Stevie wrote:
Hi Guys,

This is my first post and I am a total novice so please excuse my
total lack of knowledge.

I have decided to grow chillies this year as I love eating them and so
far so good, I have 26 plants in total with a mixture of regular
chillies, Habanero, Japaleno and Serrano and quite a few are starting
to grow buds.

I do not have a green house but I do have a conservatory so have been
keeping them on/near the window sill in there. As you know, over the
last few days we have had very hot weather and I expected the chillies
to love this but every day I come home from work and they look like
they are about to keel over and die!! I water them in the morning and
my wife gives them a little drink at lunch time but by the time I get
home they have wilted and look very sorry for themselves. They perk
up as the temperature drops but I am concerned that this is damaging
them and could affect the fruit they 'may' produce. I know that
chillies like sunlight and heat but as there is no air flow in the
conservatory so am I suffocating them?

It does seem that the plants that are away from the window sill are
affected less so should I move them from the direct sunlight while the
weather is so hot?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have other queries but will
post these later.

Thanks in advance!

Stevie
(Novice Chilli Grower)

Not knowing your climate makes it hard to say if outdoor growing or behind
glass is preferable. Similarly not knowing where you are makes it hard to
guess what you mean by "very hot weather" Do you have a figure in mind?
Here "very hot weather" means over 40C, YMMV.

What size pots are they in? If you have them in small pots they will suck
all the water out quite soon if in the sun and then they will wilt, this is
not good for growth as they will not photosynthesise properly while wilted.
Chillies need to be in full sun to bloom and to fruit well, this implies
having a steady supply of soil moisture as well.

Lack of airflow indoors may produce extreme temperatures but unless you say
what the temperature reaches in this conservatory we are all guessing. A
common problem with closed environments is that the humidity and
condensation encourage harmful fungi which can be very destructive.

David