-
Do you need help identifying a 🌶?
Is your plant suffering from an unknown issue? 🤧
Then ask in Identification and Diagnosis.
When do your plants pod up?
- Thread starter Jase4224
- Start date
For me, I get pods almost year round, but the least when the humidity is high. Right now, temps for me are like they are in springtime everywhere else in the US, and the humidity is very low. My growth and production are fantastic right now. But in the summer months - which here is from something like June until early November - things really slow down. It will go until we get a cold night, and then pick up like wildfire again in February/March timeframe.
So, in summary (LOL) the dry season is when I get the most. If I've got to water frequently, pods be poppin'...
So, in summary (LOL) the dry season is when I get the most. If I've got to water frequently, pods be poppin'...
It depends upon the varieties I am growing any given year, plus the grow conditions for the summer. You likely have more high temperature days than we get where I am currently at, so your production cycle will be a bit different. Here we typically have cold and snow for a longer period than we have warm to hot weather. Where I used to live was the opposite - more like what solid7 experiences. In times of extreme heat, as solid7 pointed out, chile plants tend to slow production. He is not in an area where it tends to get very cold at all, though - November into even May we usually have snow on the ground (yes, northern hemisphere) while his area hardly gets truly cold ever, let alone see snow. The bigger problem here tends to be the amount of rain we get some summers - enough that I grow in pots and haul the plants in and out of cover fairly regularly some years. So with that as background....
In general, annuums will start to have fruit starting to ripen in the middle of the summer, but different varieties can be earlier or later. Chinenses and pubescens, however, often don't really begin producing until the autumn. Baccatums seem to be all over, with some fruit ripening mid-season but others late-season. A site like www.chileplants.com has fruiting estimates by plant - this page gives a list of how they define seasons for chiles. I brought my rocoto plant into the house a few weeks ago. It has its first ripe pod just now. Based on my past experience with rocotos, I will likely get ripe pods off of it for at least another month or so.
Whether you start from seed and how early, vs. if you buy plants makes a difference, too. Where I live it is quite possible to start seeds too early, as I only have so much room in the house for plants - if the plants outgrow small pots while there is still snow on the ground it gets too crowded. If I lived where solid7 lives, however, it would be difficult to define "too early", since he has a much longer growing season and can put plants outside almost any time.
Most years I try to grow a variety of chiles such that I get production across the entire season - early to extremely late. That way I have fresh chiles most of the year. Additionally, I find that it can be too time-demanding in the years when most of the plants peak at the same time. You know your personal circumstances better than any of us can, though, so it's good to put some thought into your variety selection up front.
In general, annuums will start to have fruit starting to ripen in the middle of the summer, but different varieties can be earlier or later. Chinenses and pubescens, however, often don't really begin producing until the autumn. Baccatums seem to be all over, with some fruit ripening mid-season but others late-season. A site like www.chileplants.com has fruiting estimates by plant - this page gives a list of how they define seasons for chiles. I brought my rocoto plant into the house a few weeks ago. It has its first ripe pod just now. Based on my past experience with rocotos, I will likely get ripe pods off of it for at least another month or so.
Whether you start from seed and how early, vs. if you buy plants makes a difference, too. Where I live it is quite possible to start seeds too early, as I only have so much room in the house for plants - if the plants outgrow small pots while there is still snow on the ground it gets too crowded. If I lived where solid7 lives, however, it would be difficult to define "too early", since he has a much longer growing season and can put plants outside almost any time.
Most years I try to grow a variety of chiles such that I get production across the entire season - early to extremely late. That way I have fresh chiles most of the year. Additionally, I find that it can be too time-demanding in the years when most of the plants peak at the same time. You know your personal circumstances better than any of us can, though, so it's good to put some thought into your variety selection up front.
Jase4224 said:
Here in Aridzona, overwintered plants usually poop out a modest set of flowers in April, when the evening temperatures start to warm. Pods follow. But the real show begins in early September, when monsoonal weather brings humidity and somewhat cooler temps. The plants flower like crazy, and I start to pick in mid-October, continuing through Thanksgiving and into Christmas/New Year!
I do have some plants that produce at least a few pods all season. Dragon Cayenne never seems to stop producing (it has its own thread). Several Baccatum, and Annuum, most notably the Aneheim ("Hatch") varieties, crank at least a few pods from March to December.
In short - "It depends"
Year-round. Best yields during the winter months.
2016 was my first year growing, but here's my info:
i started some seeds SUPER early (eager) in december or something. started more in january and february and march. just kept going, haha. it was warm enough to move everything outside full time around april, and i started seeing little baby mini-pods in may. real harvest pods in june fo rmost plants, though some of the superhots were july producers.
i started some seeds SUPER early (eager) in december or something. started more in january and february and march. just kept going, haha. it was warm enough to move everything outside full time around april, and i started seeing little baby mini-pods in may. real harvest pods in june fo rmost plants, though some of the superhots were july producers.
