Pepper plants won't make peppers?

Question

I have beautiful pepper plants. They are about a foot or so tall and have had dozens of blooms. I make sure to water them regularly, but the blooms always whither and die without making peppers. They get plently of sunlight, and it's not too cold or too hot outside. Why won't my pepper plants make any peppers?

Answer 1

If it gets hotter than 85F for a few days in a row, the peppers will drop their blossoms.  This is commonly referred to as "June Drop" here as that's when its hot and dry.

Give your peps some shade, make sure the soil is warm and moist and mulched.

Many other tropical plants like tomatoes will drop their blossoms as well if it gets too hot.

Answer 2

They are probably getting TOO much sunlight.  Bell peppers and summer squash will go into survival mode and shed blossoms whent they are stressed, such as extremely hot conditions. You might want to give them a little temporary  shade during the hottest part of the day.  You can make some shade with cardboard staked over them.  :)

Answer 3

Watch for bees, if the flowers do not get pollinated they will drop. you can do it yourself with a q-tip.

Answer 4

Try this:  take a gallon of water and put 2 tablespoons of Epsom Salts in it, give it a stir/shake and water your plants with it.  I'd say you should get about 4 plants per gallon.  Then wait 2 weeks and hit them with it again.

Answer 5

Possibly too much nitrogen. I'm guessing by the way you're describing your plants, that you've used some sort of food/fertilizer on them, right? Too much nitrogen, even from organic sources, can cause lots of lush growth and no fruiting. Another possible reason has to do with water. I know you say you water frequently, but do you water deep enough? One of the worst things for plants is to water too shallow, too often, which makes for shallow roots and generally non-productive plants. They should be getting about an inch a week, over two or three waterings, depending on your soil type. I hope this helps, I know it's dissapointing.

Answer 6

Call your local nurseries and ask for bloom set. It's an expensive little spray, but it works. For some reason, it's been in short supply this year, so call ahead. :)