I'm in Western NY, and there have been years when my bell peppers have
languished in the summer heat, and started to rock & roll in September
when the weather cooled down. I've concluded that when experts say a plant
likes full sun, that doesn't necessarily mean they like heat. In my
current garden, I've planted them so they'll be shaded by the tomato cages
during the hottest part of the day.

You might try shading them with window screen stapled to wooden stakes.
And, be sure they're mulched. I use lawn clippings for that, adding about
an inch every couple of weeks.


We are just now getting hot weather, and when it was cooler they didn't look
any better. I thought maybe I was watering them too much? The eggplants
right next to them are exploding out of the ground. I read up on them, and
all I really found was that they like hot weather, evenly moist soil but not
wet soil. I'm going to fertilize them and step up the watering and see what
happens. I read up on eggplants, and found the same thing - hot weather,
moist soil, go figure?