Peppers

Question from Sarah:
Is there any way I can grow peppers in the fall/winter season in california? I live in the bay area

Answer from Pat:
Peppers are a summer vegetable, which means we plant them in spring and we harvest them in summer. One always has more luck going with the correct planting dates for each crop and not trying to push the seasons. There are reasons that crops are grown at specific times of year and not at others. Some plants grow and develop during winter and in some cases, also, certain crops—globe onions are one—need the lengths of days to be growing shorter or, after the winter solstice, longer in order to grow. In the case of peppers, they are not so much affected by daylength but they do need a long, warm, growing season in order to develop sizeable fruit and thus peppers will not grow well if planted in fall.

Wait to plant peppers until the night temperatures are consistently 55 ° F or higher in spring and then plant them as soon as possible after that. This is because peppers will not set fruit in hot weather. In my organic book there is a box on page 279 that gives you the low-down on peppers. If you read that box you will learn that peppers like temperatures of 60 to 75° F best in order to set fruit. Daytime temperatures of 75° F are best for the fruit-setting season of peppers. If the temperatures get higher than 90° F then blossoms will fall off. So, you see, though peppers are a warm season crop it’s also a total mistake to think they grow best in blazing hot summers. Once they set the fruit then okay fine they can take the heat but if hot weather comes to early then your crop will fail. In fall it’s the opposite way around, even if you get your plants to set fruit, you won’t have the long days of warmth to make them grow to full size. In fall you can’t provide enough heat except maybe in a greenhouse.