early afternoon when the ambient temperature hasn't peaked yet. You get the peak ambient temp and then direct sun on your pots, your root zone temps will get way to hot. If the root zone gets to hot and stays there then a spectrum of issues can happen. Also, you need to consider that a full day of sun is not the same everywhere and changes based on locale. A full day of sun in Texas will certainly not be the same in Maine. One thing I am trying this year is letting the grass around the pots grow tall and thick as possible. I figure if I have that barrier of natural insulation to suck up most of the heat from the sun the root zone will not get near as hot... so far, I have yet to go outside and feel a warm pot!

-J
 
The plants in question are 2 Trinidad scorpions, a bhut, a Jamaican yellow and a Caribbean red. They are a couple of months old, and were "hardened off", but have been outside full time for probably a good 6 weeks by now. The Jamaican yellow and the Caribbean red seem to do fine in the "full sun" - on the table on my patio getting sun almost from sunup to sundown (from when the sun crests over the trees next door to when it sets behind the house on the other side. The scorpions and the bhut appear to be taking some sun damage and possibly don't grow as fast when they are in full sun all day.

For a few days I had them on the other side of my fence where a rose bush blocks their light until late morning and I'd have to check but I think they also get shaded late afternoon. The plants all seemed to do really well over there, which led me to wonder whether they were better off getting less light. Unfortunately at night they were getting attacked by insects or slugs that I think live in the rose bush or some mint that grows along the edge of my garage.


I water as needed, and never very much. One of the scorps had issues with edema when I first put it out, so iIve been sensitive as to avoiding over watering. I check by weight or water when they start to wilt a bit. I do think soil temps might be an issue, when I check the moisture level with my finger sometimes, it gets pretty hot in there.

And you guys are right that different elevations and climates play a significant role. I suppose I would be most interested in other local growers in Eastern LA county or the IE's opinions as they relate most closely to my situation.

Thanks for the responses.
 
AJ- thats a related thread that actually inspired this one. It didn't address my specific question - what people feel is the optimal amount of direct sunlight in a day. I suppose I could have asked the question in that thread instead of starting my own related thread.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top