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Pepper Growing

Pepper plants need full sun, well-drained soil amended with compost, and should not be planted where peppers have recently grown. Seedlings must be hardened off by gradual outdoor exposure before transplanting when nighttime temperatures are consistently above 15°C. Peppers should be watered thoroughly once a week and mulched, and the first flowers should be pinched off to direct energy to larger, later fruits. Peppers are harvested by cutting them from the plant when they reach their mature color.

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Edward Kriel
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92 views1 page

Pepper Growing

Pepper plants need full sun, well-drained soil amended with compost, and should not be planted where peppers have recently grown. Seedlings must be hardened off by gradual outdoor exposure before transplanting when nighttime temperatures are consistently above 15°C. Peppers should be watered thoroughly once a week and mulched, and the first flowers should be pinched off to direct energy to larger, later fruits. Peppers are harvested by cutting them from the plant when they reach their mature color.

Uploaded by

Edward Kriel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PEPPER GROWING

Choose and prepare the site.


The right site can make all the difference in how well peppers perform. Choose a sunny, well-
drained spot where peppers haven’t grown recently. The soil should be deep, rich, and loamy. If
yours isn’t, amend it with about 25mm of compost. Avoid adding too much nitrogen to the soil.
Excessive nitrogen can cause the pepper plants to grow too fast, making them more susceptible
to disease and less productive.

Harden-off the seedlings.


Before you plant your pepper seedlings, you’ll need to harden them off by gradually exposing
them to outdoor conditions. (This gradual exposure to the weather helps seedlings adjust, so
they’ll be less stressed when you plant them. And less stress means bigger, more productive
peppers.) When daytime temps reach 18 to 20degrees C, set the seedlings in a sheltered location
outdoors, such as next to the house or garage, for a few hours each day for 3 or 4 days. Over the
next week, slowly extend that outdoor time. Meanwhile, as the pepper seedlings are becoming
accustomed to the outdoors, you can warm the pepper bed by covering it with dark fabric.

Plant the peppers.


Peppers like warmth, so wait to plant until nighttime temperatures have consistently reached 15
degrees C + and all danger of frost has passed. If possible, set out your peppers on a cloudy day
to help reduce stress on the plants, or plant them out late afternoon. Space the plants 30 – 50cm
apart, depending on the mature size of the variety, and set them a bit deeper than they were in
their containers. (Like tomatoes, peppers grow extra roots from the buried portion of the stem.)
Stake or cage taller varieties so that the stems do not break in strong winds or due to a heavy
fruit load. After you plant the pepper seedlings, water them well.

Water and mulch your peppers.


Throughout the growing season, make sure your pepper plants receive at least an thorough
watering once a week. Check the peppers often during periods of extreme heat and drought,
when each plant can easily take a 4 to 6 litres of water a day(depending on soil – sandier soil
needs water more often). A thick layer of organic mulch to help retain soil moisture and to help
moderate the soil temperature. But do this only after your soil has warmed—mulching cool soil
will keep it too cool and stunt the pepper plants’ growth.

Pinch off the first flowers.


As difficult as it might be for you, pinch off any early blossoms that appear on your pepper
plants. This won’t harm the plants. In fact, it helps them direct their energy into growing, so you
get lots of large fruits later in the season (and a higher overall yield) instead of just a few small
fruits early on.

Reap the bounty.


You can harvest the peppers at their immature green or purple stage, but the flavor will be
sweeter if you wait for them to turn their mature color—usually red, but sometimes golden
yellow or orange. Italian fryers, jalapenos, and Cubanelles are possible exceptions: Many people
prefer the flavor of these peppers when they are full size but still green. To harvest the peppers,
cut them off with hand pruners. Pulling them off by hand can damage the plant.

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