Bell Peppers flowering and not producing fruit

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vj2651 Chicago, IL Nov 15, 2011

I planted a few bell pepper seeds near the end of summer from a bell pepper I was eating. I wasn't expecting them to germinate and actually grow into tall plants. I'm from Chicago and weather conditions indoor are not great for growing peppers but the plants are growing well. I've put a 100 watt lamp on the pot because they aren't getting much heat or sun. I noticed last night that they plants are starting to flower. Any reason why the plants are flowering instead of producing fruit?

I understand that conditions are awful for bell peppers but this is more of a learning experience for me. Thanks

Bubs

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Post #8891003
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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Nov 15, 2011

Flowers always come before fruit. If the flowers are pollinated, then you will get fruit later. But since you're growing them indoors, I'm not sure that they'll get pollinated without your help, so you may have to hand pollinate them.

Post #8891061
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vj2651 Chicago, IL Nov 15, 2011

Hello ecrane,

How hard is hand pollinating? Glad to hear that this is normal, really want to taste a hand grown pepper. Thanks

bubs

Post #8891096
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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Nov 15, 2011

You can use a paintbrush to hand pollinate. However...I believe that peppers need some level of heat & sun to produce good fruit, so growing this one indoors you may not end up with much in the way of peppers that taste good. It's always fun to experiment though.

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vj2651 Chicago, IL Nov 16, 2011

Thanks ecrane. Going to wait for some more flowers and try the paintbrush method to pollinate. The plants are in a corner of the room that gets a ton of sunlight and is close to heating vents so temp is always above 70. Lets see what happens.

Bubs

Post #8892401
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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Nov 16, 2011

Unless it's quite a bit above 70 that doesn't count as hot :) Being too close to heating vents may not make the plants happy either--warm dry air blowing on plants can cause stress so I'd make sure that they're not directly in the path of the hot air.

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