Peppers usually produce if they get at least eight to 10 hours of sun a day. Unfortunately, extremely hot days and nights, along with drought stress, can cause a lack of blossoms, blossom drop, and unfertilized blossoms, which also drop off the plants. Beth Jarvis wrote an article a few years ago entitled "Where Have the Vegetable Flowers Gone." Here is an excerpt addressing peppers: "What does temperature have to do with poor pepper set? Peppers are frost-sensitive, so they should be the very last thing to go into the garden in spring. Putting them out too early, before the soil has warmed, may inhibit their development. However, they will tolerate warm weather better than their tomato cousins. "Ideal weather for peppers includes temperatures between 68 and 77 degrees F, and peppers grow better when nighttime temperatures don't exceed 68 degrees F. Small-fruited cultivars are more tolerant of temperature extremes. "Peppers do not respond to day length; they simply begin to bloom 30 to 60 days after planting. It usually takes a month for a blossom to turn into a mature pepper. "It won't matter how many bees you have around, because peppers are self-pollinators. Pollen production is adversely affected, resulting in unfertilized flowers, at temperatures below 60.8 degrees F or above 89.6 degrees F. "Even watering is important to peppers because, even though they're somewhat drought-tolerant, moisture stress during flowering may cause small fruit or flowers to drop off."

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