Paul M. Cook wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Paul M. Cook wrote:
How is this for a strategy:

I will feed heavy nitrogen until the plants are about 20 inches
tall. During this time I snip emerging buds. After the plant has
grown to height, I reduce the nitrogen and allow it to set fruit.

I am trying to avoid the mistakes I made last year. Namely my
plants were far too small when the summer heat hit (zone 8b). The
buds tended to drop off on their own. And when the heat went away,
the nights were too cool for them and the fruit never really
reached its best. I got some nice, but small fruit and not much of
that. I want to get as much growth on these and have set fruit before
July. June here is usually pretty reasonable for peppers. My
peppers are about 9 inches tall at the moment.

How long is your growing season from last frost to first frost?


Frost? What's that?

I live in SoCal area, kind of high desert(ish). We have no frost. I
would say that the growing season for peppers (greater than 55F
nights) is probably about tax day through mid-October.

I don't know when you pay your taxes but I gather you are saying it is a
long season. The variations in climate continue to amaze me, I am in a
region that as near as I can tell would be classed as zone 9b (which says
your mid-winter temperatures are colder than mine) but I get the possibility
of frost from May to September. Some years I can get 6-10 hard frosts in a
winter, sometimes just a few light ones.

Summer heat
is a problem for plants like tomatoes and peppers as 3 digit days are
common from July through August and sometimes into September. Typical
summer day is 95-98F.
This year I will install an awning.

I also have a rather hot summer, typical days are 32C (87F) and several days
of 38-42C (100-106F) are likely. I have no problem with peppers but the
humidity is often high here in summer.

If you problem really is the summer heat interfereing with flowering I don't
see forcing the growing will do much at all. And I cannot see how cutting
the early buds does anything useful, surely you want those fruit that are
already set to grow on through the heat of summer even if no more set for a
while?

I would try heavier mulch on the roots, steady watering (if you have the
water to spare), the sun shade in the hottest part of day and trying
different cultivars to find those that suit your climate best.

David