Putting on Flowers indoors

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

Temperatures dipped last month.  My grow room is a converted cistern, underground, concrete walls.  Temperatures dipped there too.  A few of the larger plants put on flowers and I have a couple pods started here and there.  Now temperature is back to normal.  Wondering if folk think the flowing and pod growth will continue or stop.

I understand most peppers decide to flower based on night time temp.
 
I thought a lot was to do with evening light spectrums and temps..
So to put on flowers you went for the lower red light spectrum and temp above 10-15 degrees Celsius
I personally use 5000-5500k spec T5s to grow seedlings then put them in the 2700k to get them to start budding and hold flowers ..
I would like to get some 6500k but oh well does the job it's actualy slows there growth a little and that helps me get th strong over winter..

But everything I read with pepper indoor flowering came down to using lights to activate them and as long as your room is between 10-35 Celsius should be fine
 
Kraken, the only information I can find on what triggers flowing in peppers comes from Chile Pepper Institute.  They say it is night time temperature.  However, they are talking about outdoors where you can not control the light.  When I try to find anything on indoor growing and flowering I come up with information on marijuana growing.  Then, day length is the trigger but temperature and spectrum contribute to production but not trigger.

Have never started indoors as early as I did this past year.  Have some started last October.  Completely new territory for me.  Usually I just start indoors and then move outdoors. 
 
Plant maturity is always going to be a trigger.. Nothing bypasses biology... From there though I can't imagine tempreture being the "major" catalyst otherwise in tropical areas plants would always be maturing way to early and growth would be stunted... That being said that's just my opinion.. And it also adds an unusual aspect of.. Does the plant have an internal meter for light vs temp to trigger the flowering .. If so would throwing a blanket over plants during the day trick them into flowering during colder weather when the days are somewhat warmer ..

Hmmm so many considerations
 
Kraken, the article over at CPI said night time temperature.  I am guessing it is the difference between daytime and night time temperature.  What ever the case, I am willing to bet since the profit isn't really there to go full cycle indoors that there is very little information out there. 

.I started really early this season because I was having health issues.  Knew I wouldnt be able to get everything in if I planted all at once, so spaced it out.  The result is pods starting to form.  We will see what happens.
 
My basement temp doesn't change. Sits at 68 24/7 and my plants that are only 6" tall are already tossing flowers. Lights are on 24/7 as well. Not sure what factor played in their development.
 
same here they start to flower when they start forking ,6 to 8 inches .     :onfire:

D3monic said:
My basement temp doesn't change. Sits at 68 24/7 and my plants that are only 6" tall are already tossing flowers. Lights are on 24/7 as well. Not sure what factor played in their development.
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i think its a puberty thing !     :onfire:
 
moruga welder said:
same here they start to flower when they start forking ,6 to 8 inches .     :onfire:

i think its a puberty thing !     :onfire:
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Makes sense since they are just starting to fork on their own as well. I thought heat was a determining factor in pods ripening not cooler temps. I'm still learning about peppers though.
 
D3monic said:
Makes sense since they are just starting to fork on their own as well. I thought heat was a determining factor in pods ripening not cooler temps. I'm still learning about peppers though.
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cooler temps determines =   :high:   
 
peppers will flower when they decide to. I have has plants start flowering even b4 forking. temp then comes into play in keeping the plants from dropping the flowers.
 
I think the different opinions expressed here reflect different growing techniques.  Moruga keeps his lights on all the time and has a stable temp as a result.  Mine are off eight hours a day and the temp dips because of it.  Someone else feels it is a maturity thing, that when they hit a certain size they flower but didnt mention how he grows.  Thinking there are many factors and combinations of factors that will give different results.

What I do know is this year is going to be a major learning season for me.  I am almost two months away from last frost and I have pods.  Tiny little things, but still there.  No clue what will happen when they go outside.  Kind of glad to have such a head start on the year, but kind of concerned too.
 
Ajdrew, i just downloaded quite a few files from the New Mexico Chile Pepper Institute. Can you tell me where it explained how night temperatures influence flowering in peppers? They were generous with their info... unfortunately, that makes for quite a haystack that i must search through.

My own experience suggests that constant day-and-night temperatures of 75°F can cause 4-6 inch tall plants to bloom prolifically, at least with some C. chinense peppers. Apparently some annuums do the same.
Giving young plants cooler nights (night being whenever the grow lights are off), less than 70°F, seems to prevent this.

By the way, if some of your indoor plants have a significant amount of fruit-set, they may have a different set of nutrient requirements than those that are growing foliage only -- they will need more calcium, possibly more potasium, or other elements.
I don't know your fertilizer regimen -- you may already have sufficient nutrition for your fruit-bearing plants within that regimen. Watch out for blossom-end rot (due to calcium deficiency).
 
Six inches tall and putting on fruit?  Seriously? 

MiKeg, found this:  "Flower and fruit development, the key to flower set is nighttime temperature, which ideally should be between 65 and 80 degrees. Fruit set is enhanced byincreased sunlight, however fruit will not set when night temperatures are above 86 degrees F."

But after the comments / opinions here, thinking the what CPI is saying is fruit wont set is due to flower drop.  Also after reading comments here, thinking CPI was not saying that night temperature triggers fruit production but that it can prevent fruit production.

That leaves me again wondering what the trigger is.  If they put on fruit even with 24 hours of light or my 18 hours of light, that's obviously not the trigger.  So I think I am going with what folk have expressed that it is just a matter of sexual maturity.  if that is the case, I am a very happy camper for starting so early. 

http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/content/files/Growing%20Tips.pdf
.
 
ajdrew said:
Six inches tall and putting on fruit?  Seriously?
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They won't grow full-sized fruit, and the plants get stunted from trying to produce fruit while under-developed. It's something to be avoided -- you should always try to have your night/dark times maintained at a temperature at least 5°F cooler than the day/light times.

Thanks for the info, Ajdrew.

The New Mexico State University's Chili Pepper Institute has quite a lot of info available, much of it in free .pdf files, should anyone else be researching.
 
Must be different strokes for different peppers.
Most in the window (over a year old) putting out flowers and setting fruit after switching to bloom nutes. (PH Perfect Sensei Bloom)
Some in the greenhouse, with temps rising to over 100 F day and 40's night with high humidity on same nutes --flower and fruit.
All in grow tent in hydro, same nutes 12/12 lights--mix of 6k and 4k t5 flowered and fruited when closed up (high humidity), but stopped when tent opened for a week or so.
 
Root temps in the potted plants in the window and greenhouse rise and fall quite a bit between day and night, while hydro roots stay the same to within a couple degrees, though the temps are higher when closed up.
 
Well there you have it, peppers will flower and fruit when they decide to. you can just help them a little in deciding by providing premium conditions.
 
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