No experience growing in the desert but I am growing in Florida and we have hot and VERY humid days (102-105, last few days).

The trick is to grow in a nice shady spot.

So they don't need direct sun to produce flowers? I will start keeping her in the shade then too. Hopefully that helps. I think my hab would love to have ANY humidity. It's so dry here.

How are you watering them? Where are they planted? Are they mulched?

I'm not having any problems with serranos and NM greens. And I'm in AZ.

I use Shade Cloth when It gets too hot.80%

I get mine at the nursery.
Mine is 3 or 4 yrs old and not showing much wear.Outside 24/7 year round.

Here is a link that might be useful: shade cloth

That's too hot for most plants, honestly. Over 85°F, and most plants begin to shut down.

A plant can get its "full sun" throughout the day. You don't need direct, unfiltered sun.
In fact, a bit of direct morning sun, partial noon sun, and some afternoon shade is just about perfect.

I would guess that the smaller plants have less surface to be affected, and they're also acclimating
their tissue at an earlier stage in their development.
Let us know how they do!

Josh

After throwing out several peppers due to the sun scalding, I went and got some sun shade at HD. It seems to be working and everything under it seems very appreciative. I am also in Phoenix. I think the biggest problem is the lack of humidity. Only 2% a few days ago. Tied a record!

smoke,

Thanks very much for the shade cloth link. I'd been searching Ebay and Amazon for this type of fabric, but the vendor at your Link had exactly what I needed....and at half the cost!!

Raybo

I didn't even notice the price. LOL
I was just looking for anyone who had pics and a better discription of the shade cloth in case you didn't know what it was.
I have found it's also good in keeping my pots from getting flooded in the rain.
Mine is hooked up to the building and I roll it up when not needed.
I put metal stakes in 2 corner pots to stretch it out on when I need it in Aug. or whenever.

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@ smokemaster_2007

What are all those bottle on sticks? Some kind of watering system?

And what are the other stakes in the pots for? A place to tie off plants when they get laded down with fruit?

From these photos and other photos of you plants I've seen you look like you know what you are doing, so I will take all the advice I can get....

The bottles hold the net away from the plants so it doesn't get tangled in the plants-see the bird netting from the cloth to the ground in the pics.
The net keeps the wild cats out and people from messing with my garden.
Cats love to crap in my pots-digging up any plants that tickle their butts when they squat.
I also put mouse traps set upside down in my pots.
When they get tripped they hop up in the air.
When they land on another one it starts a chain reaction of other upside down traps.
Traps have to be upside down to hop real high when they go off.

Pretty funny watching a cat trying to crap when one of the traps goes off and sets off a chain reaction.

Picture a cat in a squatting position in the air a foot above the pots, then running in mid air like in the roadrunner cartoons when they go over a cliff and hang in mid air for a second or two before falling to the ground.
Since a lot of pots have traps in them they usually land on more,setting them off too.
After a while I don't even have to set the traps.If they see a mouse trap they turn around and go away.

lmao, you should try to record it on video some time, probably get a million hits on utube....

For some strange reason they stay clear of my pots this year. LOL

I live in the HOT desert of Southern California. I have a 4 year old jalapeno that is in ground and about 4' tall. It is full of peppers at all times! I have another one in full sun, and it struggles. Shade is very important. Mine is next to a North Facing wall, so it gets some morning and late afternoon sun. It's very happy there!

I have pepperoncinis in full sun, and they are producing, but very dwarfed. All my peppers are in ground because they don't take up much room, anyway.

We have sprinklers on timers that keep the ground damp most of the time.

For containers, I would use a well draining, water retaining soil mix. I use 4 parts Turface, 3 parts pine bark fines, 2 parts crushed granite, and 1 part vermiculite. It drains like crazy, but holds the water for 3 days, even in our heat!! I have grapevines and pomegranates planted in it.

My son lives in a cooler climate in Temecula California, and he is VERY jealous of my juicy HUGE pepper! Also, one of the main commercial crops here in Coachella is bell peppers. They will grow in 110-120 degree heat, but they might plant in spring, fall, winter. Not sure about that.

My pepper does not like winter here. Too cold, and it gets crazy looking peppers. Still produces, but these things are very small with a strange dried up tip on them.

Hope that helped you!
Suzi

I have a young VERY happy red chili plant as well as a jalepeno and yellow bell pepper. The key in Arizona is to provide a little afternoon shade and to water somewhat frequently. Chilis and peppers do great here as long as you provide a little relief from the sun.

Grow tepins and pequins. They love the desert.

I don't have the heat problem because I am up at 4600ft in AZ but I have some other problems one of which I just can't get to go away.

1)Aphids and other tiny insects that seem to instantly develop tolerance to pesticides...helped greatly with Neem oil and dish soap spray. 2)Yellowing of leaves and blossom end rot/white patches on the peppers...Epsom salts plus rain water end this.

3) root problems...this I can't seem to stop. Stunted roots, knotted roots. Plants fall over, wilt and just don't thrive. Tomatoes and eggplant grow really well. I seem to get beet leaf hopper virus on tomatoes that are not potato leafed but really not a big deal. Eggplants go like crazy once` sprayed once with the neem oil. I was convinced it was a soil fungus/disease(might still be) but I even get it in plants grown in pots with purchased potting soil. The tortured plants do produce extremely hot peppers but very few. I have had some luck with serrano and habenaro in pots.I actually get more peppers from my 3 year old bonsai Serrano than the 40 plants in my garden. Ancho and all sweet peppers really just stink. Jalapeno and pasilla do a bit better but are still runt plants. Tried adding organic material, use raised beds, different water amounts and schedules. Almost ready to try htdroponics. LOL I moved to AZ just so I could grow peppers(not really).

Chiltepins and other bird eye peppers like the heat better than most do, I grow several wild ones each year here in Missouri and have one that self seeds and I get a good crop of them. even the wild ones that grow in the desert need some shade and you will normally find them growing under some sort of tree or brush.
George W.

Thank you everyone for your advice and the awesome photos. I apologize for not getting in here and responding earlier (I don't have the internet at home). My hab finally bit the dust I fear. I clipped the fruit off and cut it way down last night. We'll see if that kicks it back in gear.

I originally mulched it 50/50 with organic veggie soil from Walmart. Also, I was watering daily from a watering can. Was trying not to get the plant itself wet because I read that the sun will burn the leafs then. I did just use a 6-10-10 granual on it a couple days before the plant dried up. Wonder if that could have had something to do with it. I only used a tiny bit because the directions don't tell you how much to use for a single potted plant.

I am going to go to Low's Depot to construct a shady section in my back yard. The north facing wall is not an option at my house. W, S, and E are however. What would you recommend?

Today is going to be about 116 degrees.

And my seedlings are still very happy. They enjoy a daily soak and about 4 hours of sun.