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Bright and bountiful sweet peppers, also known as capsicum, are relatively easy to grow and are trouble-free plants. Not only do they supply a plentiful crop, but they look good while doing it.
Sweet peppers are one of the most attractive vegetables to grow. Delicate white flowers appear before the plant bears its colorful yield of around 9lbs per plant. The mature sweet pepper plant grows into a thick bush that often needs staking to support the heavy sets of vegetables.
Gardening Tips for Sweet Peppers That Actually Work!
Most sweet peppers start out green before ripening to their mature color. Mature colors range from red and green to gold and purple.
Sweet Pepper Benefits
Peppers are rich in many vitamins and antioxidants, especially vitamin C and various carotenoids. For this reason, they may have several health benefits, such as improved eye health and reduced risk of several chronic diseases. All in all, they are an excellent addition to a healthy diet.
Although sweet pepper plants are attractive enough for a container garden, they grow much better in the ground. The roots need to spread out to provide the best overall yield.
Fertilize the plants lightly, with a low-nitrogen fertilizer, as too much nitrogen can cause the plant to stop producing.
For planting, you will need:
- Compost
- Knife
- Sweet pepper plants
- Trowel
- Epsom salts
1. Dig a hole about three times the size of the seedling's root ball. Mix one cup of compost thoroughly with the soil from the hole. This will help improve drainage.
2. Fill the hole slightly, making sure you leave enough space for the plant's root ball to sit at the same height as it did in the seed tray of the pot.
3. Carefully remove the seedling from its original container if the roots are tangled, cut one-quarter off the bottom of the root ball.
4. Place the seedling in the hole, patting the soil down firmly. Sprinkle one teaspoon of Epsom salts around the base to help the plant grow a strong stem.
5. Stake the plant when necessary to support the cluster of mature fruit. Keep the sweet pepper plants well watered, especially during dry spells.
A tip for when you harvest sweet peppers cut them off the plant at mid-stem using a sharp knife. Do not pull them off the plant, as tugging may break the branch. This can damage the plant and may reduce its yield for that season.
Basic Sweet Pepper Facts:
Most pepper seeds germinate within 7-21 days but it's good to keep them nice and warm at 80-90˚ F to make sure the seeds sprout.
Bell Peppers thrive in the warm season - they have a long growing season and seeds are often started indoors (around two months before the last spring frost date, depending on your hardiness zone)
The ideal temperature for sweet peppers is a daytime temperature of around 75°F (24°C). and a nighttime temperature around 62°F (172°C).
On average, each bell pepper plant will yield 6 to 8 large bell peppers per plant.
Sweet peppers can be eaten raw or cooked. Add it to everything from your salad to pizza or pot of chili. Like its cousin the chili pepper, it is often dried and powdered to use as an addition to broths or sneak veggies in on unsuspecting kids.
When buying sweet pepper plants:
Make sure you buy young ones. Look for short, stocky plants in individual pots or larger punnets. Pick plants with no flowers.
Avoid plants that are leggy or pale. Do not buy plants that are obviously too large for the pot.
Sun and soil for sweet peppers:
Sweet peppers thrive under the heat of the summer sun. Keep them in a sunny position, out of the wind.
The plants prefer well-drained humus-rich soil. Sprinkle compost alongside the plants monthly during the growing season.
Some special advice:
Hot sweet pepper plants can cross-pollinate with sweeter varieties, so keep them away from each other in the garden.
Harvest all the fruit by the end of autumn. Pick when they are three-quarters of the way colored, and they will continue to ripen indoors.
For some seasonal tips:
Plant seeds in early spring. If growing your own plants, start seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before the weather warms in spring. When plants are 10cm tall with two sets of leaves, re-pot in 8cm peat pots.
Transplant in late spring. Plant seedlings in the garden after all danger of frost has passed. Leave 30cm between each plant to allow for growth. Mulch plants with straw or pine bark, but no too close to the stems.
Summer feeding. Apply fish emulsion once the plant begins to bloom. Do not, however, feed with a high-nitrogen fertilizer, which can lead to an abundance of leaves and fewer sweet peppers.
In hot, dry weather, sweet pepper can be affected by spotted wilt, which is carried by thrips. The foliage becomes covered with bronze-colored spots, and the stems are streaked with brown. Spray with Maldison to control the thrip.
How do you eat sweet peppers?
While these are tasty enough to eat raw, either individually or with a dip of some sort, they can be added to so many different dishes! From being added to an Italian beef sandwich to gracing the top of your tomato pie, you can find it even in pasta!
The colors and taste of this hearty vegetable really add a lot to what ever dish you choose to add it to.
Sweet Pepper Easy Recipe
While we are a huge fan of stuffed peppers we really love this recipe for How to Make Pepper Steak With Gravy. We have even tried Apple Pepper Jelly Made in the Instant Pot! We do think that this recipe sounds fun: