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Comparison of Indoor vs Outdoor growing

don555
10 years ago

I planted my Matchbox peppers outdoors on May 19, which was much too hopeful this far north. A month later they looked pale and beaten, so on June 19 I transplanted one plant from each of two outdoor planters and brought those plants indoors under shop-lights, while the outdoor planters were left with two plants each per pot. Looked like this:

Today, 32 days later, here's how they compare (July 21):

The arrival of summer returned the outdoor plants to a healthy color, but their growth habit is very different from the indoor plants. The oudoor ones concentrated on growing peppers while the indoor plants grew bigger, leafier, and have only began flowering in earnest over the past week or so.

Here's closer up pics of one of the outdoor pots and then the plant that was removed from that pot and grown indoors:

The outdoor plants are winning on pepper production for now, but it will be interesting to see how many peppers the indoor plants manage to set now that they are flowering.

Comments (11)

  • SgtPepper
    10 years ago

    Exactly true. I have noticed that leaf growth inside is much more prolific. The plants look great and healthy indoors, but where are the peppers or even sometimes where's the flowers?

    They will grow peppers - and nice ones too, but much later in the season than the outdoor plants. A lot more blossom drops occur inside as well.

    I am glad you did this experiment, because it answers some questions I had in my own mind about this.

  • kypepperman
    10 years ago

    what was your light cycle inside

  • don555
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    The shop lights are on for 15.5 hours per day (I just leave them like that year-round). In midsummer here the sun is up for 17 hours per day, so outside they've been getting slightly longer days as well as much more intense light.

  • CanadianLori
    10 years ago

    Are we comparing lighting variances or all of the different factors- i.e. wind, rain, u.v. rays vs non, etc. Very interesting subject here.

  • SgtPepper
    10 years ago

    I had my peppers in the conservatory with a UV polycarbonate flitered roof. They stay warm in there and was ideal for overwintering - no artificial lighting. But when I took them outside this year and moving them back and forth during the hardening off phase. I noticed when they went back inside the leaves started to grow better. On one particular one, that was not adjusting as quickly to the outdoors as the others, I ileft inside at bit longer to recover and the leaves went berserk with growth.

  • don555
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    CLori, it's all the different factors... how Don grows his peppers inside vs how he grows them outside. So really only valid for me, for my climate, and for this particular summer and these particular peppers. That said, on the broader scope of inside vs outside, it should show some difference that have at least some relevance for anyone who tries this. One thing I do though that others might not, is that for the indoor peppers I hand-pollinate any open flowers every second day since there are no insects, wind or rain inside to pollinate the flowers. The outdoor plants I leave nature to pollinate.

  • don555
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    SgtPepper, intesting about the leaves on your peppers. I suspect that part of the reason my indoor leaves grow bigger is because they are growing larger to get more light from the weaker light source. But since it happened for you too, that makes me wonder if part of the reason is that under any sort of protection the leaves aren't as subject to wind damage so grow larger... more delicate... because they can.

  • don555
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    So here we are about 4 weeks later. Indoor plants were slower but seem to have produced well eventually, and the plants got bigger. I haven't picked any peppers from any of these plants yet, as I was waiting to see how they compared. Note that the outdoor plants are blooming again, the indoor plant isn't.

    Indoor plant in the smaller pot, 2 outdoor plants in the bigger pot:

    Closer up of the outdoor plants:

    Closer up of the indoor plant:

  • CanadianLori
    10 years ago

    After reading this, I went out to my little hobby greenhouse to check out the jalapenos in protection from the wind and uv rays. Well they just tower over the ones that are outside. They flowered about 10 days later than the outdoor ones and yes, I agree, the production just doesn't seem to measure up. Hmm, probably too late, but I think I'll move them outside.

    I can't compare any other varieties because I have limited space inside. The super hots that I am growing for the first time scored most of the indoor real estate.

    Of course I also did not expect any of the indoor plants to take up so much room when mature- stupid me thought they would only be a couple of feet tall with limited girth when mature, not the 4-6' they shot up.

    It's too late for this year, but I am thinking of doing a little comparison experiment using hydroponics. I've been studying everything I can get my hands on about the subject to see if I have the patience to go this route. I'm thinking of something that I can easily move around or segment to set up in two areas-indoors and out maybe?

  • Jeff_H
    10 years ago

    There is no way you can compare indoor vs. outdoor light when you have such a disparity in pot size. Put them in the same pot with the same soil. Your results will likely be the same (outdoor wil outperform indoor) but at least you will have eliminated as many variables as possible.

  • CanadianLori
    10 years ago

    Just curious - my indoor greenhouse plants get the same amount of natural sunlight per day as the outside - same soil, same ferts same everything -the only difference is the elimination of uv rays,high winds and heavy rains. Perhaps peppers just don't need too much pampering once they mature beyond seedlings.
    This gives me ideas about rotating pots out of the gh and using the space for something else until the fall.

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