Hello.
I used to be able to buy a plant at a store and put it n my garden, and it would grow and produce lots of peppers. This was at my old house. Then I moved, and I had TERRIBLE luck for the last 3 years. Other people on my street buy peppers at Home Depot, and more or less, set them and forget them. The plants grow and have lots of flowers, usually, but produce very little in the way of actual peppers.
I buy my peppers from a place that basically only sells tomato, pepper, and herb plants. It is mostly an online place, but I live close enough that I can drive to get them.
I don't over fertiliize them. I know that. I "may" over water them. I have them in raised beds with my tomatoes, which require more water than the peppers, as I understand it. So maybe they get too much water.
I was thinking that maybe all my peppers should be in their own raised bed?
This is quite frustrating as I always used to get incredible amounts of peppers with almost no effort..... Imagine a 5 foot high habanero plant LOADED with peppers.... Yeah, I USED to have those.
Now, the only other thing I can think of is that they only get about 6 hours of sun. But they are in the sunniest part of my yard except for my front yard, and my wife will never allow them to be planted there.
Any thoughts?
Thank you.
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Gardener123
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DoubleDogFarm
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applestar
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If your peppers are blooming but not setting fruits, it could be pollination issues. Is the climate much different from where you used to live?
Too much heat or humidity could keep the pepper pollen from properly pollinating its own blooms.
Have you tried shaking the flower trusses or using electric tooth brush to help release the pollen at more ideal times of the day? The buzzing is said to simulate the kind of bees that service them in nature. All you have to do is lightly touch the flower stem -- you'll see pollen spew out.
I'm currently overwintering jalapeños and hot lemon peppers in the house, so I give them a little buzz with the electric toothbrush around mid day and late afternoon. In my case, I mist them heavily first thing in the morning to counter the dry air, so I wait until they are dry and also until the house warms up a bit from the overnight lowered thermostat setting. You'll want to do it when the plants are dry or on less humid day and while air temp is still not too hot.
My peppers have been setting fruits well.
Also, fyi -- these varieties at least don't seem to mind less sunlight. They are much more florific and productive than the tomatoes I'm also growing and the peppers are getting less light/farther away from the supplemental lights.
You don't have to use the toothbrush, but since I started using it, I'm seeing even more fruitset than when I used to shake them until last year... And I had thought they were doing great back then.
Too much heat or humidity could keep the pepper pollen from properly pollinating its own blooms.
Have you tried shaking the flower trusses or using electric tooth brush to help release the pollen at more ideal times of the day? The buzzing is said to simulate the kind of bees that service them in nature. All you have to do is lightly touch the flower stem -- you'll see pollen spew out.
I'm currently overwintering jalapeños and hot lemon peppers in the house, so I give them a little buzz with the electric toothbrush around mid day and late afternoon. In my case, I mist them heavily first thing in the morning to counter the dry air, so I wait until they are dry and also until the house warms up a bit from the overnight lowered thermostat setting. You'll want to do it when the plants are dry or on less humid day and while air temp is still not too hot.
My peppers have been setting fruits well.
Also, fyi -- these varieties at least don't seem to mind less sunlight. They are much more florific and productive than the tomatoes I'm also growing and the peppers are getting less light/farther away from the supplemental lights.You don't have to use the toothbrush, but since I started using it, I'm seeing even more fruitset than when I used to shake them until last year... And I had thought they were doing great back then.
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Gardener123
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we're out Lancaster way.
last two years have been abysmal weather for peppers. they pollinate and set fruit in a range of temp - if it stays too hot or too cool all the time,,,, no peppers.
a couple plants finally got themselves in gear in the fall - I was covering them every night with a quilt to keep the frost off - just to get a couple decent green bell peppers!
last two years have been abysmal weather for peppers. they pollinate and set fruit in a range of temp - if it stays too hot or too cool all the time,,,, no peppers.
a couple plants finally got themselves in gear in the fall - I was covering them every night with a quilt to keep the frost off - just to get a couple decent green bell peppers!
I'm in zone 9 and have very good success with hot varieties like Jalapeno, Hungarian Hot Wax, Habs and Ghost Peppers, but mixed results with bell peppers.
Some years I have loads of them, other times just a few and often they are a good bit smaller than the ones you find in the market. They are great for seasoning but not so good for stuffing. I like stuffing them with shrimp dressing, baked in a pan of rich red gravy and eaten over some Angel Hair pasta.
Some years I have loads of them, other times just a few and often they are a good bit smaller than the ones you find in the market. They are great for seasoning but not so good for stuffing. I like stuffing them with shrimp dressing, baked in a pan of rich red gravy and eaten over some Angel Hair pasta.
My suspicion is on the soil. We mess up soil badly around our homes, sometimes. Or, the people constructing them do. There is a term "unkind subsoil" that I came across once. It seems like the right way of thinking about the situation when subsoil is mixed with the topsoil 
during excavations of foundations and such.
Perhaps that isn't the nature of the soil in your raised bed, Gardener123, but it may be well worth it to have a soil test.
My "pepper problem" is usually having them grow much and ripen during a growing season with cool nights. Now, a jalapeno doesn't have to grow 5' tall
and, personally, I want the jalapenos to be green, not fully ripe. Still, I want at least some peppers to ripen and want all of them to be productive.
Variety choice is important but I also find that it is easier to grow varieties that make both smaller fruit and smaller plants. Generally, they are earlier reaching maturity. However, a pepper is a perennial - even if we cannot grow them year around. They are likely to just continue flowering and growing fruit even if some can be harvested early.
Steve
during excavations of foundations and such.Perhaps that isn't the nature of the soil in your raised bed, Gardener123, but it may be well worth it to have a soil test.
My "pepper problem" is usually having them grow much and ripen during a growing season with cool nights. Now, a jalapeno doesn't have to grow 5' tall
and, personally, I want the jalapenos to be green, not fully ripe. Still, I want at least some peppers to ripen and want all of them to be productive.Variety choice is important but I also find that it is easier to grow varieties that make both smaller fruit and smaller plants. Generally, they are earlier reaching maturity. However, a pepper is a perennial - even if we cannot grow them year around. They are likely to just continue flowering and growing fruit even if some can be harvested early.
Steve
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Gardener123
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