i would go buy a few 4 ft florescent lights to mount under the top of that shelf in the day time let the sun do its job then in the evening turn on the lights it will help the plants and warm the room and less electricity then a space heater if the lights don't seem like its warming the room enough i would drape some plastic or blanket around the shelf unit and that should do the trick your plants may slow down a little but should do just fine . Also keep in mind they will use less water indoors that is where many make there mistakes is over watering and root rot and other issues caused by to much water and soaked soils .

Hello,

I'm having the same exact situation as disneyaddict, I started for the first time my pepper plants (scorpion, ghost, 7pot and hatch) in February 2013, right now they are around 12 inches tall and I don't want to plant them on the ground yet because of the cold temperature at night, when would it be the right time to plant them on the ground next year?

Help me and thank you.

wait just a second now. you started them in february, and they're 12" tall right now? wow.

Yes Judo and peppers I Live in Arizona, everything grows fast with this heat, is that good or bad for peppers? Or are they too small for my zone 9B ?

Do you think I should plant them on the ground until next year?

I was going the same thing as Judo:
12 inche from February to October THAT IS ALMOST 9 MONTHS. 12 inches sound awfully too little. Are they BONSAI or what ?

No, they're not Bonsai and Just in case you haven't noticed I needed some
Help not to be point out because my plants are too little. Thanks anyways I'm out of this site.

I've said it was my first time growing peppers and this is what I get. Oh well!

I have a small pepper plant that I JUST WANT TO SAVE IT. I am not interested getting it grow, flower etc. JUST SAVE IT.
And I don't room for it indoor.

What should I do ?

we're not trying to give you a hard time. it's just odd that a plant that's 8 months old would be only 12" tall. I've heard of them reaching 8 FEET tall by that time. my plants were started from seed in april, and aren't doing that great, but are already 4ft tall. and I live in zone 9 too. I ask because if that's how big your peppers are after this long, you may have other things to worry about. this is my first year growing peppers too. it's not like I'm some ultra experienced dude sitting in my high tower throwing feces on the heads of those below me.

did you seriously just flip out because you didn't get your question answered within 2 hours, late at night? you're not paying us. the answers you do get from the awesome members of this forum are answers given by people trying to help. but you didn't even give us long enough to try to help. I'm sorry I tried to get more information out of you so we'd be more able to actually help your situation. I can see how that would be infuriating...

actually, no I can't see how that would be upsetting, at all. you just flew off the handle over nothing. nobody said anything offensive, we just asked questions. if that's the attitude you're gonna take, you probably won't be missed around here. have fun with your 12" pepper plants.

Sure dude! You should've said that the first time you read about my peppers and yes keep making fun about it at least my pepper is 12" and I don't care if nobody misses me I wasnt here for dating or to blog like you probably do.

GET A LIFE Judo!

Peeing contest.........

To the original poster, that add-on room you mentioned, do the temps stay above 40 - 45f degrees during the winter? If so then that room should be fine, if not ideal because of the windows. Is the cold air coming through the glass? If so then you can add one layer of bubble wrap to the least effective windows as insulation, but leave your best sunlight window unobstructed for now. Do not leave a space heater unattended, it isn't safe and not worth the high energy cost...

The plants would ripen their last pods, and the stalk + roots would stay alive till next year. The leaves aren't necessary for overwintering (they'll turn yellow and fall off) and the plant's stems are capable of photosynthesis which would keep it alive. The plants would send out new shoots next spring.

The link below will explain the insulation better, it's also a decent way to insulate some hidden non-scenic windows on the sides and backs of your home(s).

Here is a link that might be useful: Bubble Wrap Window Insulation

Wow. I sure hope this thread has not died due to the OPs absurdly over sensitive reaction to what I would have taken as a simple question with a bit of a joke in it(At worst). I am in almost the same situation. I am new here(the forum) and a first time grower. I have Jalokia, Scorpion and Jalapeno plants. I did not think to start them until July 8 2013. They have done fairly well and are starting to flower(the jalapeno are well into flowering). I have an addition to my trailer that has acted well as a greenhouse but the nights are getting much cooler(I live in Vancouver) so at night I have brought them in the warmer house. Even though I am happy with my first time results and have learned much to apply next year, I would still like to keep my current plants going as long as possible. They are still healthy. Is there a good guide to wintering them, step by step. Pruning, insulating, lighting, whatever? Thank you for any help that with keep my plants going.

I have nine pepper plants growing in my basement under artificial light. 3 Bhut Jolokia, 2 Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, 2 Trinidad Douglah, a Orange Habanero Suave, and a yellow Bhut Jolokia. When the night-time temps fall below 55, the flowers will not produce and will possibly fall off. Same will happen with immature fruits. So I brought them in a few weeks ago. Some of them doubled in size in that short amount of time. It probably helps that the room gets up around 80 degrees when the lights are on and drops to the lower 60's at night.
I had them on a metal halide for 18 hours a day and switched to the HPS bulb a couple weeks ago and dropped the photoperiod down to 12/12.
Make sure your plants have plenty of calcium. Peppers need it. I give them a dose of that with their regular fertilizer every couple weeks.
I just bought an Apollo Horticulture GLK400GW19 400w grow light on Amazon for this season and it is amazing. For $125, it is an AWESOME deal. It puts out 36,000 lumens with the MH lamp and 56,000 with the HPS. A Home Depot florescent will only put out about 1,000. I also have some decent T5 florescents that pump out 5,000 lumens. I got those for around $30 a pop. Another decent deal is the Hydrofarm 125w compact florescent. I believe that puts out around 8,000 lumens. All I know is -- don't look directly at the bulb like I did. ;)

Here is a picture of my peppers from last week

Wow, just reading this thread for the first time and I'm impressed at how fast a run away train runs off the rails.

newcoyote, even for Van (a banana belt region compared to Ottawa) a July start is a bit late. You can bring them in when temps drop below 5C/40F. Even in a sunny window they'll enter dormancy. Water sparingly through the winter and increase in late Feb/Mar and add a little (1/4) strength food. OR, toss the plants (I know it will be hard) and start fresh in Feb with new seed..

loweride, just my 2 cents but, I've not noticed any benefit switching from MH to HID during the fruiting stage. Actually, I've read studies (cant ref them now) that found peppers unlike tomatoes don't benefit from the spectrum change.

Sorry Willard. I think you're a bit off base. It's not so much a pissing contest as it is someone is pissing in Peggylee33's cornflakes each morning! Too bad, members probably could have helped her/him?

ottawapepper, you're right. that conversation shoulda gona a lot differently.

that was the first time I've ever said anything negative on this forum. their reaction struck a nerve with how quickly they got all passive aggressive about not getting a solid answer in 2 hours (late at night). especially when they didn't give nearly enough information, in a place where we help each other for free. so I felt a strong need to speak my mind.

this isn't a call center where you can get somewhat more righteously angry if you are waiting a while for results because you're paying them. you guys help people simply because you're awesome people who wanna help people (I don't include myself in that category, I'm still a noob). and I guess I got offended that she would show such a sense of entitlement.

Ottawa - I have no idea if the MH to HPS does any good. My garden supplier said, "Some people believe it helps, but I don't think it matters." Both bulbs came with my lamp and I figured I'd go ahead and switch. So I'm actually experimenting and learning.

So, peggy, What are you wearing? ;)

j/k

But seriously. If you're still following this thread, 12" is awfully small for that many months of growth. They may be stunted for some reason.

Not sure where you are in AZ, but you just might want to try getting them in the ground right now. They may not fare any better because of lower temps and less sunshine, but at this point, it couldn't hurt. At the very worst, you'll learn something.

You just may want to toss them or try overwintering(google overwintering pepper plant).

Kevin