so we have a ton of pepper babies that have outgrown their little 6-pack homes and a new place to live. i'm wondering which is a better option- to transplant them to bigger pots and keep them in the house for another month or so, or to plant them out into the garden in their permanent bed, which just happens to have a hoop house over it at this time. we're in the sierra foothills, zone 8, and it's been 85 or so for the last few days, so it feels like time to plant all the summer stuff, but i know it's not. it's only april and we can and usually will get a late april/early may cold spell. it might not freeze because out little microclimate is fairly protected but it will probably get cold (i would guess high 30's). so can peppers deal with that in an unheated hoop house? or should i just keep 'em inside? i could really use the extra space... thanks!
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California
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Re: planting out peppers
Mon, April 14, 2008 - 8:07 AMI always think of peppers as kind of sensitive to cold. I'm always afraid that if I plant them out too early they will get stunted. I can't say for absolutely sure that this is true, but I usually wait that little bit extra longer till the soil is warm the risk of frost seems pretty unlikely. Besides, I want them to really grow when I put them in the ground. Otherwise I'd just as soon continue growing them bigger inside. I'd be in favor of potting them up into 4" pots and getting them really robust and big before planting them out later. That's what I'm planning to do this year. Then again you have some protection, but you know what it's like under there better than I do.
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Re: planting out peppers
Mon, April 14, 2008 - 9:22 AMIf you got a ton of them, why not put some in the hoop house and keep some in the house? If you do, keep us posted on the results and we'll all learn something. It's actually a gamble on the weather thing , like you say, and so why not hedge your bet? -
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Re: planting out peppers
Tue, April 15, 2008 - 8:41 AMwell the weather has turned cold and so the urge to plant the summer stuff has faded a bit. i agree peppers like heat, the only reason i thought to put them out is that one of my gardening books says they like "a bit of a shiver." it says to put them out at 50 degrees for a month before the warmth of summer and they really respond. so i'll take your advice, wil, and put maybe one of each kind out in the hoop house and try it out, and keep y'all posted! -
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Re: planting out peppers
Tue, April 15, 2008 - 3:14 PM>>"a bit of a shiver.<<
That's interesting, what book is that? -
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Re: planting out peppers
Tue, April 15, 2008 - 3:39 PMThe Vegetable Gardener's Bible- one of the very first gardening books I read. He's in Vermont, and seems to like hybrids, but all in all it's been a pretty good resource, especially for beginners, which i kinda am.
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Re: planting out peppers
Tue, April 15, 2008 - 5:18 PMI think of peppers as heat wimps that are ultra sensitive to cold. Like Steve, i thought cold was sometimes responsible for stunting them. It's new to me that they might like a bit of a shiver, but i learn new stuff all the time. -
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Re: planting out peppers
Tue, April 15, 2008 - 7:56 PMI actually think of them as medium heat lovers that don't like excessive heat, but also don't like to get chilled. But then I live in a mostly hot region. I know people in cool regions plant them in warm spots or use protection. It's funny how we pick up all this info from a mixture of sources and experience. It's good to put it to the test once in a while. maybe I'll put some out early this year. We had frost last night. I guess ours pick up a lot of chill anyway from our flimsy unheated seedling house anyway. -
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Re: planting out peppers
Sun, April 27, 2008 - 7:08 PMI am visiting So Cal. My mother topped her peppers last year but never got around to digging them up. I managed to slow her down enough that she let me experiment with what was left (roots and stump). In hawaii they can survive the winter and grow more the next year. Well her stumps in california, where it did get into the low 40's during the winter have regrown there leaves and are producing fruits. Now she's convinced, and won't go topping them next year. Maybe just prune it back a little.
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Re: planting out peppers
Thu, May 8, 2008 - 10:28 AMSome varieties, like rocotos and some bird peppers are native to mountainous regions so they can probably handle cool weather for awhile. I don't think it will hurt them as long as it don't freeze. They just might not grow much.
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Re: planting out peppers
Thu, May 8, 2008 - 12:45 PMMaybe try to put like weed fabric or like a solar plastic to keep the soil warm, maybe try mirrors to reflect light to them. What part of the foot hills? There were some gnarly thunderstorms earliler in the week.
