WHY PEPPERS?

From the hottest of the hot to the sweetest of the sweet, there are no prettier plants in the garden than peppers, especially when they’re loaded with dozens of brightly colored fruits. Varieties available offer a diversity of tastes, colors and shapes from squarish blocks to long thin cones to cherry-like balls. No longer simply red or green, hot or sweet, pepper varieties come in a rainbow of colors, including yellow, orange, lavender, purple, white and chocolate. Peppers are available in any degree of spiciness for all taste buds and tolerances from delectably crunchy and sweet to ‘run for water’ hot. With this variety it’s no wonder we have a passion for peppers and accordingly they are ranked second in home garden vegetable popularity, right behind tomatoes.

Relatives to the tomatoes and eggplants, peppers are perennial shrubs that originally come from South America. They are grown as annuals in colder climates (most of the United States).

Peppers make beautiful plants that can be as at home in the flower garden as the vegetable garden. They are actually easy to grow and they make excellent container plants if you have limited space.

WHEN TO START SEEDS

Start seeds 8-10 weeks before the last average frost date in your area. Timing determines the quality of your seedlings. Seedlings started too early may become stunted in your containers and will have a difficult time adjusting to conditions in the garden. Seedlings started too late will delay your harvest.

CHOOSING VARIETIES FOR YOUR CLIMATE

To grow peppers successfully you should know two very important dates, your average last frost date and your average first frost date. These dates can help you determine when to plant as well as when to protect your peppers from frost. They also help determine the length of your growing season, which is very helpful for planning a planting and harvesting schedule. This is especially important for gardeners with a short growing season. If a variety takes longer to mature than the length of your growing season you have a problem. The plants will probably be killed by frost before the fruit matures.

NOTE: to determine the length of your growing season, count the number of days between your average date of the last frost in spring and the average date of the first frost in fall. The length of the growing season can range from less than 100 days in northern climates to 365 days in southern climates.

DAYS TO MATURITY

Ripening time varies with location and growing season and is influenced by soil and weather conditions. The days to maturity cited here gives the approximate number of days from transplanting until the first peppers are ready to pick at the green stage add 10-14 days to this number to figure the date fruits should be ripe.

Keep in mind that the maturity date is an estimate of when the first peppers will be ready to harvest. Variations in your garden can be due to differences in grown season, soil fertility and other conditions where they were tested.

WHICH PEPPER TYPE FOR YOU?

SWEET BELL PEPPERS

Come in blocky, round, or elongated shapes. Most fruits start out green but mature through a variety of colors before ripening to their final color. The days to maturity given in the variety descriptions represent the time from transplant in the garden to full size ‘green’ pepper. Add two weeks to this number to know when they will mature to their final color. Sweet bells have the sweetest flavor when harvested at the mature color stage but they still taste good if harvested and used when green.

When looking at peppers you may notice the use of the words lobed and blocky. These words further describe the shape and structure of the pepper. Cut a pepper crosswise near the stem and you’ll see ‘walls’ that divide the pepper into sections. These are called ‘lobes’ and most bell peppers have 3-4 of them. If a pepper has well defined lobes it is called ‘blocky’ and these are the best varieties for stuffing or slicing into rings.

SWEET NON-BELL PEPPERS

Some of the sweetest peppers are long, tapered or blunt-ended, thin-walled, Italian frying types. Other great sweet peppers can come in cherry shapes or short, fat heart shapes. Most ripen to red and are delicious fried or grilled.

HOT PEPPERS

With the growing interest in Mexican, Thai and Indian foods hot peppers are enjoying widespread popularity. The flavor and level of hotness varies with each type of plant. Generally, they are easier to grow than sweet pepper varieties and produce a lot more fruit.

To help you decide how hot you want your peppers to be, refer to the Scoville Heat Scale. We’ve listed the most popular hot pepper types and their hotness rating. Keep in mind that weather, growing conditions and the pepper variety can all affect how hot a pepper is.

ORNAMENTAL PEPPERS

Some varieties have been developed specifically for their attractive fruits, stems and leaf colors. Many are also edible.

Follow these easy steps if you want quick germination of seeds and smooth healthy growth of your pepper transplants:

1. Measure the amount of sterile soiless peat starting mix you think you’ll need and wet it thoroughly. Put it into a large plastic bag, add water (4 cups mix to 1 cup warm water) and knead until water is absorbed. The medium should be very damp but not so wet that water can be squeezed out.
2. Next fill your containers. You can use cell-packs, peat pots or plastic or clay pots. Gently press the mix into them leaving 1/4 inch space at the top to allow for air circulation.
3. Now you can sow your seeds. Using a dibble (pointed stick or pencil), make a hole in the center of the potting mix about 1/4 inch deep, drop in 2-3 seeds and cover with potting mix. Or you can use Jiffy Peat Pellets – drop the seeds in the center opening and moisten well. If sowing in flats, sow seeds sparingly in rows or scatter thinly across the soil surface, cover with ¼ inch of potting mix and firm lightly.
4. Mark your containers with variety names and planting dates. Water lightly with a fine spray. Once the seeds are planted, cover the containers with plastic domes or plastic wrap. This creates a miniature greenhouse, which keeps the medium from drying out and you shouldn’t need to do any watering until the seed germinates.
5. Place containers in a warm spot out of direct sunlight and away from drafts. On top the refrigerator is ideal or you can apply bottom heat with a heating cable or electric heat mat. Seed germination will occur in about 8-21 days at 80-85F. Temperatures below 80F slows germination and gets the plants off to a poor start.
6. Be sure to check your flats every day. When the first green shoots appear, move the containers into direct sunlight. Remove the plastic covering and water or mist as needed at least twice a day. Turn the plants daily to keep them from bending to the light.

As soon as the seedlings emerge, place them in a very sunny window or under grow lights. If you use grow lights, position the plants 2-4 inches below the light source, and light for 16 hours a day, turning the lights off at night. Growing the seedlings at 70-85F during the day and 60-65F during the night will give you the strongest, healthiest plants. Water carefully, allowing the soil to dry on the surface between watering, but don’t let the plants wilt.

Once seedlings have developed their first set of true leaves transplant to individual 2-3 inch peat pots or other containers. For large, stocky transplants use 4 inch pots. If you’ve sown directly into pots, thin to the strongest single seedling by pinching off weaker ones at the soil level.

After the seedlings are 3-4 weeks old, it’s time to begin fertilizing. Use seaweed or fish emulsion or dilute 20-20-20 water-soluble plant food at 1/3 to 1/2 regular strength. Fertilize every 10-14 days.

CAUTION: When fertilizing, please keep this in mind – MORE IS NOT BETTER – boosting the amount of fertilizer can damage your plants. Too much fertilizer can burn plant roots and leaves thereby stunting their growth and significantly setting back your harvest.

Sometimes your plants will begin to form flower buds before their root systems are large enough to support a large crop of peppers. If this happens remove any blossoms that appear before transplanting time and for about a week after you plant them outdoors.

HARDENING OFF

All seedlings need to spend a week or so outside before being transplanted into the garden. About 7-14 days before planting your pepper seedlings into the garden begin adapting them to outside conditions. Called “hardening off” this process is the way to gradually introduce an indoor plant to an outdoor environment. Even plants you buy at a garden center require this step before planting them out into your garden.

• 7-14 days before setting plants out in the garden, cut back on their water and fertilizer.
• Move them outdoors on a relatively mild day. Place them in a sheltered location where they will get partial shade and are protected from the wind. On the first day for just a few hours and give them a little more time each day after. It takes 3-4 days to accustom them to direct sunlight.
• After a week the plants can stay out all night. But if there are frost warnings, move them back indoors temporarily.

Peppers are sensitive to excessive fertilizer, in particular nitrogen. Too much nitrogen will result in big stocky plants with lots of dark green leaves and few fruit. Composted manure should be used, if at all, with caution.

Supplying a 2-3 inch layer of compost over your pepper bed can supply most of what your peppers will need. You can also add one teaspoon of 5-10-10 fertilizer to each planting hole when transplanting your seedlings. You can have trouble with them if you push them to hard. Don’t give them too much fertilizer or you’ll end up with beautiful, lush, dark green plants and no fruit. Peppers don’t need much fertilizer, and they prefer it when given in small doses. A teaspoon of complete fertilizer like 5-10-10 at planting time and no more than a teaspoon or two at blossom time.

Alternatively you can fertilize by foliar spraying every 2-3 weeks with fish emulsion, liquid seaweed extract, or water soluble 5-10-10 fertilizer (diluted to 1/2 strength). Foliar fertilizing gets the nutrients to the plant faster than by adding them to the soil and waiting for the roots to take them up. Spray in the morning while it’s still cool and the dew lingers on the leaves. This way all the fertilizer is absorbed. Once the plants are in full bloom and you notice fruits developing, stop foliar spraying as it may result in harm to the developing fruits.

CAUTION: When fertilizing, please keep this in mind – MORE IS NOT BETTER – boosting the amount of fertilizer can damage your plants. An overdose of fertilizer causes plants to grow too rapidly and damage new roots thereby stunting plant growth and significantly setting back your harvest.

Peppers need an even supply of water throughout the growing season. This is particularly important when temperatures reach 90F and higher as water stress and high temperatures can cause blossom drop. Erratic watering can result in problems such as blossom end rot. Plants need at least 1 inch of water per week for steady growth. In hotter, drier parts of the country, 2 inches of water per week are needed during the summer months. The soil should be soaked to a depth of at least 6 inches. If you don’t get enough rain, water every 4-5 days on light sandy soil and every 7-10 days on heavy soil.

MULCHING

Peppers need a steady supply of moisture. A thick, organic mulch will help retain soil moisture, which in turn helps guard against blossom-end rot. Apply the mulch (3-6 inches deep) as you approach the very hottest days of summer when the peppers will really benefit from moisture conservation. The mulch also controls weeds, minimizes soil compaction and moderates soil temperature. Keep the mulch back 2-3 inches from the plant stems to reduce the chances of disease.

If you choose not to mulch, you must keep your peppers weed-free. This is important since the weeds compete with the plants for water, food and space. To keep weeds in check cultivate the soil to a depth of 1 inch every 7-10 days until the plants are well established.

Support systems can be used for many pepper varieties, especially many of the hot-types, which can often reach a height of 2-3 feet. This can offer definite advantages. Plants grow upright and don’t fall over or snap off in the wind, it makes the plants easy to work around and the fruits don’t touch the ground, making them easier to harvest.

To stake peppers, we recommend driving strong 4-5 foot wooden or metal stakes into the ground about 1 foot apart and then plant your transplants 4-6 inches from the stakes. Plants will need tying at regular intervals throughout the summer. Use soft string, strips of old sheeting or other soft, stretchable materials – old pantyhose make excellent ties. Do not tie stems so tightly that they are likely to be strangled by the ties as the stems grow and thicken.

If this sounds too labor intensive, then another effective measure is to cage the plants. Simply set one cage over each plant and rest the branches on the horizontal wires.

SHORT GROWING SEASON AREAS

The best way to get the most peppers from your garden is to use season stretching strategies and devices. These ideas and products can enable you to get an earlier start in spring and help to protect your peppers from killing frosts in fall. Keep in mind when going for the earliest peppers in your neighborhood that sometimes the plants don’t do well when planted out early and sometimes they do great. In any case, experimentation is the answer when determining what will work in your garden.

VARIETIES

If you have a short growing season, select early-maturing varieties. Your best bets will be those varieties that mature in the 75-80 day range.

LOCATION

Where you plant your peppers has as much to do with avoiding frosts and cold weather as when you plant. Every yard has pockets or areas that warm up earlier in spring and stay warmer later into the fall. Find these niches in your yard and enjoy harvesting earlier and later than anyone else in your neighborhood. Good places to consider: The south side of any building - especially if it’s protected from the wind Courtyards

Near paved surfaces such as driveways - especially if the pavement is dark colored

ROW COVERS

Also known as floating row covers because the lightweight fabric literally “floats” on top of the plants. They protect from frost, enable you to plant sooner and thus enable you to harvest sooner and you can expect to harvest your first fruits 10-14 days earlier. They don’t overheat easily and they let in light, air and water so they can be left on until you need to weed, or stake your plants. Row covers also help to deter insects, but must be removed when blossoms appear or when daytime temperatures reach 80?F

WALLS O’ WATER

Allow you to plant out very early and protect seedlings from frost by using solar heat to warm tubes filled with water. They need to be removed after a few weeks, but give a great jump on the growing season.

PLASTIC WRAPPED CAGES

Wire tomato cages wrapped with 6 mil clear plastic act as miniature green houses allowing you to plant out earlier and protects the seedlings from frost and wind. Make certain to cover the tops when frost threatens.

HOT CAPS

A great way to protect plants from the cold. You can purchase these at garden centers or create your own by cutting the bottoms out of clear plastic milk jugs. Be sure to leave the top off during the day to vent out hot air on sunny days.

BLACK PLASTIC MULCH

Plastic mulch conserves moisture, increases soil temperatures, protects the fruits from rot and enhances earliness and yields. In addition black plastic mulch suppresses weeds and helps retain moisture, thus improving the growth of pepper plants and improving yields.

WARM GROWING SEASON AREAS

If you live in zone 9 or 10, you can sow pepper seeds directly into your garden. If you keep the plants healthy and have no frost in your area, peppers can actually be perennials and bear fruit all season.

Very high, sustained heat in the south makes it necessary to grow two crops each year. This way, the summer heat that hinders blossom set and fruit development can be avoided. Transplant your first crop to the garden in early April to early June. Transplant your second crop late July to mid-August. WHITE PLASTIC MULCH

Use to reflect light and keep the soil cool.

FOIL

Use to help deep the soil cool and because it also reflects light back to the sky, it can confuse some of the insects that are trying to find your plants.

ORGANIC MULCH

Using a 2-4” layer of grass clippings, straw or other organic material can help keep the soil from getting too hot and thus extend your harvest season.

Peppers are susceptible to several diseases and a few insects, but rarely do such problems become serious for the home gardener.

BLOSSOM END ROT is a browining of the fruit on the blossom end due to a calcium deficiency often related to water uptake. Keep plants well-watered during the growing season, particularly during periods of drought, to help ensure better yields and help control problems such as blossom end-rot. Proper soil testing, lime applications and foliar treatment with calcium solutions will also help avoid this problem.

SUN SCALD develops when pepper fruit is exposed to intense direct sunlight. The fruit develops light-colored, soft, slightly wrinkled spots that deteriorate and become discolored. Growing plants closer together (so that their leaves touch) will help prevent this problem.

INSECT PESTS are not usually a serious concern for most home gardeners, but they are best prevented by keeping a close eye on your plants throughout the growing season. Cutworms can be a problem just after you plant your peppers in the garden. The best way to protect against them is to place a cardboard collar around each plant when you set it out. If you see holes in the pepper fruit and find a small, white worm inside you have pepper maggots. Control these pests by covering young plants with row covers, use reflective aluminum foil mulch to confuse the adult flies or hang yellow sticky traps to catch the adults before they lay their eggs. Pick off Colorado potato beetles or use Colorado Potato Beetle Beater (Bt = Bacillus thuringienses var.tenenbrionis), Neem oil, or pyrethrum products.

HARVESTING

A really great thing about peppers is that you don’t have to wait for the fruits to fully ripen before you pick them. Choose peppers that have smooth, shiny skins and are firm to the touch. You can pick sweet peppers green or wait until they ripen for a sweeter taste. Hot peppers vary greatly in their heat levels depending on the amount of stress they experience in the garden. If you want really hot peppers, withhold water and fertilizer while the peppers are ripening. If you have a lot of cool, cloudy weather during the time hot peppers are ripening they will tend to be less hot.

To harvest, cut the pepper off the plant just above the top of the green cap on the fruit. Peppers will continue to ripen after they are harvested. If you are planning to dry your peppers, pick them when they are mature and hang them to dry in a warm room with good air circulation.

COOKING

Wash and dry the peppers, then slice off the stem and small ‘lid’. Remove the seeds with a spoon and the inner pith with a small knife. Slice, dice or leave whole depending on the recipe. If using whole, for stuffing and baking then blanch in boiling water for 5 minutes before adding the stuffed ingredients.

Keep in a sealed container or plastic bag in the refrigerator. Peppers will stay fresh for up to 2 weeks. If you have too many peppers to for the fridge, they can also be stored in an unheated room or garage as long as the temperature stays in the 45-50F range. Again keep them in plastic bags or sealed containers as they keep best when stored in 100% humidity.

Following are some of our favorite hints, tips and recipe books for using bumper crops of garden fresh peppers.

YIELDS

1 pound fresh peppers = 4 cups cubed or julienne-sliced
3 ½ cups diced
5 ½ cups sliced in circles

ROASTING AND PEELING

Rinse the peppers and blot dry. Place them on a hot gas or charcoal grill or directly on an oven rack set as close to the broiler unit as possible. Grill or broil until their skins blister (2-3 minutes) and begin to char. Turn the peppers with a tongs and continue turning until the peppers are completely charred, then pop them into a paper bag. Close the bag and let the peppers sit for 15-20 minutes. The charred skin steams loose from the flesh and can easily be removed.

FREEZING

Wash the peppers, dry well, dice, freeze in a single layer on trays. When the peppers are frozen, transfer them to freezer bags. Then just toss the frozen peppers into soups, chilis or casseroles as needed.

HANDLING HOT PEPPERS

Hot peppers can be very irritating to the skin. We recommend wearing rubber gloves while working with them, and never rub your mouth or eyes as you can get a serious burn from varieties.

DRYING HOT PEPPERS

To dry whole hot peppers, string on a thread and hang in a dry, airy spot.

NOTE: We highly recommend the following cookbooks for pepper recipes:

The Victory Garden Cookbook by Marian Morash
Too Many Tomatoes, Squash, Beans and Other Good Things by Lois M. Landau & Laura G. Myers
Ball Blue Book – Guide to Home Canning, Freezing and Dehydration
Stocking Up III by Carol Hupping
Joy of Gardening Cookbook by Janet Ballantyne
Putting Food By by Greene, Hertzberg & Vaughan