Which plants have produced during heat? Which ones shut down?

[Bigoledude]

This year has seen temps all across the US near 100 degrees and, in some places, well over 100 degrees.

We rarely reach the 100 degree mark here. But, we stay in the mid-to-high 90s almost all summer, with sweltering humidity.

In most cases, I would choose a different variety over another, if I knew it would continue production. Many of my bell peppers in the past, while I'd be trying to keep them healthy during the heat, and waiting for cooler temps, would catch a virus, a wilt, or a bacterial something before the weather would start getting cooler again.

I would guess that the peppers from the Caribbean should perform best in the heat of summer. Would this be almost exclusively chinense? What about heat tolerant annums?

Which plants shut-down on you during the summer-heat? Which ones just keep on matriculating right on through summer?

 

[Johnaton]

I'm growing in a different and cooler climate but am getting insane temperatures during some periods in my greenhouse, most obvious seem to be the Chinense varieties who are dropping a lot of flowers when temperatures exceed 40°C (=104°F), the plants themselves however love the hot weather and are growing to be large and sturdy plants with a tree-like structure (I'm now getting a nice canopy in my Chinense corner), so it will benefit them when  temperatures cool down a bit and light is a bit less abundant.
Pubescens is also growing real slow for me in this hot weather, plants stay very small and bushy and don't branch out easily like some others.
Best producer in these temperatures for me are Annuum and  Baccatum with the second going absolutely batsh*t insane and pumping out pods by the hour, when it gets colder however they (Baccatum) are for me the first ones to start whilting followed again by the Annuum varieties.
Frutescens are somewhere in the middle, they just don't seem to really care if it's hot or not, they do their thing, nothing exceptional but they don't need any input from me either.
 
Hope this helps!

 

[jerseyjohn]

my ghost pepper plants have only got 8inch tall an have not grown much in couple of  months.. we get 2 more month left b4 it autoum. but 1 plant does have a flower on it.. my scotch bonnet plant has over 100 flowers on it but they seem to keep falling off,, does anyone no why??.. im new to growing chilli this is my 1st year..  

 

[Johnaton]

my ghost pepper plants have only got 8inch tall an have not grown much in couple of  months.. we get 2 more month left b4 it autoum. but 1 plant does have a flower on it.. my scotch bonnet plant has over 100 flowers on it but they seem to keep falling off,, does anyone no why??.. im new to growing chilli this is my 1st year..  

 
You should probably make a new topic for that John :-)

 

[geeme]

Search for flower drop, Johnaton - there is a very helpful post on the most common reasons why flowers drop, and yes, excessive heat is one of them.

 

[Gotrox]

Best to pod up in the heat and dry desert was Bolivian Rainbow, Thai Dragon, White Bullet Hab.
 
The rest just got tiny wrinkled pods.
 
This was during 100/70 days and nights.
Now it is in the 80/50 and flowers bursting and pods growing larger.

 

[lucilanga]

Also good to pod up in the heat (100/70): Piri Piri, Cabe Rawit

 

[USMC]

My ghosts started showing growth and dropping flowers when the heat here in Florida started rising. I've since but them (and my habs) in a shade house. My tscorps seem to absolutely live the heat and even being younger plants than my ghosts, they've already surpassed then in size and they are in direct sunlight all day pretty much

 

[Datil]

Annuums are the best producer despite the brutal heat for me (100F with 75% humidity is no joke). Chinenses keep dropping flowers and irritating me
My only baccatum is also struggling with minimal production.
While i'm waiting for a cooldown i'm selecting mostly annuum varieties for the next year...

Cya

Datil

 

[thegreenman]

Naga Morich. only stopped producing Jan-Feb and started back in March and hasn't stopped since. I think it got some of ARod's roids. 
 
Pods currently booming on BJ Brown, Naga Morich, Tobago Seasoning, Scotch Bonnet. While Chocolate and Red Habs producing a small amount. 
 
All these plants get sun only 9a-12p. 

 

[PepperWhisperer]

Tabasco is a real hot weather champ. I have yet to see it shut down in 3 years of production, including a brutal stretch of 2 straight weeks of 100+ days last year.
 
I have a Caribbean Red this year that is tolerating the heat fairly well, it has set a decent second crop of pods over the past month or so, mostly during "cold" fronts where the temps have dropped to the lower 90's. That plant also has shade after 3PM so it gets a break in the worst heat of the day.
 
Goat's Weed I would say is above average for ability to produce in heat, but nothing spectacular. It does have a different special skill though. The small hairy leaves never droop no matter what the temperature...never.

 

[Threehundredc]

my ormanemtals are all doing great still on the hot side of my house too  full of peppers  banana peppers growing good too rest are to small to produce

 

[Dave2000]

Hmm, we had an unusually hot summer last year with temps near 100 for weeks but it dropped 20 degrees at night so I experienced very little if any blossom drop due to it.
 
This year, milder than normal summer.   Besides one week of normal weather it has felt like late spring here for months.
 

I would guess that the peppers from the Caribbean should perform best in the heat of summer. Would this be almost exclusively chinense? What about heat tolerant annums?

Which plants shut-down on you during the summer-heat? Which ones just keep on matriculating right on through summer?

 
None of mine shut down last year in 100F weather but I watered them VERY often and had late evening shade.  I had to water the chinense 50% more often than the annuums due to their larger stomata count which causes more rapid moisture loss, but it could also have been that on average they were larger plants.  They may be Caribbean in origin but along with that they evolved in a more humid climate, at least more humid than it is here which slows moisture loss.