In article ,
"Paul M. Cook" wrote:

I can't do much about the heat here in SoCal. Even the shade is 92F today
and literature says peppers drop over 90F. So my bell peppers have started
to drop their buds and small fruit. I have several larger peppers holding
their own. The plant is not stressed, it gets water every day and needs it,
the nights have been rather warm and the days in the low 90s. I gave them
all a drink of magnesium this morning - 2 tablespoons for a gallon of water.
What else can I do? The one that drops the most buds is in a 5 gallon white
bucket. Could the roots be getting too hot? I was thinking about wrapping
some foil around the bucket.

Using Epsom Salts is for magnesium deficiency, which isn't likely in
potting soil (or most parts of the country).

Your plants are heat stressed.

Optimum temperatures fall between 70 degrees and 80 degrees F. for
bell-type peppers.

Fruit Set Priorities
Large fruitssmall fruitsflowerssmall buds
(retained) (dropped)

Survival strategy is to complete the life cycle with at Survival least a
few offspring (seeds), and not to waste energy on extra flowers and buds

You will lose fruit, but you will have a crop. Welcome to the wonderful
world of agriculture;O)

I think your best course is to cut back on your watering (to avoid rot
rot), unless the top soil is dry, and, depending on how much you want to
increase your crop, use an electric fan on them during the hottest time
of the day.
--

- Billy

There are three kinds of men: The ones that learn by reading. The few who
learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and
find out for themselves.
Will Rogers

http://countercurrents.org/roberts020709.htm
http://www.tomdispatch.com/p/zinn