It's not optimal but they'll survive low 50's for periods of time. You really need to start worrying about them if you get down to low to mid 40's.

I'm very nervous about killing all of them, like I did last year. But, I've got 5 trays of them, and it's getting little tiring, bringing all of them in and out every night. I hope that warmer nights come soon! I was disappointed that the greenhouse didn't hold in the heat at night better than it does. As soon as the sun isn't hitting it anymore, it drops down to the same temp as the outside, very quickly.

Just an opinion, since Bricks hold heat after the sun goes down, would that assist through the night to keep the greenhouse warm along with the heater?

Great idea habjolokia.

Also, buckets of water will absorb heat during the day and slowly give it up after things cool down.

Thanks! I have a bunch of extra bricks, I can put them in there. The only problem is where to put them, since I don't want to kill the grass. Maybe I can put them on the table, then put the seedlings on top of the bricks. Do you think buckets of water would attract bugs?
Also, I should have been more specific. The greenhouse is nice and warm during the day, it's usually in the 70's or 80's when I open the windows. It's only at night that it cools off to the same temp as outside, unless I put the heater on. When the heater is on, the temp stays in the low 50's.

If you can keep the temp above 50 at night, you are fine. Don't even mess with the other stuff.
Bruce

That was my point as well. If you are ok with keeping the heater on until it warms up a bit, just let them be.

Thanks everyone for all the great advice. I'll keep the heater going at night, so the temps hover around 50 and hopefully it'll warm up soon!

You might hold in a little heat if you snug up that bottom edge of the covering, looks a little loose.

Yeah, we're getting a cold snap here now. Going to be a couple nights this week in the 30's (lowest low is 35). So, I'm bringing the container peppers indoors, while the ones in the garden will just have to suck it up. They won't be happy, but since it isn't actually freezing, they should be fine.

Peppers will live and grow just fine even after being down to 35 degrees, BUT for 3 or 4 days after they have been cold they will not grow AT ALL. You can reverse this a bit by letting the temp get really high the next day. If the temperature goes above 100, then you pretty much reverse the previous nights temps of 45 to 50. So putting it in simplest terms, 4 days at 80 degrees will reverse the physiological conditioning of one night at 45 degrees or 1 day above 100 degrees will do the same thing. Please note that watering is crucial if you let temps go this high!

There is one caveat to this. Capsicum Chinense is pretty sensitive to cold weather, especially super hot varieties. I recommend handling them separate from the rest of the peppers by never letting them get below 70 degrees.

DarJones

If you have extra heat mats, you can use those and use less electricity then trying to heat the air. I've noticed that cold affects roots more then leaves, and have found that as long as it stays above freezing, keeping the roots warm is the most important thing. I don't heat the air in my greenhouse. I just put large heat mats under the plants. I only bring them in when I expect frost. Also don't set the temperature too high on the mats creating too much of a differential. The rising heat from the mat and soil also warms up the area around the leaves somewhat.

Yes to Capoman. Peppers hate cold or wet feet. Keeping soil temps 50+ is the main thing.

I also am having "too many starts" to keep up with. You can also add a layer of agribon or a sheet over the peppers at night, or put a few "extras" into the garden with agribon and plastic bottle cloches, put bricks around and see how they do, while keeping the majority in reserve.

Have you tried growing veggies in straw bales? They generate heat as they "ripen up". I start my garden in March. I live in Colorado. I condition them for approx. 2 weeks, watering just the bales, and add granular fertilizer every other day. They get warm and juicy as the nitrogen kicks in, and when I feel heat coming out of them, they are ready to plant in. I just use a knife to cut a hole the same size as the roots, or the pot the plants came in. I pull out the straw, put in the plant, then use the removed straw to mulch around each plant. For seed, I just add one inch of soil to the top of the bales, working it in slightly, then plant seeds according to packet instructions. Roots systems of plants go crazy, having a free roam, compared to soil. Zero weeding. No bending or kneeling. My tomatoes lasted through November, with the last 98 of them picked from the top of a ladder...I couldn't reach them. So far, everything seems to love the bales. I love them too.

Hi mountainchickadee2,

could you post pics of what your straw bale garden looks like? I would like to see as I have not seen or tried that method.

There was a brief discussion here on straw bales.> Growing Peppers in Straw bales Not to toot my own horn (OK, maybe a little....) but I just reread the article I linked to and it does mention the "heating up" of decomposition.