hi peppers are funny ones we are trying hot ones and are also having some stress with them i think the season is just to short,we start ours in feb in side.best of luck

To grow good peppers you are supposed to have the night-time low temps stay above something like 18C, otherwise the flowers often drop even if they have been pollinated. Even in July we avg. lows of about 13 in Edmonton, so it's not really pepper-growing climes. You will probably get one or two peppers per plant, whereas 10-12 peppers per plant might be more normal if we had warmer temps.

That said, I have sometimes had pretty good luck with Hungarian Hot Wax peppers in Edmonton, but again it really depends on the summer. Mostly a novelty in this clime.

I don't have any luck with peppers outside, but if I construct some kind of shelter out of fiberglass, polyethylene, or whatever, I can grow New Ace, King of the North, and Gypsy. Not much luck with hot peppers except Surefire (which apparently is no longer available) and Yellow Mushroom.

Thanks guys. At least I know it is not only me who has this challenge. Maybe I will try them under cover The only place they have been productive at all has been against the south wall with the tomatoes. Perhaps I'll try one of those tomato huts like the ones they sell at Canadian Tire.

Ginny

Hi Ginny,

Rob here in The Pas, Manitoba...north of the 53rd parallel..close to the Sask. border...Zone 1B...
From what I've found it's pretty much hit and miss...weather wise... I got hooked on hot peppers from the first year I tried them... it was the perfect summer... those so called 'Kung Pao' peppers and 'Mucho Nacho Jalapeno' grew like shrubs...I did not take any pics back then and wishing I had done now... they were 3 feet high and two feet across with way over a hundred peppers on the Kung Pao ones for sure...after that I ordered a ton of hot pepper seeds from a source in the US... I started quite a few, but, not alot did as well as that first year...not as warm a summer I suppose...
I have grown sweet bell peppers too... and surprisingly they can do well, even here in Zone 1B, if the summer is better than normal... I was surprised after growing sweet bell peppers the first year that it was indeed possible...
I was amazed at how many peppers a smallish 1 1/2 to 2 foot pepper plant can hide under those leaves...I have had close to a dozen full sized green peppers on some plants...that is alot...granted this doesn't happen every year.. but it has happened...so it's very worth trying them out... especially the early varieties...
... start them early indoors...at least 10 weeks before planting out...peppers of all kinds love the heat... I've read a black plastic mulch around the roots is helpful, but haven't tried that myself...probably would help though...also peppers like regular moisture and fertilizing... that could be a key factor...

Hope you get alot of peppers,
Rob

Thanks Rob, I have ordered a few different kinds of sweet seeds this year and most that are geared for shorter seasons. I will start them indoors in February. I find peppers freeze well and I use a lot of them in my low cal cooking. I can grow great cucs and tomatoes so I must just not be giving them the TLC they want. I'll have to see how I can do this year.

Ginny

Last year, I did what I always do, I covered my pepper transplants with a makeshift mini greenhouse, this gets removed as the summer advances. Unfortunately, many June nights were very cool and several plants had dampened off, the rest had went on to grow and produce very poorly, that despite much prolonged hot weather. Normally, I have a huge pepper harvest. I mostly grow the banana types, these can be very productive.

Terry

Summers here in Minnesota are warmer and longer than up there, and I don't have any pepper problems like you all. Still, choosing the right varieties for cool climates make all the difference. My favorite sweet bell pepper is Orange Sun, early and tasty. Next favorite sweet non-bell is Pepperoncini (when red). Paprika Supreme produces loads of very large fruit, that also changes taste from green to red. It has a unique flavor I like. I have found Paprika Supreme far out produces other paprika pepper varieties. I harvest them green for cooking, red for fresh eating (sweet). I did make dried paprika once, but it was way to much work for what you get.

Here's my two cents, like stateded peppers like to be warm. I grow mine in my 10 x 12 greenhouse.
Start seeds in middle of March, add manure compost mulch, keep well watered expecialy when starts to bear fruit( to get thick walled peppers ) and monthly applications of bone meal. To get them to change colour diff. need some kind of cover in the fall

here's some pics of my peppers last year

Wow! Those are beautiful! Now that is what I would like to grow.
Thanks all for all your comments and suggestions. I feel more confident that maybe I can yet grow peppers.

The weather outside today is frightful but the thoughts of peppers are so delightful. I think I will stay here on my computer and do some "indoor" gardening! A heated greenhouse is still on my wish list!

Ginny

Those are nice looking peppers!

I grew some in a raised bed a few years ago and got a good crop in quantity but I thought they lacked some in quality. Good enough for sauces & salsa which is where they all landed up. I'm pretty sure I grew Fat & Sassy (65 days). I waited until well into June before setting out the transplants which had been growing in 4" pots.

Last year I grew some Super Chili hybrid (hot-hot) peppers in 1-gallon pots. I started the seed in April and had fruit starting to set by the end of June.

I ordered Fat ansd Sassy from Early's last week so I will give those a go. I spoke with a friend of mine in Saskatoon yesterday and she said she had a great pepper crop last year and all she did was ignore them! She didn't know any of the names of what she grew as they were given to her untagged. I'm determined to grow great peppers too so I'm working on it already. Time will tell.

Ginny

I realize this thread is more than 3 years old, but I'm planning to grow a few hot peppers this year... so, if honalee or others have pepper insights to add (successes or failures), kindly add them!

Oh this is an old thread, Don. And I've still had no luck with peppers! I honestly haven't tried much either. :(

What I have learned is the already known; they love heat, shelter and food, and if I plant marigolds with them I don't get bugs, just like tomatoes. I've come to the conclusion that our Edmonton "summers", at least in the past 3 years or so, are just not hot enough for good peppers. That, and I need a greenhouse and better soil! :)

Hopefully other gardeners here have had much better experiences. :)

Ginny

I didn't have any success growing peppers until I tried growing them in pots. I put 3 pepper plants in a l5"x l5" pot with some manure, bonemeal and tomato spike fertilizer. I grow Jalapenos, mini peppers,gypsy and sweet peppers this way. Habanero, serano and lemondrop peppers are only one to pot, because the plant get so huge. My pots are on the south side of the garage so they get some extra heat and shelter. I put pots of flowers between the pepper pots or else aphids become a problem.

Thanks for the quick replies!

Ginny, sorry your experiment a few years back wasn't more successful, but you know what they say... try, try again!

Bev_dale, that's exactly what I was hoping to hear. I see in the hot pepper forum on this board that even most people in the deep south grow their peppers in pots. I had some success with an ornamental hot pepper in a pot last year (4 plants to a big pot) but it was kind of an afterthought so I didn't get them planted in the pot until July and they were just really coming into production when the cooler weather of fall came.

This year I've got 3 large pots already planted with early tomatoes on our deck (full sun almost all day, kind of exposed to the wind though as it's on the second floor). When it warms a bit more I've got one pot reserved for "Firecracker Chili" and one pot for "Charleston Hot". I also have 4 hot banana pepper plants that I was going to plant direct in the garden but now I think I'll have to try one in a pot to see how much difference it makes. I'm surprised you could grow habanero in this climate as those chinense variety peppers like it really, really hot.

Here's hoping for a long hot summer!