Jalapeno peppers heavy drinkers?

john gault · Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:41 pm

This is my first year growing jalapeno peppers and it seems that they need more water than any other thing (vegetable plant) I've grown before. Seems like I got to water it every 2-3 days or else the leaves start to droop.

Is this correct?

BP · Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:42 pm

In this heat that most of the country is experiencing everything needs tons of water. I passed by a public pool and the sign read "PLEASE pee in pool"

hendi_alex · Thu Jul 21, 2011 4:48 pm

Mine are all growing in a morning sun location, and in 3 gallon nursery pots. My automatic sprinkler hits them for an hour twice per day. So far none seem to mind that amount of water. It has mostly been in the 90's to over 100 for the past couple of months now.

john gault · Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:03 pm

I don't like to water any of my plants. My basic approach is to build up the soil so that it's good at water retention and of course mulch. Seems to work with everything else, despite the heat.

BTW, I did harvest a few peppers already and they were very HOT!!!

john gault · Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:04 pm

BP wrote:In this heat that most of the country is experiencing everything needs tons of water. I passed by a public pool and the sign read "PLEASE pee in pool"

What a waste of nitrogen

cherishedtiger · Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:32 pm

I water my jalapenos the same as the rest of my garden, right now I water once a day (early morning) for about 20 minutes. They seem to be going crazy! I say water them as they need it, and watch out for the heat, its sucking everything dry!

oh, and remind me not to swim in any public pools....

gixxerific · Thu Jul 21, 2011 5:51 pm

I should put up a sign saying "PLEASE pee in my garden"

john gault · Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:03 pm

I see most have mentioned the heat, but that raises another question in my mind. I would think that heat would NOT be a problem since they come from Mexico?

BTW, I just went out and check on them and the leaves look much better since I watered them a few hours ago. I pruned a few of the lower leaves (the ugly ones) and put back into the soil.

stella1751 · Fri Jul 22, 2011 7:23 am

One of my raised beds requires very little water. I don't know why it is different from the others; all have the same soil mixture and receive roughly the same amount of sun. Last year, I had peppers in this bed, and I killed two Habaneros with over-watering. This year I have first-year strawberries in there, and despite this dry heat we are having, I haven't watered it for a week. I keep poking my finger into the soil, and it's still moist. Maybe your jalapeno bed just requires more water.