Question
 I am having problems with my tomato pepper plant's blooms falling off.  The plant is producing a healthy number of blooms, but after the flowers open, the blooms eventually just fall off.  What is it that may be killing the blooms, and not allowing my plant to begin to produce peppers(hot peppers)? This plant is also potted, and I have used Miracle-Gro potting soil.

Answer
Ava, blossom-drop on most vegetables is almost always caused by poor pollination. However, peppers are self-pollinating and are therefore the exception to the rule.

The primary reasons peppers drop their blossoms are inconsistent watering and temperature fluctuations. Peppers need night time temperatures to stay above 65F. But they will also drop blooms when daytime temperatures stay consistently above 90F.

One way to reduce this stress on the plants is to water deeply twice per week and mulch heavily with dried grass clippings or straw. The mulch will help retain moisture while balancing the temperature of the soil. Also, avoid fertilizing during extremely hot periods.

Attached is a website that will give you even more information on proper growing conditions for peppers.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/vegetables/pepper.html

Good luck, and please write again if I can ever be of assistance.

Regards,

Mike