No matter what I do, I can't get my pepper plants to produce peppers after flowering...?

Question

No matter what I do, I can't get my pepper plants to produce peppers after flowering...?

Answer 1

I love Peppers, both sweet and hot. For 35 yrs, I have raised over a dozen different types of peppers each summer.



The hotter it gets, the better the pepper plants love it. They do very well here in Oregon's 110 degree July to August Dog Days. During the dog days is when the Every Flower on the pepper will make a pepper.

Peppers also prefer slightly Alkaline soil, like the soil in Mexico and the Southwest where they are native to.



They are shriveling and dropping off because of lack of pollination. I don't know where you read they are self pollinating, but that is an error. They must be pollinated, and if you don't have Bees in your green house, get a cotton swab, and go from flower to flower pollinating them.



If you are not going to be saving your seeds, then you can cross pollinate them by using just one swab. If you want to start your own strains that become adapted to hydroponics, then use a separate swab for each species of pepper. Save the seeds from the best pepper, and use them next year, in a few years, you will have a strain adapted to your hydroponics specs.

Answer 2

Suggestions: Blossom drop is a survival reaction of the plants because they are stressed. Both sweet and hot peppers will do best with no more than 14 to 16 hours of light per day at temps of about 28c., with a slightly lower temp during the dark hours. I have had healthy chili plants actually wilt under a hot southern sun even with plenty of water. If your plants blossom in the first place the NPK isn't an issue, since too much nitrogen promotes lush growth but few or no blossoms and if you are switching blends when the flowers show up, that is too late anyway. Humidity? Peppers thrive in as high as 60 percent, so I don't think you have a problem there. Finally, with no breeze or insects the blossoms absolutely need some mechanical help to pollinate, even though they are self pollinating. Simple give each one a gentle tap with a fingernail to loosen the pollen inside the flower.

Answer 3

Two things are working against you. The plants need 8 to 10 hours of darkness, plus they will drop their blooms when they are fed too much. Peppers are a warm weather plant. It has to be between 75F to 85F to set fruit. Your PH is somewhat low for peppers. A PH of 6.5 to 7 would work better. For blossom set you need potash. You are right about "N" & "K". Lower the "N".

Answer 4

Proper watering is essential for pepper (plant) development. To wet or dry and they just will not grow. Some hot peppers can do well even when stressed by drier conditions, but I find my Bell peppers do best when watering is monitored and the soil is kept moist (Not wet or dry). I ensure my sweet bell pepper plants and other non hot varieties have a dirt bowl around them. Then a quick blast with my garden hose to fill the bowl and the plant is adequately watered in a few seconds. Without the bowl most of the water can run off and away from the plant wasted. I make the bowl by pushing and shaping dirt 4 inches high and 1 1/2 foot around the base of each plant. I then make sure to keep the roots cool by adding a few inches of mulch inside the circle (bowl), while making sure not to have it touching the lower stem. I check the plants daily to ensure the dirt is moist and I accomplish this with a hand held water meter I bought on-line for 12 bucks. The meter has a spike that you stab into the ground near the plant and the reading appears instantaneously. I could not imaging gardening without one as it takes away all the guess work of watering. Some recommend stabbing a finger into the ground to check the soil moisture, so that may work fine for you as well or until you get one of those water meters. Also pepper plants typically need sulfur. If you want test the soil, but I recommend that once a month, sprinkle a tablespoon of sulfur around each plant and it will slowly dissolve and feed the plants a little at a time as you water normally. My pepper plants typically average 4-5 feet tall and a few have reached nearly 6-ft.

Answer 5

big issue with aquaponics... how many fish/how big of a tank/how many plants... they may not be producing enough fertilizer.. Also, chilis grow in a very hot environment..it might be too cold for them. I keep my warm weather plants between 75F and 80F.. And I'm by the great lakes so that can be hard. If that doesn't work consider how cold the water is when it hits their roots. that might be shocking them.

Answer 6

Plant them in a 5 gal. bucket and sit outside in full sun, presto.

Answer 7

I agree with pondlady. They need a period of darkness to thrive. at least 6 hours, more if possible. Try to mimic the actual daylight hours for your area. They also need some temperature fluctuation; about 20 degrees Fahrenheit (not sure what that would be in Celsius), 70 to 75F at night and 90 to 95F during the day. Once those issues are corrected hand pollination should have fruit setting quickly.



Good luck and enjoy!

Answer 8

Two things, I think: Your plants need a period of dark in order to thrive

And it could be that the temps are too hot for the peppers to set fruit. I would try 8 hours of darkness first tho.

Answer 9

Sometimes fruit fall is caused from root rot. Since you are using Hydroponics, plants grown like this are more suseptible to rotting roots.There are chemicals to help with this.



NPK are not the only chemicals that plants need to grow, it could also be a trace element problem- specically Boron. Boron helps young tissue and fruit set.



Chillies and capsicum are self pollinating. Self pollinating means that the flowers from the bush from which it came will pollinate the other flowers. They would have to be self pollinating otherwise my lonesome chilli plant in my back yard wouldn't flower and fruit by itself and it does. I think this top contributer thing is bad as people who just shoot their mouth off could be a top contributer just because they post alot, not because they are right. What I think ranger c means is that your pollination method isn't working as you don't have bees and your plants are too sheltered. A good shake might help. But it definitely will pollinate itself, as Ranger c even says himself" just dab all the flowers on the bush" thus self pollinating the plant.



Plants do need some darkness to breathe in oxygen as they do this at night. sually when growing fruiting plants under lights, the first cycle of growing can be from 24 to 18 hours a day of light, but as the plant flowers the light cycle is usually cut back greatly but slowly over a two week period. This helps with the fruit setting.