I meant too cold.

The plants themselves will survive to frost. As far as production. They seem to stop producing if night temps drop below the mid 50's.

If trying to increase production then doing whatever you can to keep them in the 60 to 75 degree range at night should help.

Whatever you can do to keep those soil temps up but not bake them in the day. Set up a cover, blankets, bring inside. You'll be rewarded if you can.

Right now, warmth is more important than light. So, bringing inside might just be the way to go.

Kevin

The cool (not yet cold) temps don't seem to hurt them I've left mature pots out in mid-and-upper 30s with no apparent ill effect. However, the plants seem to be well aware that it is getting later in the season - probably from the shorter days and lower sun - so that there are changes underway independent of the temperature.

Just be careful of frost. Frost can occur when the temps aren't yet freezing, so draw the line at predicted lows about 35F. (Check your local temps in relation to the predicted low. For instance, if you live in a low spot the local temp can be considerably colder than the average since cold air flows downhill.) Frost won't kill the plant - the roots have to freeze for that - but it will bite the leaves and leave you with a bunch of dead leaves.

When it does get cold a simple cover like a sheet will do nicely - until you anticipate a real freeze.

Dennis

As the sun's path has changed, and the shade falls differently, I've moved the pots every few days so they maintain the same amount of sun exposure each day. But the sun is definitely less intense.

I don't have anywhere in my place that gets decent direct light, so I don't think I'll leave them inside permanently. I'll see if I can set up a cover outside, and if not I'll just carry them inside around 6:00pm when they lose the sun.

On another note, I have 6 plants (5 scorpions and 1 ghost) and they grew very differently, and are producing very differently. 2 are very bushy with lots of peppers. 1 is bushy with no peppers. And 3 are very tall with almost no leaves on the bottom half. They instead fan out about 2 feet wide within the last 10 inches of stalk. These ones also have almost no peppers.

I will be trying to overwinter the 3 bushy plants, so I'll see how that plays out.

Just curious, will the colder temps stop the fruit from ripening? I understand about the slow down/stoppage of new production, but will the mature (still green) pods be alright? I've got TONS of red Bhuts just starting to change color, and bringing them inside at night would be a real pain. I've got over a dozen plants (not all Bhuts), and they're almost all 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide. Not to mention, that probably will NOT go over too well with the boss (wife).....

If they are starting to change, then the change will occur, cold or not. If you harvest them and stick them in the fridge, the change won't be so fast, but it will happen. Same if you leave them on the plant.

Dennis

Thanks Dennis.
I should've asked before, but, how about full size green pods that AREN'T showing any signs of change yet? Is there any way to say for sure? I'm probably alright, we should have a couple more weeks before it starts getting TOO cold. Minus a few cold nights sprinkled in before the first frost.

Mike

I'm wondering the same thing as Mike. Only about 20% of my peppers have even a bit of colour, and it's getting pretty cold at night.

Some green ones will eventually turn off the plant. Some won't. Depends on where they are in the chemical process - one you can't see until the color turns.

Leave them (the green ones) on the plant as long as you can and let the chips fall where they may.

Dennis

Agreed with Dennis, leave the green ones on as long as you can, but def pick them all before first frost. You can always pickle or process the smaller green ones.

Steve