By Bev Johnson

Master Gardener

Bunkey noticed that he had really uneven fruit set in some of his garden vegetables, especially the peppers, tomatoes and pumpkins. Since George was puttering around in his garden, Bunkey asked him if he had the same problems? “It’s the heat.” George replied.

Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes, Chinese lanterns, ground cherries, and tomatillos are all of the same family, Solanaceae, the nightshade family. Belladonna, nightshade weeds, jimson weed nicotiana, and tobacco are also cousins.

What does this have to do with peppers? They are frost sensitive so should be the very last thing to go in the garden in spring. They don’t like cold soil and will pout for a while. Unlike their tomato cousins, they will tolerate warm weather. A pepper’s idea of perfect weather is 68 to 77. They also grow better if the nighttime temperatures are below 68. The small types are more tolerant of temperature extremes than the big bells. Peppers, unlike some other plants, don’t respond to day length but simply start to bloom 30 to 60 days after planting. It usually takes a full month for a blossom to become a full-sized pepper. If you don’t like the taste of peppers, it may be because you have only had them green. Like apples, green peppers aren’t ripe. Leave them on the plant until they turn red, yellow, or orange depending on the variety. Don’t fret if you don’t see bees on your pepper plant. They are self-pollinators. However, if the temperatures are under 60 or over 89, pollen production is affected, and the flowers won’t be pollinated. They like even watering although they are somewhat drought tolerant, if it is too dry during flowering you may get small fruit, or it might just drop off.

To get a good crop of tomatoes, night temperatures are more important than days are. They like wide swings in temperatures day to night with 77 to 86 days and 60 to 68 at night. If it is warmer than 86 or cooler than 59, you will get poor fruit set. If nights are cooler than 75 or days hit 100, they will simply drop all their blossoms and not set fruit at all. High temperatures raise havoc with tomato   fertilization by not only reducing pollen production but also reducing the viability of the plant ovary. If you want to help pollinate your tomatoes just give them a shake.

If your first tomato has a black bottom, it is due to uneven watering. The plant can’t take up enough calcium resulting in blossom end rot. The rest of the crop should be fine, especially if you have mulched around it preventing soil splashing up on the plant.

Squash, melons, pumpkins and cucumbers are cousins. Most of them have separate male and female flowers on the same plant. You can tell which is the female flower as a tiny fruit will be attached to it. Cucurbits generally produce male flowers first. Unusually, there are 25 male flowers to one lonely female depending on the species. If the plant drops small fruit, it is just a female flower that didn’t get pollinated.

Plant hormones affect flower production, and they are affected by weather. Long, warm days prompt male flowers while the females like shorter days and cooler weather. Summer squash like zucchini do produce more fruit than winter squash. Don’t plant more than one unless you have LOTS of neighbors with no gardens.