I can grow hot peppers, no problem. For the most part hot peppers like long days and warm temperatures. The super hots germinate best when it is close to 80 degrees.
Not so much bell peppers. I have the best luck with Chinese Giant, but even that will only produce one or two rounds of bell peppers and then die of bacterial spot or broad mites. I only get peppers from them when I plant early in the year and before summer even officially arrives.
This year, I am trying something new. Planting bell peppers in the fall when my temperatures are usually milder. It was warmer than usual for November. I still had temps in the 80's and the nights in the mid 60's. The peppers germinated, but I had to pull a lot of them because of bacterial spot, mainly because, well this is the rainy season, and when it rains, it rains for days. A lot of rain, also makes the snails bolder and they stay out longer. I lose so many plants overnight.
I have about 10 bell peppers left. One of the ones in the vegetable tower has a tiny fruit and the plant has no bacterial spot. It is amazing it survived the tower falling twice.
I ordered more bell pepper seeds, selecting for plants resistant to bacterial spot, fusarium, and phythophtora. I planted one of the new varieties, called Touchdown. I guess it was named by a football fan. It managed to survive the birds foraging in the pots and I am hoping others come up so it won't be so lonely. It took a little longer to emerge, 14 days, but the weather in December is mainly in the low sixties at night and mid 70's in the day.
So far, the Burpee experimental #5 has been the best. It makes peppers that are not bells, but look triangular like poblano. I had 36 plants, which is more than I anticipated would germinate from old seeds. Definitely a keeper, so I did save seeds, even though it is a hybrid. These seeds are not available and I don't know if it ever got named.
I am hoping that instead of trying to grow bell peppers in my summer temps (basically 80-90 degrees), is part of the reason why I have such a hard time getting them to survive and fruit. Trying to grow peppers in the fall and winter though, has made the issues with bacterial spot even worse. So, now, I have to venture out and try some new varieties that have resistance and see if they do better. This is fun. I have about 7 varieties to play with. I don't have space for 7 varieties, so I will try them a few at a time. Peppers do grow slower at this time of the year, and especially since our days are about 2 hours shorter (a little less than 11 hours now). I guess I have to hurry up and wait and hope the snails won't snack on them again. I have already lost 4 of them to overnight marauders.
Good Luck, Imafan!
"The super hots germinate best when it is close to 80 degrees." There are lots of gardeners that know peppers of all sorts better than I do. I think that you are right about a best temperature to germinate hot peppers. However, my hot peppers "grow" the best in the garden and it is plagued with chilly nighttime temperatures through the spring and summer.
The two hot peppers that I have grown for years are Thai Hot and Super Chili. Thai Hot plants are little tiny things. Super Chili isn't much bigger and is listed as 15". I think that they may do well because they are hugging the Earth.
Usually, I have waaay more hot peppers than I have need for. Sweet peppers are another story. They can grow taller and if the fruit is of any size, need that height to keep the fruit off the ground. Many seasons trying many varieties, I end up with one fruit on each plant. Pathetic.
I guess ... I need to try short sweet peppers. They are out there. I grew Yum Yum many years ago; those were small plants. DW was very new to this climate and didn't have any appreciation for them. Not for stuff peppers unless you want to chop them and put all ingredients from your stuffed pepper recipe into a casserole dish. I do that with the Italian peppers that we are able to grow. It's fine!
Fall & Winter pepper growing. Hmmm, imagine that!
Steve
"The super hots germinate best when it is close to 80 degrees." There are lots of gardeners that know peppers of all sorts better than I do. I think that you are right about a best temperature to germinate hot peppers. However, my hot peppers "grow" the best in the garden and it is plagued with chilly nighttime temperatures through the spring and summer.
The two hot peppers that I have grown for years are Thai Hot and Super Chili. Thai Hot plants are little tiny things. Super Chili isn't much bigger and is listed as 15". I think that they may do well because they are hugging the Earth.
Usually, I have waaay more hot peppers than I have need for. Sweet peppers are another story. They can grow taller and if the fruit is of any size, need that height to keep the fruit off the ground. Many seasons trying many varieties, I end up with one fruit on each plant. Pathetic.
I guess ... I need to try short sweet peppers. They are out there. I grew Yum Yum many years ago; those were small plants. DW was very new to this climate and didn't have any appreciation for them. Not for stuff peppers unless you want to chop them and put all ingredients from your stuffed pepper recipe into a casserole dish. I do that with the Italian peppers that we are able to grow. It's fine!
Fall & Winter pepper growing. Hmmm, imagine that!
Steve
My superchilies this year are doing something strange. most of them have lost their leaves. Usually, that does not happen. I think it may because the temperature suddenly grew colder and that threw them off.
I rarely get bell peppers to be more than a foot. If I get peppers, the peppers are so heavy they touch the ground. Super chilies, on the other hand pop up as volunteers all over the place. I have had them grow very large in the ground. 5-8 ft tall are normal. I had one 10 ft tall one, but that one competed with a tangerine for the sun. Super chilies are among my most long lived peppers, easily living up to 8 years in the ground. Thai peppers get almost as big. I have gotten one to grow to 4 ft tall in a pot. Not as long lived, 2-3 years max. Habanero peppers are a problem for me. They have a low pepper load of about 20. If they carry more than that, they get sickly. Mine have never gotten more than 18 inches tall and they have not lived for very long. I don't have any jalapenos now. I don't really like jalapenos. Even the Wailua that was bred here struggles in the second year. I does produce consistently hot peppers when it is young. However, jalapenos are not very hot 0-8000 SHU. Wailua ranks in the middle at about 5000 SHU. I don't think they are very hot at all. I prefer peppers in the 50000-80000 SHU range. (Super chili, cayenne, Thai, bird chilies). Even then, I am a relative wimp. I like to grow super hots, but I only use them for bug spray.
Peppers are supposed to like the heat. Most of the year our average temperature is in the 80-88 degree F. range. In summer, it can go to 91-92. Few plants except dragaon fruit, vanda, shiso, roselle, and the succulents tolerate that well. The peppers have fewer issues with bacterial spot when it does not rain that much, but they don't bloom well when temperatures are really high. I haven't had a single bell pepper top two feet, most are shorter.
At best I will get 3 good sized peppers from the first harvest and maybe a few more from the second flowering. They are always smaller. Less than half the plants will survive till a second flowering, because by then the broad mites destroy them.
Broad mites don't do as much damage to the hot peppers. I have only gotten bell peppers to produce most around April-June. After that, I get flowers, but small fruit and many times the fruit drops off. Bacterial spot causes most of the demise of the plants.
The other sweet peppers that are not bell shaped, the bull horn and long sweets are much more resilient. They are easier grow and are more productive.
I rarely get bell peppers to be more than a foot. If I get peppers, the peppers are so heavy they touch the ground. Super chilies, on the other hand pop up as volunteers all over the place. I have had them grow very large in the ground. 5-8 ft tall are normal. I had one 10 ft tall one, but that one competed with a tangerine for the sun. Super chilies are among my most long lived peppers, easily living up to 8 years in the ground. Thai peppers get almost as big. I have gotten one to grow to 4 ft tall in a pot. Not as long lived, 2-3 years max. Habanero peppers are a problem for me. They have a low pepper load of about 20. If they carry more than that, they get sickly. Mine have never gotten more than 18 inches tall and they have not lived for very long. I don't have any jalapenos now. I don't really like jalapenos. Even the Wailua that was bred here struggles in the second year. I does produce consistently hot peppers when it is young. However, jalapenos are not very hot 0-8000 SHU. Wailua ranks in the middle at about 5000 SHU. I don't think they are very hot at all. I prefer peppers in the 50000-80000 SHU range. (Super chili, cayenne, Thai, bird chilies). Even then, I am a relative wimp. I like to grow super hots, but I only use them for bug spray.
Peppers are supposed to like the heat. Most of the year our average temperature is in the 80-88 degree F. range. In summer, it can go to 91-92. Few plants except dragaon fruit, vanda, shiso, roselle, and the succulents tolerate that well. The peppers have fewer issues with bacterial spot when it does not rain that much, but they don't bloom well when temperatures are really high. I haven't had a single bell pepper top two feet, most are shorter.
At best I will get 3 good sized peppers from the first harvest and maybe a few more from the second flowering. They are always smaller. Less than half the plants will survive till a second flowering, because by then the broad mites destroy them.
Broad mites don't do as much damage to the hot peppers. I have only gotten bell peppers to produce most around April-June. After that, I get flowers, but small fruit and many times the fruit drops off. Bacterial spot causes most of the demise of the plants.
The other sweet peppers that are not bell shaped, the bull horn and long sweets are much more resilient. They are easier grow and are more productive.
I'm hoping that will be the case. I usually never planted peppers in the rainy season because there is so much disease. The hot peppers that live over usually slow their growth, but in a warm winter will continue to produce peppers. I have not gotten any bell peppers to survive in summer. Other sweet peppers like Carmen and other long sweet peppers do o.k. even in summer.
I have found some bell peppers that have black spot and phythophtora resistance, so I am giving them a try. I did make a mistake on some of them, because they list their cold tolerance as an asset. For me, heat tolerance is what I need. Cold tolerance usually means they may not do as well. I may be wrong.
I have 4-5 different seeds and I did get a Southern one that was heat and nematode tolerant, Carolina Bell, unfortunately, it did not do well because it has no resistance to bacterial spot. I am only trialing one or two at a time. Mainly because, I lose labels, and can't tell them apart when that happens.
I don't have enough space to do a lot of them at the same time. I do have to plant enough for a good trial. It isn't really a fair test when there are only one or two plants in a test. When I planted the Burpee experimental #5, the seeds were over 5 years old and I planted a lot because I did not expect them to germinate well. I had over 36 plants and I had a hard time finding space for all of them. They turned out to be a triangular long sweet pepper. I roasted them and they are in the freezer.
The resistance I need is heat tolerance, nematode, and bacterial spot. A lot of peppers are resistant to the common viruses and some are resistant to fusarium as well. Right now, bacterial spot is the biggest issue getting peppers to grow at this time of the year. In the summer, it is heat. I can usually avoid nematodes when I plant in pots.
The peppers do grow much slower than they do in summer.
I have found some bell peppers that have black spot and phythophtora resistance, so I am giving them a try. I did make a mistake on some of them, because they list their cold tolerance as an asset. For me, heat tolerance is what I need. Cold tolerance usually means they may not do as well. I may be wrong.
I have 4-5 different seeds and I did get a Southern one that was heat and nematode tolerant, Carolina Bell, unfortunately, it did not do well because it has no resistance to bacterial spot. I am only trialing one or two at a time. Mainly because, I lose labels, and can't tell them apart when that happens.
I don't have enough space to do a lot of them at the same time. I do have to plant enough for a good trial. It isn't really a fair test when there are only one or two plants in a test. When I planted the Burpee experimental #5, the seeds were over 5 years old and I planted a lot because I did not expect them to germinate well. I had over 36 plants and I had a hard time finding space for all of them. They turned out to be a triangular long sweet pepper. I roasted them and they are in the freezer.
The resistance I need is heat tolerance, nematode, and bacterial spot. A lot of peppers are resistant to the common viruses and some are resistant to fusarium as well. Right now, bacterial spot is the biggest issue getting peppers to grow at this time of the year. In the summer, it is heat. I can usually avoid nematodes when I plant in pots.
The peppers do grow much slower than they do in summer.
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Gary350
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7421
- Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
- Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.
Peppers seem to be a lot like cactus. There are low elevation hot dry desert cactus that live in 115° desert that can survive with very small amounts of rain. There are high elevation cactus that can survive, cold weather, snow, ice, blizzards for several months, and lots of water.
Hot peppers seem like hot desert cactus & sweet bell peppers seem like high elevation cactus.
I buy pepper plants and often plant them April 1 this is 3 weeks before our last frost. April is rain every day, frost & maybe freeze too. I cover plants every night with 5 gallon buckets & they do good. If I can keep the water drained away from my hot peppers they go good in the swamp. My sweet bell peppers don't seem to have a problem with too much water. My hot peppers seem to have no problem with 3 months of 98° weather with 1 small rain every month. My hot pepper plants are loaded with peppers July to Nov but sweet bell peppers wait for Oct cooler weather to produce peppers.
I have Korean sweet chili peppers seeds this year, I got from the Korean lady at Farmers Market. These 7" long peppers are very sweet peppers. I don't know the name of these but I found seeds on Ebay than might be the same peppers. Click the link.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185016391143
Hot peppers seem like hot desert cactus & sweet bell peppers seem like high elevation cactus.
I buy pepper plants and often plant them April 1 this is 3 weeks before our last frost. April is rain every day, frost & maybe freeze too. I cover plants every night with 5 gallon buckets & they do good. If I can keep the water drained away from my hot peppers they go good in the swamp. My sweet bell peppers don't seem to have a problem with too much water. My hot peppers seem to have no problem with 3 months of 98° weather with 1 small rain every month. My hot pepper plants are loaded with peppers July to Nov but sweet bell peppers wait for Oct cooler weather to produce peppers.
I have Korean sweet chili peppers seeds this year, I got from the Korean lady at Farmers Market. These 7" long peppers are very sweet peppers. I don't know the name of these but I found seeds on Ebay than might be the same peppers. Click the link.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185016391143
I am thinking you are right. Bell peppers on the mainland seem to do best in summer at least in pictures. But these are plants grown in Pennsylvania and Missouri, which while they can actually be hotter on some days that I get in summer, over all, the temperatures are cooler, days are longer, and there is much less humidity. I also tried some of the varieties they mentioned they had good luck with, but climate does matter. Two of those peppers Gypsy, and Ajvarsky did not do well. I only had 1 ajvarsky survive the first planting and it was not under the best conditions, so I am giving it another chance before giving up on it. Gypsy was bred to tolerate cold weather, I should have paid more attention to that.
The small leafed hot peppers are not really bothered by humidity and rain. They slow down growth and production in cooler months. These peppers are mainly from Thailand and Central America. Hawaiian chili pepper is similar to tobasco peppers. I think the fact that they have been bred here over many generations has changed them a little. I found tobasco, to not be as resilient. I probably need to grow multiple generations of them to get them fully acclimated. I have to do this with Fuchsia plants too. I have to get them to survive the first year.
Peppers with larger leaves have the most problems with disease and longevity.
I have grown Korean peppers. They are good and relatively mild. That is the kind that is used to make the mild kim chee. Cayenne peppers are used to make the spicier ones.
The small leafed hot peppers are not really bothered by humidity and rain. They slow down growth and production in cooler months. These peppers are mainly from Thailand and Central America. Hawaiian chili pepper is similar to tobasco peppers. I think the fact that they have been bred here over many generations has changed them a little. I found tobasco, to not be as resilient. I probably need to grow multiple generations of them to get them fully acclimated. I have to do this with Fuchsia plants too. I have to get them to survive the first year.
Peppers with larger leaves have the most problems with disease and longevity.
I have grown Korean peppers. They are good and relatively mild. That is the kind that is used to make the mild kim chee. Cayenne peppers are used to make the spicier ones.
I did not think peppers would germinate this cold. While it is in the mid 70's in the daytime it does go down to 61 at night. I did have to germinate some super chilies and I am trying to germinate some Thai and Touchdown which is one of the resistant bell peppers I have. I just planted the Thai pepper, but super chile and touchdown are starting to show something in the pot. I hope they aren't weeds. It takes longer to germinate, but I will try a few more.