Growing Peppers

Pepper Planting

Peppers, especially hot pepper plants with their colorful fruits, are ideal for spot planting around a garden, providing contrast in flowerbeds, or brightening a container garden. When growing peppers in beds, avoid planting the peppers where other members of the nightshade family have been previously planted as they are subject to similar diseases. To prevent cross-pollination, hot pepper plants should not be planted near sweet or bell pepper plants.

Some pepper planting pointers are:

• When buying pepper plants choose those that are sturdy with deep green leaves and without fruit or blossoms.
• Choose a location in your garden, patio or home that receives morning sun.
• While full sun and heat are good for peppers, too much can damage the fruit. Protect from the intense afternoon sun with taller plants (or beans on a trellis), by planting them in a block no more than 1½ feet apart, or situating house or patio pepper plants so that they will receive filtered light in the afternoons.
• Transplant pepper plants to garden beds two to three weeks after the last frost and when the soil temperature is at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius).
• When transferring pepper plants to a garden bed or container, do so in the evening or on a cloudy day to reduce the chance of sunscald.
• Keep the soil moist—not soggy—to encourage root development and prevent blossom wilting and bitter-tasting peppers. Use a mulch, such as straw, grass clippings or plastic mulch, to keep moisture in and protect roots.
• Ensure that the soil drains well, whether in a garden or container, so that the roots aren't sitting in water. Raised beds are helpful in poor-draining garden soil.
• Chili peppers like an acidic soil: 5.0-6.0 pH.

Bell Pepper Plants

• 'Bell Boy'—high yielding bell pepper plant producing green fruit that is red when mature.
• 'Jingle Bell'—productive plant producing miniature bell peppers that mature to red or yellow.
• 'Orobelle'—sturdy plant producing large blocky peppers that are golden when mature.
• 'Purple Beauty'—compact plant producing green peppers that mature to a dark purple and keep their color when cooked.

Hot Pepper Plants

• 'Anaheim TMR23'—high yielding hot pepper plants producing medium heat peppers good for stuffing
• Cayenne—prolific hot pepper plant producing wrinkly-skinned peppers that mature from green to brilliant red, sometimes even yellow
• Jalapeno—green thick-walled hot pepper, typically used for salsas and salads
• 'Thai Hot'—very hot pepper, whose green and red fruits maintain their heat even when cooked.

Pepper Growing Tips

• Always use the proper garden tools.
• Banana peels (chopped up) add potassium.
• Coffee grounds and tealeaves add nitrogen.
• Egg shells add calcium to the soil, and snails and slugs don't like crawling over them. 
• Fish scraps add nitrogen and phosphorous.