Know your Vegetables

About How to grow Peppers

How to grow Peppers - Description

- A dozen plants, including one or two salad and hot types, may provide enough peppers for most families; but with so many colours, flavours and types available, more may be necessary for truly devoted pepper lovers or for devotees of ethnic cuisines.
- People who use tobacco should wash their hands with soap and water before handling pepper plants to prevent spread of tobacco mosaic disease. Grow resistant varieties if possible.

How to grow Peppers - Crop Rotation

- Peppers are members of the Potato Family, and it is recommended that it should not be grown in the same soil as other family members for at least three years as these plants share many of the same soil and leaf diseases, and it’s best not to give them a chance to build up.

How to grow Peppers - Site & Soil

- Peppers grow best in well-drained loam or sandy loam soil. The heavier the soil, the more organic matter you need to add.
- When night temperatures are below 50° to 55°F, the plants grow slowly, and the leaves may turn yellow and the flowers drop off.
- In all but the most southern regions of Great Britain, it may be that growing indoors in greenhouses and poly-tunnels is the wisest option.
- Raised beds, black plastic mulch and floating row covers may be used to advantage with peppers to warm and drain the soil and enhance the micro-environment of the young pepper plants in spring, when cool weather may persist.

How to grow Peppers - Sowing Seed

- The plants cannot tolerate frost and do not grow well in cold, wet soil.
- Peppers are best started from seeds indoors in late winter and then transplanted into the garden after the soil and air have warmed in the spring.
- Sow the seed on a seed tray (flat) containing good quality compost, and keep well watered.
- After the first true leaves develop, start fertilizing with a balanced liquid solution such as Miracle Gro.
- Closely watch the cotyledons—the seed leaves that appear before the first true leaves. They should be vibrant and green.
- Yellow cotyledons, for example, indicate insufficient nitrogen.
- It’s best to gradually expose transplants to the outdoors for a week or two prior to setting them out.

How to grow Peppers - Planting Out

- Bacterial diseases may be transported on purchased transplants, so look over potential purchases carefully for any leaf spotting or stem cankers.
- Set transplants 18 to 24 inches apart in the row, or 14 to 18 inches apart in all directions in beds, and water them in lightly.

Sustainable growing

- You may want to consider using a modern cultivation technique that offers many advantages over traditional direct growing in the soil.
  1. Prepare the bed as described above, then add a low dosage nitrogen rich fertilizer, such as Sulphate of ammonia.
  2. Then fix a porous pipe irrigation line down the middle of the bed, and connect to a low pressure water system.
  3. Cover the bed with thick black landscaping membrane, pinning the edges down securely to prevent the fabric from blowing up in high winds.
  4. Make holes at 50 cm (18 inch) intervals in the fabric.
  5. Plant the seedlings in the holes and water them in.
- This approach combines both sustainable watering, using what nature provides as well, and the use of mulching, which smothers weeds and keeps the soil warmer. Membrane is preferable over black plastic because it’s permeable and water won’t puddle on top and become another catalyst for disease.

How to grow Peppers - Care & Cultivation

- Peppers thrive in a well-drained, fertile soil that is well supplied with moisture.
- Use a starter fertilizer when transplanting, such as Blood, Fish and Bone.
- Apply supplemental fertilizer (side-dressing) after the first flush of peppers is set, a Potash based fertilizer is preferred.
- Because a uniform moisture supply is essential with peppers, especially during the harvest season, irrigate during dry periods.
- Hot, dry winds and dry soil may prevent fruit set or cause abortion of small immature fruits.
- Watch for accumulation of aphids on the underside of the leaves, especially near growing branch tips. When a large aphid population is present, sticky "honeydew" appears on the lower leaves and fruit. If this situation occurs, apply a suggested insecticide.

How to grow Peppers - Harvesting

Green bell peppers

- Fruits may be harvested at any size desired.
- Green bell varieties, however, are usually picked when they are fully grown and mature—3 to 4 inches long, firm and green.
- When the fruits are mature, they break easily from the plant. Less damage is done to the plants, however, if the fruits are cut rather than pulled off.
- The new, coloured bell pepper fruits may be left on the plant to develop full flavor and ripen fully to red, yellow, orange or brown; or they may be harvested green and immature.
- Some (including "white," light yellow, lilac and purple) are colours that develop in the immature fruit and that should be harvested before actually ripening, when they turn red.
- Hot peppers are usually harvested at the red-ripe stage; but "green chiles," the immature fruits, are also required for some recipes.
- Some dishes may actually call for a specific variety of chile to be authentic. Hot pepper flavour varies more from variety to variety than was previously appreciated.

How to grow Peppers - Storing & Preserving

- To dry chiles, individual fruits can be picked and strung in a "ristras" or entire plants can be pulled in the autumn before frost and hung in an outbuilding or basement to dry.
- The most popular home preservation method is pickling.
- Chopped peppers freeze well without blanching. Upon thawing the peppers, they still retain some crispness and can be used in cooked dishes or raw in uncooked preparations.
- Always exercise caution when handling hot varieties, because skin, noses and eyes may become painfully irritated.
- Plastic or rubber gloves may be helpful when picking or handling hot peppers.

How to grow Peppers - Kitchen Notes

- Wash peppers just before using them.
- Peppers, both sweet and hot, are delicious raw, grilled or added to cooked preparations.
- Roasting peppers, however, brings out a totally different taste.
  - It is quite a chore, but well worth it.
  - Char thick-skinned peppers until the skin is black and blistered.
  - They can be charred under a broiler, over an open flame or on the grill.
  - While they are still hot, cover or place in a paper bag for 15 minutes and allow the steam to loosen the charred skins.
  - Peel over a bowl to catch the juices, and use in your favorite recipe.

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