Light duration

[Psychographic]

I've not had much beginners luck this season, the weather didn't cooperate, pests, lack of knowledge, etc.. It's been hot as hell until just recently and the only place I have to put my peppers was in afternoon sun, so flowers were dropping or not producing at all. In the last few days the weather cooled down and now I've got a good amount of flowers popping up. The problem is it's already into September, If I'm lucky I can keep them out until mid to late October. 
 
I'm hoping I could bring the plants in and finish any pods that are on the plants under a 400w MH setup. My thought is to pluck any flowers that would come up at this point to just concentrate on finishing the pods on the plants, then trim them back and overwinter them. Does this sound like it would work, and how long should the light be on each day to ripen what would be left on the plants?

 

[Towlieee]

I'm no expert, but the most light you can give the better!  (well to a point).  I'd say 12-18 hours of light would be ideal.  Make sure you watch the temp, 400w can heat a room, it's like a small space heater.  

My pepper plants were dropping flowers like crazy in July, I believe due to temps, but soon as August came and temps dropped, I have tons of pods growing!  My plants are barely putting out flowers currently, but I don't blame them, my Jalapeno has 60+ peppers currently growing lol

 

[solid7]

Do you already have the light?
 
Because if you don't, I'm recommending this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00INM0DSG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
It's really hard to screw up light duration - peppers aren't that picky.  Now, not providing sufficient light intensity or spectrum is easy to get wrong.  Personally, I like to set the light timer like a backup alarm.  It's on at 5:00 AM, when I'm getting ready for work.  It shuts off again at 8:00 PM, when I'm getting ready for bed.

 

[Shorerider]

I put my seedlings in a temperature controlled grow box in winter to get a head start, and run the lights at night 5pm-9am which is the coldest part of the day. This way I'm creating heat with my lights when it's cold overnight, and using the warmth of daytime temps to my advantage. The plants think it's spring.
 
Your plants will benefit from some time in darkness, when you give them that darkness is completely up to you, so use it to your advantage if possible. 
 
 
SR. 

 

[Brocoli]

Do you already have the light?
 
Because if you don't, I'm recommending this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00INM0DSG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
It's really hard to screw up light duration - peppers aren't that picky.  Now, not providing sufficient light intensity or spectrum is easy to get wrong.  Personally, I like to set the light timer like a backup alarm.  It's on at 5:00 AM, when I'm getting ready for work.  It shuts off again at 8:00 PM, when I'm getting ready for bed.

Do LED's provide the light penetration for full sized plants? Do they even come close to HPS/MH/CMH?

 

[solid7]

Do LED's provide the light penetration for full sized plants? Do they even come close to HPS/MH/CMH?

 
Are you growing plants 6' tall?  If not, you'll be fine with a light like this.  I have several, and I love LED.  The particular one that I have linked also has UV, which penetrates better than visible spectrum.  Although, you'll not want to look at it, nor put it where you spend a lot of time.
 
That particular light penetrates very well.  In fact, it may even be better to go 2X the 300W model, so that you can change spacing.

That is one bright ass light.  I don't know exactly how many plants you'll get out of it, but I've got 2 tomatoes and 2 peppers right now.  The light is the least of my worries.
 
Oh, and in case I didn't answer your question, the answer is YES, they do. Enough light for full size plants, and they compare very favorably with HPS/MH/CMH, but with a fraction of the heat.

 

[Towlieee]

Do LED's provide the light penetration for full sized plants? Do they even come close to HPS/MH/CMH?

Dollar for dollar I believe LED's provide more per watt. 

Like I said, not an expert.  Years ago when I grew cannabis using florescents, I'd run florescents up the walls along the sides of my plants, as they don't penetrate.  But I could grow massive plants at a fraction of the cost of a 1,000w HPS.....   

It's my first years growing peppers, using five 5000k cfl's as supplemental lighting, I keep the cfl's .5-1" away from my peppers, all around them, to supplement my 3-3.5 hours of direct sunlight I get

 

[Brocoli]

Thanks, thats the feeling I've been getting from researching. I have a 23watt full spectrum LED bulb that I used for the first time this year. Definitely going to use it again this year.
 
This year I might have a up to a 8'x5' space to play around with inside.
 
Have you tried or used CMH lights? Ive been very interested in them for their light spectrum coverage, even though the price is pretty steep.

 

[solid7]

Have you tried or used CMH lights? Ive been very interested in them for their light spectrum coverage, even though the price is pretty steep.

Nah. Can't justify spending big money on something when less money accomplishes the exact same end result. If price were on par, I'd still have to ask if the extra heat and shorter life span was worth it.

 

[President Trump]

I've not had much beginners luck this season, the weather didn't cooperate, pests, lack of knowledge, etc.. It's been hot as hell until just recently and the only place I have to put my peppers was in afternoon sun, so flowers were dropping or not producing at all. In the last few days the weather cooled down and now I've got a good amount of flowers popping up. The problem is it's already into September, If I'm lucky I can keep them out until mid to late October. 
 
I'm hoping I could bring the plants in and finish any pods that are on the plants under a 400w MH setup. My thought is to pluck any flowers that would come up at this point to just concentrate on finishing the pods on the plants, then trim them back and overwinter them. Does this sound like it would work, and how long should the light be on each day to ripen what would be left on the plants?

 
When I bring plants in for the winter they are set near a south facing window. My intention is to keep them alive until spring and not to keep them actively producing through the winter. Any pods that I leave on the plant seem to ripen just fine. They actually seem to ripen faster under lower light conditions. 

 

[Psychographic]

 
When I bring plants in for the winter they are set near a south facing window. My intention is to keep them alive until spring and not to keep them actively producing through the winter. Any pods that I leave on the plant seem to ripen just fine. They actually seem to ripen faster under lower light conditions. 

The only place i have to put them inside gets the morning sun. When I brought my plants in last year the pods ripened, but didn't grow any. I had a bunch of 1/4-3/8 inch reapers when I was done. I have a 400w MH setup, so I'm going to give it a try this year.

 

[juanitos]

18 on, 6 off is the standard  light duration people use for peppers.
 
other durations work as well ike 24/0 or 12/12 depends on your light source/quantity.

 

[Towlieee]

18 on, 6 off is the standard  light duration people use for peppers.
 
other durations work as well ike 24/0 or 12/12 depends on your light source/quantity.

18/6 sounds about perfect, I'm far from an expert, but I believe any plant should have some rest time, so I wouldn't personally run a 24/0 ever.   
I read somewhere that they say 8/4 schedule is the best for peppers, but that is a pain for most people running that crazy schedule!  

I know many pot growers have less success doing 24/0 vs 16/8 or 18/6 during vegetative growth, of course pot is a bit different than peppers, but not far off from growing conditions imo