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minimum temperture question
- Thread starter stevie
- Start date
i was just concerned after reading this: http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/info_tomtemp.htm
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(second table): Less than 15.5° C (60° F) or greater than 24° C (75° F) night temp, Poor fruit set.
Fact…
Night temperatures of 7-10°C (45-50°F) during pepper flower development can cause the fruit to be smaller than normal, or somewhat misshapen.
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perhaps they're just being conservative?
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(second table): Less than 15.5° C (60° F) or greater than 24° C (75° F) night temp, Poor fruit set.
Fact…
Night temperatures of 7-10°C (45-50°F) during pepper flower development can cause the fruit to be smaller than normal, or somewhat misshapen.
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perhaps they're just being conservative?
My Chinenses (Bhut's, trinidad scorpions, reapers, primos, etc.) have been producing pods, and ripening, even in constant cloud cover for the past week with highs in the 50's and lows in the 40's. My baccatums pod ripening have slowed down considerably though from the weather. My Pubescens on the other hand are putting on tons of pods, and ripening current pods at just as fast of a rate as during normal summer weather.
First question, what peppers are you gtowing?
Its not ideal but they should be fine, you might get some flower drop under 60. I keep my grow room around 67-70 at night and 70-77 in the day. It has been in the upper 50's in the day and upper 40's at night where I am and my outdoor annums are still producing but my chinense have been dropping flowers like crazy and have stopped pushing buds.
Could you get a little space heater to keep the area a tad warmer? Best thing to do is just watch your plants, if they are mature enough to make flowers but they aren't making any it could be your lower night temps. But since you are growing annums they should do fine with 60 at night and 70 in the day under lights.
Could you get a little space heater to keep the area a tad warmer? Best thing to do is just watch your plants, if they are mature enough to make flowers but they aren't making any it could be your lower night temps. But since you are growing annums they should do fine with 60 at night and 70 in the day under lights.
i have plenty of space heats, was just trying to avoid using them as they use more electricity than the lights. i may just set the space heater to go on only when temp drop to 60 or below..
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personally, i think hot peppers tend to be more hardy than sweet peppers.. even my outdoor hot peppers tend to do a lot better than the sweeter varieties. my hot peppers such as Tabasco do not suffer from blossom drop at all, while my sweet peppers start dropping blossoms if you look at them the wrong way.. bastards.
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personally, i think hot peppers tend to be more hardy than sweet peppers.. even my outdoor hot peppers tend to do a lot better than the sweeter varieties. my hot peppers such as Tabasco do not suffer from blossom drop at all, while my sweet peppers start dropping blossoms if you look at them the wrong way.. bastards.
It all depends on the species.
Night temperatures below 50 will slow down growth, including pod growth. Sustained temperatures below 40 at night will cause leaf drop and blossom drop. If it gets above 60F during daytime they will go back into grow mode for the day but if not they pretty much just sit there waiting for a chance to grow or drop more leaves.
Considering that it's only going to get colder in your area as winter draws near (ignoring temporary cold fronts), now would be a good time to start picking off all new blooms so the plant puts the rest of its energy into finishing what it has already started, especially with any peppers that need time to ripen to a color change besides greenish-yellow (banana pepper, etc) which usually doesn't take as long.
Remember that a space heater only uses as much energy as whatever temperature rise you set it to maintain. Say it was getting down to 30F and you set it to maintain 50F which is the minimum I'd suggest on a tight heating budget. That only uses half as much power as setting it to 70F and really less than that because it takes longer for the room to drop down to 50F each evening and outside temperature sooner rises to 50F each morning. It could be too much of an electric bill for some people but for others just a little more time in a season can get (mostly slow ripening super-hots) a significantly better yield.
Perhaps the area can be better enclosed so heat stays in. You don't mention # of plants or size of grow area but could make a big reflective tent out of metalized mylar emergency blankets held together with packing tape, which keeps light as well as heat inside. I mean ideally it would be like a dome covering over the lighting too, so heated air doesn't just rise and escape the area, but with a few inches of insulative material (space) between it and the light fixtures if they get too hot for direct contact.
Considering that it's only going to get colder in your area as winter draws near (ignoring temporary cold fronts), now would be a good time to start picking off all new blooms so the plant puts the rest of its energy into finishing what it has already started, especially with any peppers that need time to ripen to a color change besides greenish-yellow (banana pepper, etc) which usually doesn't take as long.
Remember that a space heater only uses as much energy as whatever temperature rise you set it to maintain. Say it was getting down to 30F and you set it to maintain 50F which is the minimum I'd suggest on a tight heating budget. That only uses half as much power as setting it to 70F and really less than that because it takes longer for the room to drop down to 50F each evening and outside temperature sooner rises to 50F each morning. It could be too much of an electric bill for some people but for others just a little more time in a season can get (mostly slow ripening super-hots) a significantly better yield.
Perhaps the area can be better enclosed so heat stays in. You don't mention # of plants or size of grow area but could make a big reflective tent out of metalized mylar emergency blankets held together with packing tape, which keeps light as well as heat inside. I mean ideally it would be like a dome covering over the lighting too, so heated air doesn't just rise and escape the area, but with a few inches of insulative material (space) between it and the light fixtures if they get too hot for direct contact.