they grow wild all over the shady areas of my yard and i never water them. I have black dirt, in South San Antonio.

Think it's similar to how the native/well adapted clematis varieties can get by without much supplemental water as long as the roots are shaded (or heavily mulched) - this is better explained on the International Clematis Society site. We're still trying find a spot where chile pequin will thrive; it didn't seem to like the amount of shade where we had hoped to grow them under large crape myrtles. Trying it in a bit more light this year.

Marti, although they don't seem to need much water, they do benefit from it. I have them in many places on my property, one of them is about 7 x 7 feet. This one gets the most sun, but all the others are under trees in light shade/part sun. With all the rain we've gotten recently, some of the peppers are HUGE!

castro_gardener, how is the one in the most sun? I put this iin a shady spot - and then we trimmed the tree. :o Now it's in afternoon sun.

the birds drop them everywhere in the yard, I have them in full, deep, dark shade and in full sun. The full sun is less leggy and blooms more. I never water them.

Marti, the one in the sun was probably shaded by a rosebush when it was young but now it's over all the plants in that area. I'd love to ax it, but it's hubby's favorite. Yours may have a few issues at first going from shade to full out sun, but I'm thinking that our cloudy days may be helping it through, getting it acclimated to the brighter surroundings before full-out summer sun.