Planning to grow peppers this season? Great! Peppers are chock-full of good flavor and nutrition. Here’s a guide to help you reap your best pepper crop ever, whether you’re starting with your own transplants or planting ones you bought at your local garden center.
Family | Solanaceae |
Growing zones | N/A |
Growing season(s) | warm weather |
Spacing | 18 inches |
Start indoors or direct sow | start indoors or purchase transplants |
Indoor sowing date | 8 weeks before transplant (6 weeks before average last frost) |
Earliest outdoor planting | 2 weeks after last spring frost |
Soil temperature | 65° to 95° |
Fall planting | N/A |
Sun needs | 8+ hours |
Water needs | high |
Harvest category | all season |
Keep in Mind Tip: | If you harvest more bell peppers than you can use fresh, slice or chop them, lay them on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer, and freeze them. Once they’re frozen, scoop the peppers into resealable freezer bags for storing and use them year-round. |
Snapshot | An iconic summer vegetable, peppers make an appearance in almost every garden. Whether you grow bell, hot, specialty, or a combination, give peppers warm weather, plenty of water, and ample soil fertility, and enjoy this versatile vegetable until frost. Peppers are actually a perennial vegetable, so if your area doesn’t receive frosts, you may enjoy peppers year-round. |
Starting | Start seeds indoors in a soil warmed with a seedling heat mat or placed on top of a clothes dryer or refrigerator. Seeds can take a couple of weeks to sprout. Transfer them to larger pots as the plants grow, and don’t plant them in the garden too early. Peppers thrive in hot weather; wait until nighttime temperatures are consistently in the upper 50s Fahrenheit at minimum. Peppers grow well in raised beds and containers, where the soil heats up faster. |
Growing | Young peppers benefit from fish emulsion applied every couple of weeks until flowering. Then switch to a phosphorus-rich fertilizer such as liquid kelp. Stake plants by tying the main stem to a wooden stake, or use a tomato cage. Keep in full sun, though growers in southern areas with oppressive summer heat may find afternoon shade beneficial. |
Harvesting and Storing | Bell peppers can be harvested green or left on the plant to ripen into their mature color (usually red but also yellow, purple, or brown). Pick green peppers early for highest production, because this signals the plant to keep flowering and fruiting. Toward the middle of the season, start letting peppers ripen to their mature color. As the days get shorter, this ripening process quickens. Store peppers in the refrigerator. |
Common Problem | Dark, rotten areas on fruit are either caused by blossom-end rot or piercing insect damage. In the case of blossom-end rot, ensure plants are evenly watered and mulched. The rest of the fruit is edible; just cut around the blemish. White areas on the fruit are caused by sunscald (too much sun exposure to the fruit itself). Provide afternoon shade until the hottest weather passes. |
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