It depends strongly on the chile species.....

Some like it hot, some so not.

Think: New Mexico.
When I first started growing peppers I Google'd growing chile peppers and there are tons of university articles out there, most are from New Mexico, Im in Phoenix, Az and while similar in year-round sun, NM is a way higher in altitude so its' climate, is closer to that of Co. and probably pretty ideal except for the cold parts of the year.
Here, I have to adjust a little. They cant handle full-blast 110 plus degree sun all day, and nights dont cool enough during the hottest part of summer. All peppers like that natural-desert drop in temps, but in a concrete jungle it stays too hot at night for them.

I am in Western Colorado. The days in the summer are around 90-105, then the nights are around 65-75, sometimes a little warmer. I know last year my pepper crop was amazing. I got to a point where I just didn't know what to do with them all. I have read that they like hot days, cooler nights. I think I also remember that if it is too hot at night they will not set the fruits. I know once they are flowering cooler nights are better, once fall hit last year and the days were still around 80-90 but the nights dipped cooler, the jalapenos, serranos, habs, and anaheim were insane how many they produced. They produced new peppers until about Halloween, maybe longer. I remember having a fresh laundry basket of habeneros, sitting out on Halloween night.

What side of Co are you on?

Jen

Boulder. Just east of the mountains. On some of my varieties, leaves are light green and plants are growing slowly. Could this be temperature related?

I am a newbie at this but tried both serranos and habs this year from seeds (in March). I haven't given them anything but water (what a rookie, right?) but they're both growing like crazy and just started to flower within the last 2 weeks - I've just spied some tiny fruit the other day. Here in NW Florida, it's been in the low 90s during the day and mid/high 70s at night. Hope to get lots of fruit since hubby chews on hot peppers like it's a pretzel...

Since rainfall is part of the climate, how can anyone suggest that desert-like conditions are ideal? I'm no pepper expert, but I know peppers are prone to wilt before most other plants in my garden. This also suggests to me that they prefer high humidity.

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Since rainfall is part of the climate, how can anyone suggest that desert-like conditions are ideal? I'm no pepper expert, but I know peppers are prone to wilt before most other plants in my garden. This also suggests to me that they prefer high humidity.
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Many, many chiles are native to the high desert or serrano where it is extremely dry and the plants thrive.

Do you know the Sonora desert? Not very humid there......plenty of chiles.....

I agree it depends on the pepper. I think bells need something different but anchos, newmex/anaheim and "frying peppers" seem to thrive here in the dry heat/cool night, especially in the fall.My peppers et fruit in hotter daytime temps than my tomatoes, and don't seem to wilt to much. When they do, they recover in the evening, although I've been known to give them a midday shower as well.It's been about 104/63 for the last several days.

Well, my experience was with bell and habaneros wilting under water stress last year. This year, I have a larger selection to study, but, no dry spells, yet. Can anyone tell me which, if any, of the following are desert types?:

Tabasco
Tobago
Mariachi Hyb.
Caribbean Red
Chiltepin
Bulgarian Carrot
Banana Bill

I believe the ideal weather for peppers is at the equator up a mountain. like in equador. then it never freezes and it stays cool. it gets lots of sun. the peppers will grow for years.

"I believe the ideal weather for peppers is at the equator up a mountain. like in equador. then it never freezes and it stays cool. it gets lots of sun. the peppers will grow for years."

Let me point out that the only thing that we can infer from a plant's native habitat is that the growing conditions are adequate, but not necessarily ideal. For example, Kudzu grows better in Georgia, USA, than it's native habitat, Japan.

Dilbert I can't agree with you about peppers preferring high humidity. I live in SW Florida, and I think the humidity and high temperatures aren't ideal. With that combination it opens it self up to more diseases and infections that thrive in those environments.

Anyone from Hawaii? How well do various peppers grow there?

Habanero must be one of those that like a little higher humidity (at least in full sun) than we get here in Eastern Wa. I finally moved the containers to full morning sun with bright indirect afternoon sun and noticed a big difference. No more dry crisp leaf margins. The Barney, Pueblo, Thai and Pequin are loving the full sun low humidity. Pueblo is already producing peppers with some starting to turn black on the way to red :D

Vera

I think most of the Chinense species prefer to be in the humid tropical weather, look at most of the carribean peppers, and you will find chinenses. I live in West-Central FL, & I have noticed that my largest yielders are almost always chinense.

I live about 11 degrees north of the equator (Tobago). Chinense and Frutescens do very well here especially in the dry season. I do not live at high altitude and it can get hotter than 36Deg Celsius on any given day. Nights temps do not fall below 23 C. I observe that they do quite well with med to high humidity and because I am able to allow enough space for proper air circulation, diseases and pests are rare.
Sweet peppers and other annuals seem to require cooler temperatures in the order of 28- 30 Deg Celsius day temperature.
Heavy torrential rainfall is a definite no no for the fruiting of peppers. High winds and rain are a definite challenge.
I don't have much experience with the other species but I do agree with the other posts in that ideal environmental conditions would vary with species.
To dilbert; Which Tobago variety are you referring to?:
Tobago Faria
Tobago Congo
Tobago Bird Pepper ( can take the most pressure)
Tobago Seasoning Red or Yellow.
All these require some humidity although they can withstand high daytime temps .