What Effect Does Sugar Water Have on Pepper Plants?

Photosynthesis

• In a process known as photosynthesis, plants use sunlight to convert water into oxygen and hydrogen. Plants expel oxygen. Hydrogen is used by the plant to manufacture sugar from carbon dioxide obtained from the air. Living plants cannot survive without sugar. Normally pepper plants produce all the sugar they need to sustain life. However, sugar production can be impeded by soil conditions, temperature and the amount of light the plant receives.

Temperature

• Unless grown in a controlled greenhouse environment, pepper plants are subject to the whims of the weather. Growing temperatures can fluctuate greatly. Pepper plants grow best when the daylight temperature is 10 to 15 degrees warmer than the nighttime temps. Daylight temperatures of 70 to 80 degrees F. promote vigorous growth. The variance between daylight and night temperatures allows the plant to photosynthesize and build up nutrients and respire and breakdown by-products in the warmth of the day. The cooler nighttime temps curtail the plants rate of respiration. High temperatures result in increased respiration, occasionally greater than the rate of photosynthesis. Products produced by photosynthesis are used faster than they can be produced. For healthy plant growth, the photosynthesis rate must be greater than respiration. If hot summer days cause your pepper plants to droop, spritz with sugar water to restore moisture and provide a needed energy boost.

Natural Sugars

• All living plants, including peppers, require oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron, calcium, sulfur, manganese, magnesium, copper, zinc, boron, chlorine and molybdenum to survive. Oxygen, hydrogen and carbon are obtained from the atmosphere. Other necessary nutrients are present in soil or must be supplemented by the addition of fertilizers. A natural fertilizer, dark molasses (unsulfured) is a rich source of micro-nutrients and sugar.

Sugar Supplementation

• An excess of sugar has a profound effect on plant metabolism and can affect plant growth and development. The American Society of Plant Physiologists reports that high concentrations of sugar (in excessive of 5 percent) delayed flowering time while increasing the amount of foliage present at flowering. Gardeners do not seek lots of foliage on pepper plants. They want the energy of the plant directed to producing firm, flavorful fruit. Sugar availability is manipulated when pepper plant blossoms first appear. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar or corn syrup to 1 gallon of water. Water the pepper plants with the mixture weekly, as soon as flower buds start to form.