I'm in Zone 6a in Central Illinois and I'm setting up a small raised bed for growing peppers, primarily Poblano. Last summer, I used containers and my sweet peppers thrived in full sun until we hit those intense dry heat waves with temperatures in the triple digits. I had to move them to a shaded spot to give them some relief. Now, I'm considering two options for my raised bed: one spot gets sun all day, while the other only sees full sun after noon. Since peppers enjoy heat and sunshine, I'm curious if it's wiser to anticipate future heat waves and place them in the afternoon sun location, or will that not provide enough sunlight for them? This is only my second year gardening, so any advice would be super helpful!
3 Answers
From what I've seen, peppers can actually thrive with a bit of shade. I've found that if I plant them near larger plants that can provide some afternoon relief, they do much better. For instance, I have my peppers on the east side of taller crops like corn and eggplant, and they seem to appreciate it!
By the end of July, my peppers usually can't handle those hot, dry afternoons and tend to wilt. I've had good success giving them morning sun with afternoon shade. They love temperatures over 80°F, but too much heat can be tough for them! I planted tall sunflowers and some figs nearby to help shield them from the harsh sun.
How much sun are we talking about after noon? You typically need around six hours of sunlight for peppers to do fine. My setup gets full sun from about 6 AM to noon, and they thrive in that. They still get good light until sunset around 8:30 PM, and that seems to work well for them.
It's actually southwest facing, so they would catch sun pretty much until sunset!