Sunlight needs during growth stage?

10 years ago

I live in Saudi Arabia and am a beginner gardener.

I have bought a few pepper and tomato plants from the local nursery - 8-10 inches tall. Reading lots of stuff and finding that pepper need around 6 hours of direct sunlight. Well I am doing my gardening on roof top so 6 hours of direct sunlight is not a problems for me.

My question is however, is this 6+ hours needed at the fruiting stage or right from the word go?? The heat is quite high over here these day but it is gradually reducing. By early November the temperature should have come down by 10-15 degrees. Right now it frequently (every other day) touches 100F. I was thinking of providing them with three hours of early morning sun when the temps are less than 85 and then bringing them in my house where I can maintain a pleasant temperature but I have no sunlight in my house though. As for late afternoon sun, I cannot provide that since just right next to my apartment, there is a tall building which shades my whole roof top from 2 pm onwards.

Will it work? Do the pepper (and for that matter any other vegetable plants - especially the sun lovers i.e. tomatoes and cucumbers etc ) need 6+ hours of direct sunlight from the very beginning when they are just showing up leaves and growing in height or 3 hours of light will be just fine for them during this growth stage (for one month or so)?

Thanks

Saood

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (4)

nc_crn
10 years ago
As long as the soil is adequately moist (though the soil does not need to be constantly wet)...full sun, even 100+ F degree sun, is just fine for the vegetative growth stage of peppers.

They generally enjoy protection (shade, shade cloth, etc) when they're flowering and fruiting when temperatures are regularly around mid-90s+ F, though. Temperatures in the mid-90s F make some flowers abort without forming a fruit and intense sun on formed fruit can burn the fruit tissue. The leaves handle it all quite well as long as they have adequate moisture (but be sure not to keep the soil saturated with water...it's a bit of a delicate balance in arid areas).

While they're still in the non-flowering/non-fruiting stage they do rather well with full sun, even at 100+F.

As far as the moisture balance goes for hot times of the year...if you notice leaves drooping during the worst of the day on established plants beyond the very small seedling stage, there's no need to panic...that's natural. If you notice them not perking up after the sun goes down and they're still drooping...they probably need more water than what you're giving them.
saoodhashim
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks for the great reply. Brief but to the point. Appreciate that a lot.

Also, just for confirmation - is this applicable for all vegetable plants - or only for peppers?

While you say that in the growth stages it may be ok if the temps get even 100+, but how about the impact of 3 hours sun and then putting in a shade (either through some shade cloth or bringing it inside the house) so that the water needs are controlled.

This situation arises with me since I am not available to check moisture at around noon because of job constraints. Do I necessarily have to give it 6+ hours of sunlight during this growth stage?
Related Discussions
Sunlight Vs Shop Lights
Q
Comments (3)
My experience this year has mixed results. I have a room in my basement where I start my seeds. In past years I have the lights on 16-18 hours a day. This year they have been on 24 hrs, a major difference in growth. The room is a steady 66-70 vs the GH where temps vary from 46 to 95 depending on sunlight. I have seen a big difference with growth based on sunlight and temps which we all know is key to growing. When we have steady temp/sun the growth rate is high but we have had some cold and cloudy so the plants stay put. This week is supposed to be warm and sunny so I expect the GH plants to flourish. I have tomato plants in the basement that are farther ahead the those in the GH even though they were potted up at the same time. I left some inside to experiment. Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening by the Seat of my Pants
...See More
The day they sprout they go outside into full sunlight
Q
Comments (9)
I do something similar. Winter weather can be very unpredictable here in Texas. For example, yesterday it was 70 degrees! I start my seedlings very early, in December, and while it's freezing outside I keep them in the garage under lights. I don't really have room in the house for my light set-up. The garage isn't heated, but I put a thermometer in there to make sure, and it never gets down to freezing in there. I also have them sitting on those seedling heating pads. (Starting them very early also helps if some disaster happens and I have to start some more replacement seeds. Most people think I'm nuts for starting that early, but it has helped before.) But when the weather report says we're having several days in a row where the nighttime lows aren't going to get colder than the 40's, and it's going to be in the 60's or 70's during the day, I put them all outside on the porch in the sun and just leave them there until the weatherman says we're going to have a freeze again. It's really not that much trouble since here it doesn't freeze more often than it does. I figure that natural sunlight is always better than flourescent lights, so I try to have my seedlings out in it as much as possible. I also think that maybe having them at cooler temperatures and slowing their growth might keep them from getting as leggy. But I haven't done a controlled study on that.
...See More
How much sunlight do tomatoes need?
Q
Comments (9)
For 8 summers, I grew beefsteak and cherry tomatoes right up against the east side of a brick house in NE Illinois. (On Google Maps, the house does face directly west, so that bed received only morning sun, no sun from the south during the day.) I was brought up to prune tomatoes to one stem, so these were narrow plants, and probably planted about 6-8" from the foundation. They had sun all morning until the sun was overhead and the house began to shade that bed. So obviously this was only 6-7 hours of sun, max -- and much less at the end of the season. I don't remember them being leggy; they did grow taller than I am, but I'm only 5'2", so that's not difficult! They didn't bear a whole lot of fruit, and the lower fruit tended to be stolen by thirsty raccoons. But other than that -- and a bit of Septoria leaf spot at least one year -- the plants seemed happy. Besides direct sun and shade, there's also bright shade. For instance, daylilies aren't supposed to bloom well unless they receive at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. Mine used to be shaded by the house in the morning and by maples in the afternoon. About noon they got an hour or so of direct sun. They bloomed quite happily. I used to say, "But it's bright shade" -- and later read that there is such a thing. So I would say it depends how your tomatoes have done in the area that receives 5 hours of direct sunlight. Perhaps you could experiment: grow some in the current area, put some others in the sunnier area, then compare them -- and of course report back to us!
...See More
Floor Plan Comments - Natural Light
Q
Comments (14)
Thanks for the comments so far. There does not appear to be a consensus, but several folks have recommended Solatubes. I guess I could put in two 14" Solatubes in the Family room by putting them in the centers of two coffers at one-third and two-thirds of the way along the length of the room. But would these point sources of skylight be too bright, like really bright light fixtures that make you want to wear a baseball cap to shield your eyes from the glare? I guess we could build the house as-is, and add the Solatubes later if we decide we want more light. Have also thought about long linear skylights at the boundaries of the kitchen/family rooms, dining/family rooms, and entry/family rooms. In response to a few questions, the porch roof will be about 15' high. I like the suggestion about making the patio and underside of porch roof light colors. That may help some. Per requests, I have also attached sketch for second floor, which contains a guest bedroom, study, exercise room, and two baths. Any more opinions welcome. Thanks.
...See More
judo_and_peppers
10 years ago
the sun is not equal in all areas. I live in FL, which gets comparable levels of sun to where you are (it's not the dry heat you're used to though, we have absurd levels of humidity). peppers need 6+ hrs of sun in northern latitudes. my plant that is doing the best gets only gets sun from 8am-1pm. I vote that up until you start seeing buds forming you leave them out all day. once you start seeing buds, put them in shade in the afternoon.

also out of curiosity, what kind of peppers are you growing? I'm quite curious what is available at the nurseries on the Arabian peninsula.
saoodhashim
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks J&P for your reply.

Frankly being a new gardener, I cared less about what the variety of pepper and tomatoes I bought. I just wanted to try out and get my hands dirty.

Sunlight needs during growth stage?

Comments (4)

nc_crn

saoodhashim
Original Author

Related Discussions

judo_and_peppers

saoodhashim
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Sunlight needs during growth stage?

Comments (4)

nc_crn

saoodhashimOriginal Author

Related Discussions

judo_and_peppers

saoodhashimOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

saoodhashim
Original Author

saoodhashim
Original Author