February 22, 2023
It may feel like the winter weather will never let up, but planting season is just around the corner! And whether you have a green thumb or have never grown a thing in your life, this is the perfect year to gear up your garden with some new gardening know-hows.
Gear Up Your Garden: Bell Peppers
Did you know that peppers are tropical plants? How about perennials? They’re a fruit, too, in case you were wondering. Fear not! We’ve got all the tips you need for growing bell peppers in our cold little climate, right here:
- Get a head start. Bell peppers take a long time to germinate and produce mature fruit, so starting the seeds in pots in your house or greenhouse will give you that extra bit of growing season you need. Do so eight or ten weeks before your growing zone’s final frost, and sow them in the ground two or three weeks after that.
- Be careful about placement. These guys are susceptible to the diseases left behind by other members of the Nightshade family (tomato, potato, eggplant), so be sure to transplant your pepper seedlings in a new area with roughly 12″-18” between each plant.
- Make a comfy patch in the garden. Peppers prefer full sun for six or eight hours each day and require nighttime temperatures to be no colder than 55°F. Soil should be well-drained, sandy, and loamy with compost for nutrients. When watering, dampen the ground up to six inches deep, but never leave it soggy or muddy.
- Harvest promptly. As soon as the fruit reaches mature size and color, pick it to avoid animals or diseases from taking hold. However, leaving it on the plant will add more sweetness, as long as you’re willing to fight off any unwanted guests.. When picking, use scissors to ensure a clean break.
Growing Ideas
- The Best Friend Method. Peppers will grow in pots very well as long as they have proper sunlight, soil, fertilizer, and water levels. They make great best friends for people who are without kitties to cuddle, puppies to kiss, and backyard space to grow bigger plants in (a.k.a. a good portion of busy college students). Please be advised, eating your best friend is only acceptable if said friend is a bell pepper!
- The Square-Foot Garden Method. This style of gardening serves as an alternative to planting in rows, utilizing as much space as possible regardless of what you are growing. While you can certainly be creative, most people build a square or rectangular raised garden bed with wood or stone walls, which is sectioned off in 12″ x 12” beds that are 6 in. to 3 ft. in depth. Soil is composed of a peat moss, vermiculite, and compost mix, underlaid with a plastic tarp for extra weed protection. Because bell peppers require a lot of space, only one plant can be placed in each section, though they will get along very well next to carrots, tomatoes, and leaf lettuce.
For more information regarding square-foot gardening, go to squarefootgardening.org.
—Grace Desotell, Gardening Editor