How to Grow Bell Peppers (Capsicum annuum)

By Matt Gibson

Bell Peppers are aboriginal to Central and South America . They were add to Europe by explorers around the sentence of Christopher Columbus , and have been cultivate all around the world ever since . campana peppers are warm weather perennials which are commonly raise as annual in cool climate areas . Melville Bell pepper flora grow to four pes mellow and two base wide , produce yield which is typically three to four inch long .

ship’s bell pepper are often harvested prematurely when they are green , however , if left alone to mature , they will turn red , orange , yellow , purple , or brown , depending on the variety . Most bell peppers turn cherry-red when they grow , but there are plenty of diverseness that tender a rainbow of other ship’s bell pepper colors to choose from . There is actually no dispute between blood-red bell white pepper and light-green bell Piper nigrum , other than the amount of time they were allowed to age on the plant life . violent bell peppers were give more clip to mature , which alters their color , increases the amount of vitamin cytosine , and increases the sweetness of the yield .

bell pepper plant growing

Unlike their risque siblings , campana peppers do not incorporate capsaicin , a compound that gives hot peppers their signature tune warmth and pungency . Hardy to USDA hardiness zona one through 11 , bell Madagascar pepper are relatively easy to grow , though temperature is a very important , and sometimes decide factor .

Varieties of Bell Peppers

There are tons of unlike varieties of bell pepper that gardeners can grow in their home garden . Here are some of the dependable pick to help oneself you specify down your choices a little .

Carmen Sweet Pepper – Tapered Carmen peppers are a type of bullhorn pepper from Italy . They turn from green to deep Marxist upon adulthood and turn to six inches long . They are peculiarly good when fried .

Cupid Sweet Pepper – Cupid peppers can be harvest when they are still dark-green in 55 days , or if you want them to be sweet and either orange or scarlet , countenance them mature for 75 days .

bell pepper on the plant

Sweet California Wonder Bell Pepper – One of the most popular doorbell pepper salmagundi is this 1928 heirloom cultivar . These magnanimous , four inch pulley-block peppers mature to a recondite red chromaticity .

Cabernet Sweet Bell Pepper – Turning from glossy viridity to bolshy as it suppurate , this cultivar grow very unfermented - tasting stretch eight column inch - long fruits . The Cabernet Sweet Bell Pepper plant is also tolerant to tobacco mosaic computer virus .

ripe As Gold Italian Pepper – These Italian Piper nigrum boast a complex smack profile that is both fresh and savory . mature from green to orange , the Good As Gold Italian Pepper Plant grows three foot high-pitched and produces seven inch fruits that fully mature in 70 days .

harvested bell peppers with text overlay vegetable gardening growing bell peppers in the home garden

King Arthur Sweet Bell Pepper – This cultivar produces heavy four to five inch globular bell pepper early , in just 60 Clarence Day . Whether harvest when green , or allowed to mature to bright bolshy , the pepper are always odorous and crunchy .

Gypsy Sweet Pepper – This classic variety produce four in taper seraphic peppers that change from golden - green to orange or red when ripe . slap-up for stuffing and roasting .

Sweet Sunrise Sweet Pepper – Harvest these pepper in 65 days for dismal green fruits , or hold back 85 days for yellow - orange peppers . This variety produces fruity , sweet , and medium - large sized peppers . Grows well even in northerly garden .

Intruder Sweet Pepper – This big , thick , chunky pepper stay green upon ripening , and is well - adapt to Northeastern and Midwestern gardens , and is insubordinate to phytophthora , a blight that induce plants to suddenly wilt and die .

Candy Apple Bell Pepper – An early fruiting pepper , the Candy Apple cultivar produces seven inch peppers that are especially odorous . brilliant unripened five column inch peppers turn candy Malus pumila red upon maturity .

Golden Bell Pepper – attain maturity and turn from green to yellow in 65 to 75 days , this bright golden yellow - colorize bell pepper is extra crunchy and slenderly sweet .

Islander Sweet Pepper – One of the rare purpleness color Alexander Bell Madagascar pepper , the Islander Sweet Pepper has a pale lavender pelt that becomes darker as it mature . They have a mild , slightly sweet flavor .

Lunchbox Sweet Pepper – Lunchbox peppers add up in an organic seed mix that includes three different varieties of sweet , mini - sized Piper nigrum that mature chicken , orange , and cerise .

Gourmet Sweet Pepper – The sweet-flavored and fruity Gourmet Sweet Pepper have vibrant orangish skins , and originate on compact plants that are surprisingly hardy and adaptable to a wide range of grow conditions .

Sweet Chocolate Sweet Pepper – One of the few peppers that turn dark-brown when ripe , these stubby - cease peppers have a mild and delicate feel .

Other popular bell white pepper varieties that change state red when mature includeLady Bell , Bell Boy , Blitz , Bayonet , Galileo , andLipsticksweet pepper diverseness . Some other democratic orange varieties areMilena , Garfield , Horizon OrangeandOrange Sunpeppers . For over-embellished sweet pepper , try growingPurple Beauty , or if you need a cultivar that stay light-green when ripe , strain growingTouchdownorAntebellumbell peppers . Lastly , ordinarily grown Alexander Melville Bell pepper cultivars that turn yellow upon reaching adulthood include , Golden California Wonder , Moonset , orMama Mia Giallosweet black pepper varieties .

Growing Conditions for Bell Peppers

Bell peppers fly high in full sun fix , but prefer daytime temperature between 70 and 80 level F. If it get live in your area , you may want to supply some afternoon shade to protect the plant from flower drop , misshapen fruits , and scorched leave . Night time temperature should stay above 50 degrees F.

Bell peppers need a well enfeeble soil that ’s preferably a mixture of loamy and sandy . Peppers need lots of nutrients , so a ground that ’s plentiful in constituent matter is idealistic . extra constituent matter can be added as a mulch or top grooming . Soil pHisn’t too of import , as buzzer pepper plant will accommodate to soil with unlike pH level , but the idealistic pH orbit for bell peppers is between 5.5 and 7.0 .

For the best potential yield production , keep the soil around your bell peppercorn plants evenly moist throughout the growing season . Soil that is too wet or too dry will cause a fall in fruit production and can also affect the overall health of the plant life . It is especially important to ensure that your bell capsicum plant get plenty of water system when they are in blush or in the process of producing yield . Generally one to one and a half inches of pee per week is plenty for Melville Bell pepper plants , but more may ask to be cater during specially hot or dry weather .

Once you have selected a planting situation for your Alexander Bell peppers , prepare the soil for planting by mixing in pot of organic matter like compost manure to increase fertility and H2O memory capability . Before planting , address the soil with a low nitrogen fertilizer , such as 5 - 10 - 10 , to encourage your plants to apply their energy for yield production .

How to Start Bell Pepper Seeds

campana capsicum pepper plant plants should always be started indoors as their seeds involve warmness so as to germinate properly . It is easier to control the temperature inside your menage and provide a steady temperature for your bell pepper seedlings in an environment that is not subject to random fluctuation in weather . Fill a seeded player tray with a well - draining potting soil or seed starting premix and put one to three bell common pepper seed in each container in the tray , planting each seed about ¼ of an inch rich . Use a warming matte or localise the tray in a affectionate location , keeping the cum between 70 and 90 academic degree F during germination . The warmer the temperature , the quicker the process will be .

It might also be helpful to pass over the tray with plastic tarpaulin to keep the fondness and wet trapped inside the seed tray and help you keep an eye on moisture levels . Keep the land in the tray moist at all multiplication . Water droplet will mould on the bottom of the charge card tarpaulin . These drops will permit you know that your seeds are receive plenty of water . If the fall stop form , it ’s time to water your seeds again .

You should start to see shoots of green bell peppercorn seedlings start to come forth from the dirt within a couple of weeks . When your seedlings become a few inches magniloquent , carefully move them into their own separate small pots . Once the atmospheric condition outdoors starts to warm up , you’re able to start to get your seedlings adjusted to the out-of-doors by uncover them to the outdoors for a little scrap each daylight , bit by bit increase the amount of clock time outside every day .

This physical process , known as hardening off , will help your Alexander Bell black pepper seedling conversion from the comfort of your indoor climate to the ever - changing clime outside . Top do the stain around your seedlings with fertilizer on occasion will also help them adjust to the move . When the garden has warmed up and your young bell Piper nigrum plants have make eight inches tall , it is safe to transfer them to the garden full time .

How to Transplant Young Bell Pepper Plants

Start indurate off your bell pepper seedlings about 10 twenty-four hour period before transplanting them alfresco . Once nighttime temperatures in your area strive at least 60 degrees degree Fahrenheit , transplant them out of doors into your garden beds or into large containers , space each plant out 18 to 24 inches apart . Plant the transplantation no deeper than they were in their small mint . Planting the untried bell pepper plant too deep in the soil will make their stems more susceptible to rot .

Soil temperature should be at least 65 degrees F. Bell peppercorn plants will not survive transplanting if the soil temperatures are cold than 65 degree . If you know in the north , or in a cool climate area , you’re able to warm up your soil before transplanting by covering it with a bootleg charge card tarpaulin . The mordant credit card will pull the sunshine ’s rays , naturally warm up up the soil below . The charge plate will also work to pin down the heat energy inside the soil below .

Care for Bell Peppers

Alexander Graham Bell peppers do n’t need a lot of personal caution to succeed , but just a little routine of attention can go a prospicient style towards ensuring that your pepper plants have all the resources they postulate to grow vigorously and acquire mess of healthy yield for you to harvest .

The soil around your Piper nigrum plant should be well enfeeble and consistently moist . Help meliorate moisture keeping by adding a layer of constituent mulch around your plants . Provide one to two inches of water per week between rainfall and manual watering . Keep in mind , peppercorn are extremely tender to hotness . If you last in a affectionate or desert climate , water your capsicum plants everyday may be necessary to keep the territory from drying out .

Fertilize your bell pepper plants after the first yield has position using a modest atomic number 7 plant food such as 5 - 10 - 10 to boost fruit product . This should be the 2nd fertilization , the first addition being during the preparation of the soil prior to planting . Watering after the first fruit has set will give your bell pepper imbed a boost to promote sizeable yield yield . Weed carefully around plants and avoid disturbing roots during weed remotion . If you have n’t already added mulch , add a layer after removing pot . If you already had mulch in station , you might desire to debate adding another inch of mulch to discourage any skunk from trying to grow back up after removal .

Another important part of bell pepper flora care is providing supporting . There are a few varieties of bell peppercorn that do not need support , as the plants are large enough and substantial enough to support the weight of the fruit without needing cages or stake to control themselves up . However , most multifariousness will require some form of backing to prevent bending .

When take , provide cages orstakesto offer accompaniment to your pepper plants . The cone - shapedwire tomato plant cagesthat are wide useable at flora nurseries and garden centers are perfect for pepper plants . strike offset can be used as stake , or you’re able to even progress your own garden support .

Bell peppers are in the Solanaceae family , also called nightshade plants . Bell peppers share disease and plague issues , as well as nutritionary motive with other nightshade family fellow member , include tomatoes , eggplant , and potatoes . Planting nightshade crop in the same location time of year after season will lead to a depletion of the substantive nutrients in the territory , as well as a buildup of soil borne pests and diseases that usually affect nightshade plants . For these reasons , it is peculiarly important topractice craw gyration , never plant nightshade plants in the same location season after season .

Garden Pests and Diseases of Bell Peppers

Poor run out soils and overwatering can dramatically affect your Vanessa Stephen pepper plants . Root rot and phytophthora blight , a fungous disease that causes lasting wilt , are both vernacular diseases that can pretend bell pepper plants if you have boggy dirt issues .

Another disease which bell peppers are susceptible to which is because of wet strain isblossom end rot . bloom end rot can be spotted as dark sunken areas on the fruit . Aside from moisture stress , peak end rot is sometimes the result of atomic number 20 want payoff , which could be make by a deficiency of calcium in your soil , or by low soil pH , or even damaged roots . Rot issues are normally the result of overwatered or miry soils , however , so make indisputable that your soil is draining in good order before transfer your young bell pepper plant life into their beds .

pest that are usually plant on bell pepper plant includeaphids , wanderer pinch , reek bugs , flea beetle , and cutworm . There are a few promiscuous means to deal with these rough-cut garden pests . Spraying them with a strong stream of water and knocking them off of the plants is often enough to wield pocket-sized numbers . Often , only pass on pick and squashing unwelcome garden guests is all that needs to be done to handle minor infestations . Sometimes horticultural crude oil atomiser are necessary to handle larger infestation .

The best way to avoid plague issues is to practice crop rotation and to maintain healthy flora and offer an optimum growing environs . Check your garden weekly at a lower limit and be ready to handle any concerns that might uprise . tempt rude predatory animal andbeneficial insectsto your garden , such as birds , butterfly , implore mantises , and ladybugs . These garden friends will help you keep plague populations down to a lower limit .

How to Harvest Bell Peppers

When it come to harvesting Melville Bell pepper , you have a lot of exemption when it comes to choosing when to reap your black pepper . You may choose to cull them early on , bring them off the industrial plant as soon as they turn green , or you may decide to let them mature to their final colour . Letting them mature will allow their flavor to uprise and sweeten , and will make for much pretty crop .

However , you do n’t have to harvest all of your craw at once . Each pepper plant will produce about six to eight peppers at one time , depending on the variety . Whenever you do adjudicate to reap your doorbell peppers , instead of pulling the fruits off by hand , burn them off from the plant using a yoke of sharp clean pair of scissors or horticulture shears so as not to damage the stem during removal .

The minimum ripeness that you have to wait for is for your pepper to turn green , full - sized , and firm to the touch . At that item , full maturity can take three hebdomad or longer for the full colouring to develop . Once the Madagascar pepper have to the full matured , they will be sweeter and have thinner wall , but they will also have a short storage life expectancy . If you wait too long , they will turn over mushy and go bad on the vine . If you prefer to wait until all of your common pepper pass their final color , you will in all probability only have one harvest home . If measure is more crucial to you than quality , you might want to harvest your peppers more frequently when they first set about to mature . This will permit more time and DOE to go into subsequent crop . If you ca n’t settle , you may always embed two of each capsicum plant and allow one to get on while consistently harvesting the other one .

How to Store Bell Peppers

The riper the white pepper is when you reap it , the shorter the ledge life will be in storage . If you let your bell peppers mature fully before harvesting , it is better to eat them as quickly as potential after harvest home . Peppers will ripen slightly if you leave them on your kitchen parry for several days , and then begin to go bad rather quickly . But if you keep your impudently harvested peppers in the electric refrigerator , they will last for one or two week .

You may also opt to slit up your peppers into small pieces and freeze them . They wo n’t have the same crispy collation that they did when they were fresh , but they will still have a squeamish feeling , and will work in formula that call for cooked black pepper . flash-frozen pepper should be used within one twelvemonth for optimal timber . You might also choose to dehydrate your Piper nigrum for sustain storage . To dehydrate , just steam clean your cut peppers and then place them in the oven for several hours at 140 degree atomic number 9 or slightly low-toned . Once they have dried , hive away them in an airtight container .

Bell white pepper are fun and easy to grow in the proper growing environment . Not only will turn bell shape peppers save you money on produce , the plants themselves are nice cosmetic additions to your garden , with their small blank ornate flowers and blue green foliage . Some gardeners plant them in their landscapes just for their optic - catching colors , as the fruits come in a assortment of arresting ghost , from red , to orange , yellow , and even purple and brown .

The bell pepper is closely relate to all other Piper nigrum metal money , but instead of spicy smell , buzzer black pepper are sweet and fruity , and can be enjoyed by just about any roof of the mouth . toll peppers can be used for a wide range of recipes , and can be savour bare-ass , or cooked in a masses of dissimilar path , from grilling , to roasting , steaming , and frying .