sun How much sun?

Suncoast

Suncoast

I have a question regarding the amount of direct sun that plants should be receiving.
 
I am in Zone 9B.  All of the original research I did when I first decided to give pepper growing a try this season indicated that they should recieive full sun.  I started with the following seven peppers
 
1 Ghost Pepper
2 different Jalapenos
1 Tabasco
1 Thai Hot
1 Habanero
1 Dragon Cayenne
 
They are container grown on my pool deck.  In their original spots, they received direct sun (albeit slightly diffused through a pool cage)  from about 8 AM till 5:30 PM.  All grew well except the the ghost.  It seemed to be a bit sunburned so I moved it twice.  It is now thriving in indirect light with about two to three hours of direct very late in the day.  The habanero also started showing some stress.  It now gets about 4 hours of early morning sun and is doing great.  
 
I harvested a goodly bunch of jalapenos off both plants a couple of weeks ago but noticed over the last couple of days that both have aborted some pods.  Our daytime temps are hitting 90 already.  The cayenne is thriving and producing great.  The tabasco is the picture of vigorous health and is just starting to flower.
 
Long way around the barn but here is my actual question.  Is there a rule of thumb, given my locale, as to how much sun certain species need optimally or is it just a situation of keep moving the plants around to find each ones sweet spot?  I can pretty much accomadate any needs just by changing locations on the deck.
 
Any input from you experienced guys is greatly appreciated
 
many people have found full day sun in hot places(like aridzona, south texas, south fl, etc) is not good for the plants.
Like you they found either leave them where they get full sun but put up a shade cloth. or yeah move them somewhere where they only get full sun a few hours a day.
 
But i'll say that people grow peppers as a field crop in latin america, new mexico (hatch chile wudup) and the carribean. the peppers do fine.
 
i'm in miami, so fairly similar climate and zone as you. Where I grew peppers, i had royal palms lining the whole property so full sun was next to impossible to get. In my experience, peppers love to get as much sun as possible with 1 consideration, watering. I always used nursery pots and potting soil for my peppers. Peppers hate constant soggy soil, you will get root rot quickly and they will die. They like to go from wet and will dry up the soil throughout the day. If you can install a drip system to each individual pot and water a little throughout the day, that's the best thing to do. Just don't forget to water if you water once a day. They will get stunned pretty fast down here, especially during the summer. Winter you could probably worry less 
 
BigB said:
i'm in miami, so fairly similar climate and zone as you. Where I grew peppers, i had royal palms lining the whole property so full sun was next to impossible to get. In my experience, peppers love to get as much sun as possible with 1 consideration, watering. I always used nursery pots and potting soil for my peppers. Peppers hate constant soggy soil, you will get root rot quickly and they will die. They like to go from wet and will dry up the soil throughout the day. If you can install a drip system to each individual pot and water a little throughout the day, that's the best thing to do. Just don't forget to water if you water once a day. They will get stunned pretty fast down here, especially during the summer. Winter you could probably worry less 
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Yup with my mix of mushroom compost,vermiculite,Garden Soil, Burpees tomato and veggie fertilizer I now have to let it completely dry now than before. But I am gonna try to stress them out so to get hotter peppers.
 
IMO, some mid-day and afternoon shade is a very good thing.  In Az the plants become stressed when subjected to full sun and ~95+ temps.
They do grow -  if you can keep them watered - but not as well as they might.   A tree, awning, shade cloth - whatever will help.
 
Codeman said:
 
Yup with my mix of mushroom compost,vermiculite,Garden Soil, Burpees tomato and veggie fertilizer I now have to let it completely dry now than before. But I am gonna try to stress them out so to get hotter peppers.
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Good luck getting those Mammoths hot. I tried everything for 2-3 seasons and they wouldnt even come close to a Early Jalapeno. I had tons of them suckers and every last one was a dud.
 
Leta just say dont be afraid to give them only 4 hours,they will grow and most likely look really good. I live in a dry scorching climate that can last for a month straigt,so less sun is always better form.

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Im in southern california and the summers get pretty hot so i agree with giving them a little mid-day shade. I have mine in a location that gets shade from around 1pm to 3pm. I have some other plants that get sun from sun up til around 1:30 and they're doing good.
 
I have 3 growing zones at my home. One of them is indoors next to a window, I use that for my seeds, growing them in plastic cups. When I have around 6 leaves, I transplant them into quart sized containers, and move them to the east side of my home, where they only get a few hours of sun each day. When they have sturdy stalks and have started to grow noticeably faster, I transplant them into 14" containers (I will use 16" or larger for Bell and New Mexico chiles), where they receive sun all day. Some of them get partial shade due to a large grapefruit tree that shares their space. I rotate the pots every once in a while, placing the smallest plant where the largest was.
 
I have been experimenting, and it seems that these plants can start from seed if they're on the "partial day" side of my house, but they will die if left in the full Arizona sun, it's just too much for them. 
 
I almost always water in the early mornings at 5:30am.
 
As a follow up to mu original post, we are unseasonably warm this week with three days in a row over 90 and bright sun.  I went out this morning and noticed that several of my cayenne pods have dropped off as well.  Some are three or 4 inches in length.  I have moved all the adults to partial shade. 
 
Question...are the semi mature pods that have dropped from both the Jalapeno and Cayenne going to be worth salvaging?  i know the heat and flavor are better on mature pods but I hate to throw out a handfull of really healthy looking peppers.
 
Second question...I did spray my plants with a proper dosage of Azamax a week or so ago.  Amazing stuff that really smacked down the whiteflies.  Is anyone aware of a correlation between Azamax and fruit dropping?  I couldn't find any on a pretty extensive web search but you never know.
 
I did a stick test. all pepper plants are damp near the bottom. My mammoth jalapeno bloom looked burnt. What could be the culprit?
 
I may have answered my own question as to salvaging the dropped pods.  I cut open one of each and they look like they are beginning to spoil inside.  is this typical?
 
 
willard3 said:
In Méjico, where it's very sunny, chiles are a staple crop.
 
Nobody shades a chile plant.
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Please correct me if I'm wrong but as crops they would be grown in the ground where they would have some form of irrigation and be able to have larger root systems to drink with as opposed to pots that would dry out and stress the plant.

I know people in my local area that grow in the ground and their plants can be in the sun all day but container growers here all give their plants just morning sun and shade in the arvo. It gets very hot here in Oz.

Personally my plants only get 4 hours sun 9am - 1pm and they grew/produced awesome for me this year but still suffered a little in the height of summer.
 
Our summers in STL can get pretty hot too. My lemon drops last year suffered sunburn on the pods from mid Aug through Sept. My orange hab though loved it and it was in an area on the deck that got full sun all day. This year i have most pots on the lower patio. That area will only get sun until around 1pm.
 
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