How to Grow Peppers
Instructions & Advice for Growing Pepper Plants
in Your Vegetable Garden
| Nutrition | Watering Instructions | Harvesting |
| Climate | Fertilizing Instructions | Storage |
| Soil | Challenges | Tips |
| Planting |
Peppers come in so many different delightful varieties, such as: bell (green, red, yellow, purple), banana (used mostly for salads and pickling), cayenne, and jalepeno peppers - just to name a few of the most popular gardening choices. In tropical areas, pepper plants are perennials, but in all other climates, they are annuals. Peppers (of any variety) are distinctly a warm weather crop, and have extremely little tolerance for cold.
Peppers such as bells and bananas are known as sweet peppers. They're often used as a fresh snack on a vegetable tray, in salads, pickled, stuffed, on kabobs, or as an ingredient in a cooked dish. Bell peppers are commonly eaten when green, but if left to ripen on the vine, they will turn red or yellow (depending upon your variety).
Peppers with some "heat" or spice, are commonly refered to as chile peppers or chiles. These peppers are often used to add some zest to pickles, and a whole host of other dishes ranging from quacamole to stir fries, and anything in between.
Note: This plant has no relation whatsoever to the plant that produces peppercorns for your common table condiment also called "pepper."
Nutrition Information for Peppers: (back to top)
Peppers offer: Dietary Fiber, vitamin K, C, A, E, B6, Folate, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Potassium, Manganese and Niacin.
Note: adding a little cayenne to your meals, besides the tasty "zing" it offers, is reported to provide an additional benefit by acting as a circulatory tune-up for your body (when eaten regularly, over an extended period of time).
Climate & Growing Conditions: (back to top)
Pepper plants (whether bell peppers (Green, red, yellow or otherwise), banana peppers, jalepeno peppers, cayenne peppers, etc.) all require a great deal of sunlight. Find a location in your garden where they will recieve full sun, or as close to it as you can get.
Peppers have very similar growing requirements to those of tomatoes, but are even less accepting of cold than tomato plants.
Most pepper plants will require some support to help protect it from wind. I've found it best to insert a stake (stick, post, whatever you have to use) when I transplant the plants in the garden. Then, when the plant starts to bear fruit, I lightly tie the central stalk to the stake for support.
Gardening Advice Tip: if you wait until the pepper plant needs the support to insert your stake in the ground nearby, you will likely cause irreperable damage to your plant's tender root system. Whereas, if you insert the stakes when transplanting, the plant's roots have not yet formed in that location (but will grow around them later as the plant develops).
Do NOT place your pepper patch in a location that had plants from the same family in it the gardening season before (such as tomatoes, eggplant, etc.). Check the companion planting guide for suggestions.
How to Prepare the Garden Soil: (back to top)
Prepare your pepper patch by digging in plenty of organic matter (compost and well-rotted manure). Mix it in thoroughly so that your soil is friable (crumbly) and drains well. Pepper plants tolerate a wide range of soils, and will grow in soils with a pH level of between 5.5 to 7.0.
How to Plant Peppers: (back to top)
Peppers generally require about 3 weeks to germinate. As they don't tolerate temperatures below 60 degrees, you'll want to time when you start your seeds so that they're ready to plant when the ground temperature (and the air temperatures) have stabilized at above 60 degrees. I normally plan to start my seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks before when I want to transplant them in the garden outside.
Plant your seeds indoors in light, well-drained soil, in a warm location. Keep your seedlings warm and the soil moist (but not soggy), or you're inviting troubles (plant diseases or pests). If necessary transplant to larger containers. When ready and the outdoor climate is right, harden your pepper plants gradually before transplanting them.
For more information on starting seeds indoors, click here.
Gardening Advice Tip: DO NOT transplant your seedlings outside until the weather is warm and settled.
Space your pepper plants about 18" apart in your garden. Cultivate the soil often to keep the weeds down. However, be careful not to dig deeply when weeding, as you can easily damage your pepper plant's roots (which can weaken your plant, inviting plant diseases or pests).
How to Grow Peppers in Containers: (back to top)
Peppers (of nearly any variety) make wonderful and decorative additions to your container garden. Grow them on your patio for accent, or even indoors for a house plant that provides peppers year round for you.
Use good potting soil that drains well. Do not over-fertilize, or you'll have a lot of leaves and few fruits. You can apply an occasional dose of liquid fertilizer like compost tea though. This will help keep the leaves from turning yellow from a lack of nitrogen. Place in a full-sun location. Bring indoors as a house plant before the cool nights of fall arrive.
Gardening Advice Tip: You may wish to pinch off shoots, to encourage a bushier and more compact plant.
How to Water: (back to top)
Keep the plants evenly watered so that the soil is evenly moist (but not soggy). This helps prevent flower drop.
How to Fertilize: (back to top)
Prepare beds ahead of time with plenty of organic matter. Do not fertilize again until the the plant starts to flower (or you'll have a bumper crop of green leaves, with few fruits). Once the plants are in bloom, you can fertilize if desired.
Gardening Challenges: (back to top)
Aphids, fruit flies, cutworm, and powdery mildew are the challenges that sometimes present themselves with pepper plants. Rotating your crop to a new location in your garden each year will help minimize these problems.
How to Harvest Peppers: (back to top)
It is best to pick your peppers frequently, to encourage them to bear fruit for the entire gardening season. (If left too long on the vine, they will slow production). However, that being said, peppers left to ripen on the vine have a far superior flavor to those that ripen off-vine. Chiles (hot peppers) are hotter if left to ripen on the vine as well.
If you still have fruit on the vine when your first fall frost approaches, remove the fruit before the frost. They will store in a cool cellar for 3 months or longer.
How to Freeze Peppers (back to top)
For bell peppers: Wash peppers, remove seeds, and cut into slices or leave whole. Place peppers on a tray in a single layer. Freeze for 30 minutes. Pack vegetables into freezer bags, remove air, label and seal. Freeze peppers for up to 6 months.
For hot peppers: wash and drain. Slice, as desired. Pack into freezer bags, remove air. Seal, label and freeze. NOTE: when handling hot peppers, wear rubber gloves so that you don't get the hot pepper juice on your hands (which then easily spreads to your eyes or nose or other areas... causing great discomfort!!)
How to Dehydrate Peppers
Wash and core pepper. Dice or cut into 1/4" slices. Dry at 100 degrees (F) for 24 hours or until brittle. To rehydrate dried peppers, soak in hot water for 20 minutes and drain. No need to rehydrate if using in soups. For a little crunch in your salad, try adding dried bell pepper pieces.
Canning (back to top)
NOTE: This is only a guideline. Be sure to follow standard sanitation and canning procedures, as outlined in your canning cookbook or by your local county extension office. Also, when using a pressure canner, follow your specific manufacturer's instructions. Cooking times in the canner can vary, depending upon your climate and altitude. Again, check with your local county extension office for conversion rates for your area. Your local county extension office may also be able to test your pressure cooker's gauge for accuracy.
Remove the stem and seeds. Wash and drain peppers. Boil for 3 minutes and drain. Process in pints or half pints. Pack hot peppers into hot jars, leaving 1" of space at the top. Add 1/2 tbsp vinegar and 1/4 tsp salt to each half pint (double for pints). Ladel boiling water over peppers, leaving 1" of space at the top. Remove air bubbles. Apply sterilized tops. Process both pints and half pints for 35 minutes at 10 lbs pressure in a steam pressure canner.
NOTE: Be sure to follow your pressure cooker's manufacturer supplied instructions for safety.
Follow your canning cookbook's instructions for removing, cooling and storing the jars.
Gardening Advice Tips (back to top)
Have a helpful gardening tip (or even a funny story) to share about your pepper growing experience? Share it with us at: gardeningtips@howtogardenadvice.com
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