GROWING PEPPERS iN MANY VARIETIES

I have discussed in container vegetable gardening a little about growing peppers but in the view of planting them in your garden we have not covered this topic. There are many varieties of peppers but it is not my intention to cover each type of pepper that can be grown but there will be a few of the most popular covered here. There are two ways to go about planting peppers either you buy small plants from the garden shop or start them from your own seed. THe best way to cover seed starting is to review how to start seed and get the most for your effort and you will be returned to here by closing the seed starting page. I have experimented with both methods and I still find buying the plants the easier of the two for this type of vegetable. If you have the equipment by all means do the seed starting.

The one thing to remember here about growing peppers is not to direct sow them in the garden as too much time is wasted in getting them to a productive stage. The peppers in a popularity contest would be won by the sweet bell pepper,banana types and the hot peppers such as chile,cayenne and jalapeno. You normally pick your peppers in the immature green cycle for use in salads and other cooking dishes.

GROWING PEPPERS IN YOUR GARDEN

You can grow them as pictured but I feel they grow best in a garden environment. Whatever variety you decide to plant the general instructions are about the same. I will cover with you some of the most popular and interesting types after I cover the planting techinques to be followed. The growing pepper plant has its best chance of becoming an outstanding vegetable plant when the temperatures are warm. It is very unforgiving in the cold and planting should be delayed until all danger of frost has disappeared. The pepper thrives in temperatures of 70 to 80 degrees during the day and 60 t0 70 degrees during the night.

There are many circumstances with the growing peppers that can lead to blossom drop. This includes temperatures that soar to ninety and above. You should listen closely to your weather forecast and if these extreme temperatures are predicted by all means cover your pepper plants with a light cloth. Just be careful not to break the stems under weight of the cloth. A temperature drop below 60 degrees at night will also result in blossom drop again requiring some kind of heat or cover. A dry garden at bloom time can also result in blossom drop or the plants may fail to set fruit. The soil must be moist but don't mistake soggy and water logged conditions for moist soil.

JUST AN ADDITONAL WORD ABOUT STARTING YOUR GROWING PEPPER PLANTS FROM SEED

It is best to start your seeds inside about eight weeks before your last frost. I would use a 2" or maybe even a little bigger pot because from my experience the larger pot will result in larger peppers because of a better root system. The seeds should be sown in a moist lightweight mix.

After you have the first true leaves thin the bell pepper plants to only one in a pot. The worst thing you can do here is to utilize plastic cover start trays as they create an extremely humid area which is too stale. Please don't use peat pots as they retain way too much moisture and you could experience damping off of your plants. I know this from a season long ago of frustration. You are best to use plastic pots.

Whether you are transplanting your growing peppers from seedlings or purchased garden shop stock the method is the same.If you are purchasing them from your local garden shop make sure they don't already have flowers or fruits because the shock of planting at this place in their growth could result in loss of blossom and or fruit. You should space your plants 18 to 24 inches apart under the conditions described above avoiding cold weather,dry weather or lack of a good fertilizer.

A lot of gardeners become anxious and transplant their pepper plants too soon in the growing season. The soil should be at least 70-85 degrees before planting your growing peppers. It would be a good idea to use black plastic mulch on the soil prior to planting to assist in heating up the soil.Another practice that should be avoided is planting your peppers in the same bed as other plants such as tomatoes,potatoes and eggplant because all contract the same diseases.

The growing pepper plants are not too vulnerable in regard to soil acidity but your good results are ususally with the acidity mark around 6.0 to 6.8 pH. A fertilizer of a 1-2-2 ratio such as 5-10-10 or 8-16-16 can be used for the best peppers.You may want to apply an additional application of fertilizer as the peppers begin to set. This application may use a 12-12-12 fertilizer which is high in nitrogen and in both cases at the package reommended rate.

Your peppers will require a lot of watering just not soggy. The use of mulches,after your plants are well established, will aid in keeping your soil moist. If you do use black plastic mulch more frequent watering will be necessary. I have used a soaker hose beneath the plastic mulch which makes it an easier job in the watering process.The plant diseases incude anthracnose,blossom end rot,early blight and verticillium wilt which are all described in my discussion of plant diseases just click here and when your finished you will be returned to here The same goes for insects such as aphids,colorado potato beetle,and hornworms which are all described in my discussion of insects just click here and when your finished you will be returned to here

SEVERAL VARIETIES OF GROWING PEPPERS

There are several kinds of peppers which I will briefly discuss with you here besides the bell pepper that is pictured above. I have been quite surprised as to how some of these have turned out especially the sweet banana pepper which is a prolific little pepper producing sometimes in excess of 12 per day. A little survey will exists at the bottom of this page to inform everyone how you make use of this pepper. Please fill out don't be bashful.

The banana pepper is a very high producer growing banana shaped peppers that begin in a pale color but change to a deep yellow or orange at maturity. Sweet Banana peppers maybe fried or cooked to brown,used raw on relish platters,in salads,sandwiches or even stuffed. You tell us how you use these and the recipe that goes with it and I will published it right here see below. This sounds like a lot of fun and I can hardly wait to see all the different uses for this pepper

Cherry peppers are very attractive pod type pepper and does resemble the shape of a cherry. It measures about one and three quarter inches in diameter. It is a warm pepper and ranges from moderate in mildness to meduim heat. A mildly hot pepper but still has minute trace of sweetness. It can be described as very fleshy and matures from red to green. It is considered a good pickling and home garden pepper.

We also know about those peppers picture here the jalapeno on the left and the the cayenne pepper in the center all excellent growing peppers.

What Can You Do With A Ton Of Banana Peppers?

There is just too too many of these banana peppers to cope with at our house. We grew these last summer and let me tell you these are prolific little guys. We need ideas and probably other readers also as to the use of these peppers and maybe some good recipes to make other delicious dishes. A salad is the only thing I can think of but there must be some good ideas out there. Please let us know!

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Return To Gardening From Growing Peppers