All done from a commercial point of view. A single plant cared for well should produce up to 20 peppers, some produce more. Just be sure to have a container or pot or multiples that will let it grow to a good size to produce for you. Another great point is the variety for you to choose from. There are more sweet peppers out there than the eponymous green, yellow or red bell peppers you see in supermarkets.
There are a variety of different types with their own colours, shapes, sizes and unique flavours. But even if you simply want to grow your own fresh bell peppers at home, we can guarantee a noticeable flavour difference. Peppers are full of vitamins A and C, potassium, folic acid, and are a source of fibre. There are a few varieties of sweet peppers to choose from. All of these can be grown in containers easily:. Long, pointy red peppers that can grow up to 20cm long.
They can also be harvested when they are green. A dwarf pepper variety producing short stumpy peppers but with good yields. Also produced well on a windowsill or in a conservatory. It pays to know what to do in advance so read through our guide first. More on that next. You can simply buy varieties as young plants from any good garden centre when in season. The great thing about this is the effort to cultivate young seedlings has been done for you.
All you do is plant them in their containers — how good is that! We encourage you to try! If you do opt for purchasing young plants, you can skip the sections with information on growing from seed below. Starting off from seed? Good on you! You can buy most seed varieties throughout the year. However, the best time to start sowing your seeds will be indoors from as early as January if the conditions are right.
Rest assured it does not take much effort and can be quite rewarding starting at this stage. Before you begin, gather these items. Pepper are tropical fruits and so to really thrive they will need to be grown somewhere warm and sunny. Many areas of the UK are not consistently warm enough for a long enough period which shortens their growing season. If you just go for it and plant outdoors, it can affect the final harvest, or provide none at all, so they really need the consistent warmth indoors can provide.
You can move then outdoors in summer when you are sure the weather is good. Then, if the temperature dips they can be moved indoors again. Approximately six hours of full sun per day should suffice, and be sure to keep them sheltered from strong winds.
Bell peppers need a well-draining pot that is at least 10 to 12 inches deep and 10 to 12 inches across. The material of the pot is not as important as its size. You want something that is large enough to accommodate the maturing pepper plant, and deep enough to encourage proper root development.
The soil in which you plant your bell peppers is the foundation of its success. Bell peppers need warm soil temperatures — 65 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer — and prefer organic matter-rich, moisture retentive, well-draining potting mixes with a pH of 5.
Adding compost to the soil helps to introduce key nutrients for the burgeoning plant, while incorporating 5 to 10 grams of neem cake when you prepare the soil helps to protect the plants from soil-borne blight and disease.
You can plant two to three bell pepper plants per container, depending upon the variety of bell pepper, and the size of your chosen pot. We recommend using a container with at least 3 gallons of volume. For bell peppers, the bigger the better. If you have the space for a larger pot, you will get much better yields with gallons of volume. Choose a container that suits your planned location for the plant. However, pots less than 3 gallons will not produce as many full-sized peppers.
We reuse our colorful Saturn Bloem planter pots every year. Get some here. Tip : If you are reusing an old pot, clean it out thoroughly. If they housed plants with diseases or bacteria, they can spread to the new soil and plants. Learn how to safely disinfect with bleach here.
In addition to a large pot, you will need some seed trays for starting your seeds. These can be found at any local nursery or home improvement store.
They typically come in 6-cell units and are cheap. We use these sturdy containers for bottom watering the young plants indoors. Young bell pepper plants require strong light to get a healthy start.
If you are growing from seed, you should consider investing in an indoor grow light. This is our light of choice see it on Amazon. We also wrote an article all about the best grow lights for peppers here. There are some great affordable options the can last many years. If you are planting from seed, you can start by using a seed-starter soil. These soil mixtures contain no nutrients.
If you do choose to plant in seed starter soil, be sure to begin with a light fertilizing schedule as soon as the seedlings sprout. If you are planting directly outdoors started plants, etc.
Anything with a good balance of nutrients will do the trick. MiracleGro, FoxFarm, or Espoma will all work fine for potted pepper plants. We will be fertilizing regularly throughout the season to ensure the bell pepper plants have everything they need to thrive. The last essential item is fertilizer. We get a lot of questions about the best fertilizers for pepper plants , so we wrote an article. These products work well, come with easy instructions, and keep the fertilizing process painless.
With all of your supplies in hand, the first step is to plant your bell pepper seeds. The first step is to know when to plant your bell pepper seeds. This is going to depend on your hardiness zone.
Read our article on when to plant peppers to determine your indoor planting date. Simply put, plant bell pepper seeds indoors weeks before the last chance of frost in your location. For us in zone 6b, we plant our pepper seeds around mid-March, with a last frost date in late May. For locations that have Winters, you need to determine when the last chance of frost happens. This will determine when you should plant your seeds indoors.
Once your planting date arrives, you can prepare your seed trays. There are a few basic steps to increase the likelihood of successful germination. Pre-moisten the soil. Prepare the seed starter mix soil by moistening and thoroughly mixing. The soil should be wet enough to stick together when squeezed, but should not drip water. This allows the soil to better absorb water as the seedlings grow. Fill seed cells with soil. Once the soil is moistened, fill each seed cell with soil and pack it down.
Once the seedlings sprout, you can prune away the weaker looking plants, leaving one in each cell. Once the seeds are planted, lightly water with a spray bottle or gently with a watering can. Try not to disturb the position of the seeds in the soil. Keep warm and fan daily. The seed tray that we use comes with a humidity dome. Keep this on, opening daily to aerate, until the seedlings sprout days. If your air is very dry, you may need to water lightly from the bottom.
How you care for your bell pepper plants while they are young will impact their long-term success. This means providing adequate lighting, nutrients, and water. Once the seeds sprout, remove the humidity dome and turn on your grow light. A sunny window is not ideal your plants may become tall and leggy , but will suffice. If you do have a grow light, give the plants hours of light, and hours of darkness each day.
I dried the pepper seeds weeks before sprouting them in damp paper towels in a sunny spot near a window. They sprouted very little but mold started growing on and among the seeds. Did we do anything wrong? Everything else I sprouted at the same time were all from seed retailers not saved from store-bought groceries. My husband on the other hand, has been successful with store-bought produce seeds.
Do I have any suggestions? Try sprouting seeds from local growers or roadside produce stands. Most store bought product is treated and will not germinate. Try organic. I sprouted some seeds from a store-bought pepper this season using two methods: one batch was in a clear plastic egg carton full of potting soil on a windowsill, and one was in a regular garden pot full of potting soil on the front porch in full sun.
Both containers just got a pretty thorough sprinkling of seeds and I transferred the sprouts to their own pots as they started to get their second pair of leaves. But either way, try sprouting in soil! Some store produce are genetically modified to not germinate and will not grow into plants. This is designed to make farmers buy seed every year. If this is the case with your grocery produce any success you had is to your credit! Best prevention is to use sterile soil you can sterilize your own by using your oven and sterilize your pots as well.
Once they get a little size, a squirt with a homemade garlic spray helps to forestall fungus attacks. Interesting I had Never heard of it. Do you just use water with garlic?
I been using dish detergent with water and spray all over till dripping.. Do it in days again 3 total times usually is enough unless having rain but you can tell on leaves color etc. I bought red, yellow and orange pepper plants but all I got was green peppers. Do you need to do something special to achieve the color peppers you want.
Leave them on the plant longer,they will eventually change color. Can they be transferred to a larger grow bag, with more soil added, and survive? Thanks for the article. I got seeds from the bell pepper red and yellow plants themselves, and they germinated really well.
I want to transplant them into larger pots. Can I plant both types of peppers in the same pot? I am growing mini sweet peppers from the store. The little yellow,red,and orange ones.
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