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Vegetable Gardening

Bell peppers that don't drop blossoms in hot weather?

14 years ago

Last year I purchased a bell red pepper variety from a vendor that was resistant to blossom drop in warm weather. There was not an ID for the pepper. I may not be able to find her this year. Any suggestions for bell pepper varieties and sources for hot temperatures? Has anyone tried the red pepper plants at Territorial Seed Company?

Thanks in advance.

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Comments (4)

digdirt2
14 years ago
Most of the research seems to be directed toward developing varieties that will do well in cool wetter conditions for northern growers - even some grafting of sweet stock onto hot pepper root stock is being done.

But I have read about a couple labeled summer heat setters - King Arthur and Guardian. Clovis is another possibility but getting seeds or plants of it may be difficult. Both Veseys and Johnny's carries seeds for King Arthur.

While air temps can be a factor in blossom drop, humidity plays a major role as does soil nutrient levels so I am assuming that your are familiar with the other causes of blossom drop. If not you may want to review the FAQ here on Blossom Drop to see if it helps.

Dave
wordwiz
14 years ago
IME, most bell peppers do not tend to suffer from heat. I had a great crop two years ago when we had dozens of days in the 90s and several in triple digits. Perhaps the problem is cool temps? Or as Dave suggests, the soil or maybe watering and/or fertilizing?

Mike
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Many varieties of peppers normally develop dark - almost black nodes and stem joints. It is normal. As to the blooms falling off - it is a weather-related (most likely cause) condition called 'Blossom Drop' and I linked the FAQ on it below. It discusses the causes in detail. Using that term you can also learn a great deal about it on the web and there are lots of discussions here too that you might want to browse through. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Blossom Drop FAQ
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sandyinva
Original Author
14 years ago
Hi Dave and Mike,
Last summer was one of our most consistently hot summers, with warm nights, and one of my best ever for bell peppers but it also was the first time I planted this variety, which I purchased from a vender at Green Springs in May. In years previous, I always went through a period of blossoms dropping, and then production would pick up again in September. I am pretty sure it has to so with our heat, humidity and warm nights, so I will look into King Arthur, although I have not started seeds inside before. Do I need more than a sunny window?

Thanks,
Sandy
digdirt2
14 years ago
Do I need more than a sunny window?

Yes you do.;) Check out the Growing from Seed forum here.

But honestly it is really too late to start peppers from seed now in your zone - especially if you just now order them and then wait till they arrive. Peppers are started 8-12 weeks prior to planting out. So it will likely have to be transplants this year.

I am pretty sure it has to so with our heat, humidity and warm nights

Possible but keep in mind that many of us successfully share those growing conditions so I would still give some consideration to the other possible causes of your problem - things like timing of your feeding can make a crucial difference as can mulch or a different planting location.

Dave

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