[CH] Chiles dropping flowers

Nicholas Merriam (nam@minster.cs.york.ac.uk)
Mon, 22 Jun 1998 17:45:23 +0100

Can anybody help me with this one? I am a first time chile grower and
I am growing a couple of varieties of chile (Hot Banana & Ancho 101)
in my south facing office in the north of England.

The plants are thriving in all respects bar one, which is that the
flowers and their supporting little stalks are dropping off before the
fruits begin to form. The base of the stalk becomes very narrow and
then the whole thing drops off.

Looking in "The Pepper Garden" and at other information, the only
suggested cause I can find is high temperatures. It doesn't get that
hot in here during the day (approx 75-80F) but the temperature is more
or less uniform and doesn't drop at night. Could it be these high
night-time temperatures which are causing the problem?

I enclose a uuencoded picture of one of the dropped flowers
but I have also put it on the web in case that is easier:
http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/~nam/deadFlower.jpg

Many thanks in anticipation,

Nick

--
N. Merriam, Department of Computer Science, U. of York, York  YO10 5DD
Telephone: (+44/0) 1904 434755,         Facsimile: (+44/0) 1904 432767
Email: Nick.Merriam@cs.york.ac.uk  WWW: http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/~nam/

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