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Most super-hots not flowering

M

MarkyD

This is my second year trying my hand at gardening. I live in Oklahoma which is known for having 100+ temperatures for weeks at a time. Last year, I failed mostly at producing peppers because I grew in pots. I didn't have any shade for them and they just cooked.

This year, I'm working at a company that has an employee garden. I have a 36x28 plot that I share with two other people, so I don't have the WHOLE space for my peppers. That said, I have about 20 or so various pepper plants in the ground. The soil has been amended with compost that is made from kitchen and yard waste for the past 2 years. I inherited it this year, and have been feeding every few weeks with a seaweed/fish emulsion combo. Here are the plants that have flowered and put out a ton of fruit:

-Mucho Nacho Jalapenos
-White Habanero and White Habanero II
-Hawaiian Sweet Hot
-Lemon Drop (I've had over 100 pods already on this guy.)
-Tobasco
-NuMex Big Jim (NM Green Chile)

The following plants have produced a few pods, but don't seem to be flowering anymore:

-Jamaican hot chocolate hab
-Fatalii
-Scotch Bonnett

These plants have produced NO flowers and NO fruit:

-Bhut Jolokia
-7 Pot Yellow
-Red Savina

All plants were put in the ground at the same time (the beginning of May). All plants have very healthy foliage. My next step is to apply a bloom booster (I have General Hydro MaxiBloom left over from last year). My questions:

-Is there any point applying this now, considering we're in triple digit temperatures and probably will be for at least the next month? The highs have been 110+ and the lows around 80. It seems that any flowers would drop off in this heat, as I don't have any shade in the plot.

-Should I apply this as a soil drench or foliar spray?

Any other tricks to make sure I get a harvest out of these babies?
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You may just have to wait till it gets a bit cooler for them to produce. It will also help that the larger they get, the more they shade the soil from sun. In that climate I would space them no further apart than 3 ft. and at least two rows with no space between so that you end up with a canopy that blocks sun from the ground as much as possible.

Talk with whoever manages this garden, if you're having trouble then others are bound to be too. Ask if it's possible for the company to install some shade cloth.
 
You've still got plenty of time before the frost sets in so I'd hold off on the bloom buster until the weather is a bit more tolerable for them - no sense forcing them to flower and waste all that energy just to have the flowers drop off when that energy could be used to develop more growth and surviving the heat so that they are ready to bloom and you get even more production when the weather cools down a little.
 
Dave2000 said:
You may just have to wait till it gets a bit cooler for them to produce. It will also help that the larger they get, the more they shade the soil from sun. In that climate I would space them no further apart than 3 ft. and at least two rows with no space between so that you end up with a canopy that blocks sun from the ground as much as possible.

Talk with whoever manages this garden, if you're having trouble then others are bound to be too. Ask if it's possible for the company to install some shade cloth.
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Cool, thanks. They won't install the shade cloth. It's my responsibility if I want it. They provide the plot and the irrigation system (drip tape with an in-line filter). Everything else is my responsibility. I do have some shade cloth, but I'm going to need some PVC and a way to anchor it.

Also, they sell some nice seed and chemical free straw bales for $11 each, so I ordered several to use as mulch to cool the soil temperature.

JDFan said:
You've still got plenty of time before the frost sets in so I'd hold off on the bloom buster until the weather is a bit more tolerable for them - no sense forcing them to flower and waste all that energy just to have the flowers drop off when that energy could be used to develop more growth and surviving the heat so that they are ready to bloom and you get even more production when the weather cools down a little.
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Good points. I'll focus on getting the soil mulched with straw and getting a little shade set up. Side note: I was raised in El Paso on the west side. Went to Coronado and Franklin HS; graduated from Franklin in 2001. I miss that dry heat.

One more question. If I want to get them all close together, is transplanting them safe if I do it as the sun is setting so they have the evening to settle in? I'd like to consolidate them to the same general area. They're currently mixed in with tomatoes which I'm about to yank anyway, so it would be good to consolidate them to be close together...unless it would kill them.
 
MarkyD said:
Good points. I'll focus on getting the soil mulched with straw and getting a little shade set up. Side note: I was raised in El Paso on the west side. Went to Coronado and Franklin HS; graduated from Franklin in 2001. I miss that dry heat.
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It is nice and dry but that means the plants need even more water since they lose it fast -- my bhuts are growing good but like yours have not had any flowers (they dry up and dissapear before developing) till recently (we got a 4 day break in the heat with some storms moving through) and about 50 + blooms developed on each plant and actually got several to flower but then the heat returned and went outside to find flowers all over the ground.

The Jalapenos and Thai Hot Ornamentals have pods all over but the super hots seem more picky about the weather -- just hoping we will cool down a bit toward the end of the month so there will be time for some pods before Christmas !! Here's a pic of one of the Bhuts - I keep them under our covered entrance way in the shade during the heat (the black specs you can see on the tiles are all flowers that have dropped and dried up) This was a few days ago and most of the remaining flowers have since also dropped but the plant is staying healthy and growing so hopefully when the timing is right I'll get some pods !

bhut2012009.jpg
 
Don't transplant them, it'll damage them more than anything. The biggest thing you can do is give them shade. if you give them shade, they won't require as much water. You should see Marcel's farm. (The guy that owns the world record for the ButchT.) His place is COVERED in trees. Plants love their sun, but they love their shade just as much. Worry about the shade FIRST, then worry about your ferts. All of the ferts in the world won't do you any good if your plants are dropping the flowers.
 
An idea for next year - Plant one okra between each pepper, they will get taller and do a pretty good job of shading things around them, plus you'll have okra too.
 
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