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so tell me about temperatures

A

allXbutXgone

so here's the deal.

the pepper plants that i have under the hps light in my garage are growing great( viewable in up and coming pepper garder, new pictures soon), but they're experiencing flower drop, and i know its cause its getting hot in there during the daytime.

im not sure how hot, im thinkin maybe like upper 80s or as hot as 90something mostly cause its been rather warm here during the day. but that hps light will put out some heat, and i do have one fan directly on it, and another on the plants. but i noticed that 3 of the flowers on one of the plants (the only 3 flowers to completely bloom) have dropped.

so i need to get some sort of thermometer in there, preferably one that will record the high temp if i can find one, but how hot is too hot for em?
 
Doesn't sound like the temps are the problems. Remember, if a flower isn't polinated, it will die/fall off the plant. Also, overwatering causes flower drop as well.
 
alright, well if they can take the heat then lets look deeper,

how often does everyone here usually water?
and how much water do you use?
 
I only water when they need it (when the soil's dry). Peppers do not like their feet wet (a problem some of us are having this year because of all the rain).
 
If you wait till they get wilty between watering and then give them water, that's a good technique. Not only does this stressing cause the roots to grow deeper (more roots=happier plant) but it will also cause the peppers to get hotter ;)
 
i agree with the water stressing causing deeper roots, but ive heard mixed reviews on water stressing plants making the peppers hotter, i dont see how stressing the plant would make it produce more capsaicin oil.
 
allXbutXgone said:
i agree with the water stressing causing deeper roots, but ive heard mixed reviews on water stressing plants making the peppers hotter, i dont see how stressing the plant would make it produce more capsaicin oil.
Click to expand...
Everything I've read from professionals in the pepper growing business around the world all says that stressing the plants prior to harvesting the peppers will make them much hotter. I have yet to read one that didn't say that. That includes the people in India that grow them by the millions.

I think that one is true.
 
when I had my bout with overwatering thus root rot, I bought one of these...works pretty well....measures moisture down about 4 inches...the top of the soil can be bone dry but the container/ground can be very moist 4" down...

http://www.treehelp.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=LL-1880

others on the forum will have mixed opinions about the moisture meter but I trust mine and it has eliminated my overwatering...
 
imaguitargod said:
I only water when they need it (when the soil's dry). Peppers do not like their feet wet (a problem some of us are having this year because of all the rain).
Click to expand...

You can have some of my rain. We have had almost 7 - 10 inches this past weekend. The interstate by me is closed due to flooding, many of our side streets are closed - and my yard was pretty much flooded. Fine now, but my garden and pepper plants are still soaked. Oh well not much I can do.
 
When my peppers first started blooming I had the same problem. Mine seemed to be a result of actually too little water. The plants were healthy but the flowers kept falling off so I started watering every other night and for a little while a little bit every night. Once the pods set I went back to every other night. They are planted in the ground though and I never had any root rot issues. Container gardening seems to be an intricate science and I have no clue about indoor gardening. So...after rereading what I typed it doesn't seem that I have added any positive input but I will post it anyway.
 
The temps you are talking about are the perfect temps for growing your chillis...

My chillis got 42-45 degrees C (107-113F) through the day for 8 days straight, and they didn't drop flowers....

what size pot/system do you have them in????

People before me have viewed my thoughts already. Flowers arent polinating or over watering...

Hope it all works out for you mate..good luck
 
Theyre all in 12 inch pots. I do have a moisture meter still i believe, ill look around for it. theyre still blooming so hopefully theyll start to set with this new water regimine. are there any tips for self pollnation? or should i just see which ones set on their own?
 
I have been using a small paint brush and hand polinating my Dorsets and Bhuts...I have a brush set aside for each...

another method is when you see pollen on the flowers...thump the stalks and "jar" the limbs a little bit...the plants I am not hand pollinating, I grab the stalk and shake them each day...

forgot to ask...are your flowers producing any pollen?
 
they seem to be, if i very lightly touch the inside of the flower i get what appears to be a very small amount of pollen on my fingertip, how much should they be producing>
 
You wouldn't even be able to see the amount they need to pollinate without a microscope, i.e. what you see on your fingertip is more than plenty.
 
You shouldn't need to hand pollinate, your fan should be good enough or just give the plants a shake now and then. Are your night time temps lower than daytime temps?
 
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