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

night temps of 50F lately

S

svtcontour

Hi guys, I'm in Toronto and lately the evenings have been quite cool. I'm wondering how cool I can let the plants go without really having any issues. I want to overwinter my favorite ones and not sure when it might be a good time to bring them in. It is still 65-75F in the day at the moment.

What do you guys think? If I do bring them in, I'll be putting a few 23W CF bulbs over each 2-3 plants which will be in a kitchen that will receive some natural light through large windows. I will pick off the pods but I dont want to trim back the plant. I'm thinking it should handle itself by dropping some leaves but I'll let them do their thing....
 
svtcontour said:
Hi guys, I'm in Toronto and lately the evenings have been quite cool. I'm wondering how cool I can let the plants go without really having any issues. I want to overwinter my favorite ones and not sure when it might be a good time to bring them in. It is still 65-75F in the day at the moment.

What do you guys think? If I do bring them in, I'll be putting a few 23W CF bulbs over each 2-3 plants which will be in a kitchen that will receive some natural light through large windows. I will pick off the pods but I dont want to trim back the plant. I'm thinking it should handle itself by dropping some leaves but I'll let them do their thing....
Click to expand...

we're getting similar weather here in nyc.
the weird thing is my habs just started setting again after having been released from them bi-weekly heat waves.
 
So do you think you might keep yours a bit longer - outside I mean....and any thoughts of overwintering or you just going to start again?

I'm thinking of trying to overwinter a bunch of plants in 5 gallon containers but I might be to zealous about all this.

1x Dorset Naga
2x Naga Morich
3x Bhut Jolokia
3x Bonda Ma Jacques
2x Chocolate hab (they are small so I will put them both in one container)
4x Trinidad Congo
2x Aji Crystal
1x Jalapeno
1x Cayenne
2x Thai
1x Banana pepper

My kitchen and possibly a spare bedroom might be home to plants. I think this is a sickness. LOL.

charlesNYC said:
we're getting similar weather here in nyc.
the weird thing is my habs just started setting again after having been released from them bi-weekly heat waves.
Click to expand...
 
get them inside! has nothing to do with outside daytime temps, it is night time temps that suck the life out of your plants.

you don't have to put lights on the plants, just get them out of the cold , then make sure they have the necessary moisture; I am guessing end of november for you, someone like Potwie would have better input in your region.

to give you an idea, my plants have been inside for 2 full days and I am guessing they won't see outside until well into next week, my tomatoes have been covered for 2 days, as the cold and rain would make it silly for me to uncover them.... yes the furnace is now turned on. I have my plants sitting in totes in any south facing window, they get some sun and get constant daytime high of 60 degrees(because that is what the furnace is set for)
 
I am also curious as to what the minimum "safe" temperature for peppers is. From what I've read, 50° Fahrenheit is nothing to be worried about; 45° is not too bad either, but is getting there; and 40°, while not dangerous, is something the plants really shouldn't be subjected to if you can help it. Anything below is bad, and around 32° is dangerous. At least... that's how I understand it. Anyone with actual experience subjecting their plants to these temperatures?

Either way, by the time it hits 50-45°F, I'll probably be bringing in my potted plants that I plan to overwinter. And once it starts reaching the mid-to-low 30s, I'll start covering my plants in the garden with frost cloth (and watering heavily at twilight or night with very warm water if it's expected to get cold enough).
 
I left my plants out last year until overnight temps were dipping below freezing or we were expected to receive a frost. Until that point they kept growing and setting pods. Which for me was almost december so I still have a bit of time to grow. This year I will probably bring them in and cut them down around thanksgiving.
 
I'd have to second what ultrazelda64 said. From my experience the chinensis stop producing/growing when temps dip down below somewhere between 45-50F at night for several days. They "subsist" at those temps but don't seem to grow at all. Anything below that and mine seem to "lose" their apical growth and youngest leaves/pods. My frutescens seem to tolerate cooler temps than the chinensis but not by much. The annuums and some baccatums on the other hand seem to keep going until evening temps are regularly in the 30's F and stop when they freeze to death (below 32F)
 
I get nights below 50 in the middle of summer :( Its the long term exposure to cool temps where plants really suffer, especially with cold winds. My greenhouse doesn't get heated in the fall but it sure makes a difference getting plants out of the cold wind and dampness
 
Yeah.....50F is not bad at all.... I live in Northern Michigan and its been getting down to around 38F at night lately and only make it up to mid 60's during the day, and my plants are still setting new pods all the time. My little 10" tall 7 pod douglah is still growing like crazy.

Pretty much all of August was high 90's and my plants were not producing anything, now that it cooled off a bit (actually too cool now but...) they are going crazy with pods.

I will be overwintering a few as well but will leave them out side until nighttime temps duck below 35F or day time temps stop getting into the 60's

Good Luck
 
It feels like I've been over-wintering all summer! I'm hoping for an Indian summer, but probably won't happen. I over-wintered quite a few plants last year. I had good success with Naga, Bhut, Fatalli and 2 Red Savina. I did a Devil's Tongue also but it was really stunted in it's re-growth. I just cut mine back a little bit and kept them under the overhang next to the garage to keep them safe from rain storms and our few days of frost we get. I would also occasionally water them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top