This year
I had good production from my five pepper plants until the summer heat came in.
The plants simply shut down and produced nothing while in the mid 90’s. The
leaves by noon just wilted and looked like they were going to die. They also
stopped producing. I watered twice a day but the heat seamed too much for them and
I almost pulled the plants out but, since they looked strong I decided to leave
them alone and see what happens.
Once the
temperature stayed below 90f the plants started producing again! The Green Bell
Peppers are much smaller (half the size) than the early summer crop but they
taste great. The Jalapeño were a surprise, they are really hot, much hotter and
smaller than the early summer ones. As long as they are producing weekly I’ll
leave them alone and maybe eat peppers until March when I will replant.
The Green
Bell’s. I’ll let them grow to about 2-3 inches then eat them.
The
Jalapeño, some turn red but mostly normal size and green.
The five
plants and still full of blossoms.
This is good to know! I've noticed the same with tomato plants. In fact, mine are really producing now that temps have dropped out of the daily 90s. I guess it's just something to expect, and to keep them well watered until they can produce again.
ReplyDeleteI water the plants twice a day and they seam happy. To me it's a bonus to have them produce even though the fruits are smaller. Normally I would pull the plants in summer and wait to re-plant in the spring. So everything they produce during the normal dead fall time is a bonus for me!
DeleteI've had the same experience with pepper plants. They really don't seem to produce much here in Georgia until September, when the temperature usually drops below the 90s.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear I'm not alone with the summer harvests.
DeleteMike Hi, If you dig the pepper plants up and store them pots in your basement, you have to make sure they don dry out, the stems will whither up and look dead but the root ball is still viable, garage in the winter you can transplant them back in the ground for up to three years and they will take off a gain earlier than starting new plants in the spring. I came upon this information from a guy in east Tenn who is called Dr. Pepper on PBS television, who has over 1300 varieties of peppers. I tried it the year before last and it worked well the next season.
ReplyDeleteAlvin 45
Alvin, that's very interesting, thanks. I'll give it a try next year. Do they prune the plants close to the ground like 6-8 inches tall?
ReplyDeleteYes that is correct. In the past we dug them up and thru them away every year but he has some exotics that were not potted plants, he dug up and put in pots and replanted successfully for several years.
ReplyDeleteAlvin 45
Thanks Alvin.
Delete