Peppers
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Pepper Seed Starting Tips
Peppers are a tender, warm-weather crop. Start peppers indoors 8 to 10 weeks before the average last frost. Plant to set young pepper plants outdoors after nighttime temperatures are expected to stay above 60°F (16°C). Start pepper seeds indoors up to 14 weeks before the last spring frost if you plan to harden off seedlings […] More
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Epsom Salt, Tomato, and Pepper Growing
Epsom salt used as a foliar spray or soil additive will help tomato and pepper plants grow and produce larger tastier yields. Late in the season use an Epsom salt spray to increase tomato and pepper yield and keep plants green and bushy; early in the season add Epsom salt to the soil to aid […] More
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How to Plant, Grow, and Harvest Peppers
Peppers come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and flavors. From mild, sweet bell peppers to fiery, spicy chili peppers, there is a pepper to fit everyone’s taste. If you’re looking to add a little something extra to your garden, consider growing some peppers! Sweet peppers and hot peppers can be grown from seeds […] More
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How to Plant, Grow, and Harvest Hot Peppers
Hot peppers are distinguished from sweet peppers simply by their pungency or hotness of flavor. There are thousands of hot pepper varieties in the world. (This is the case because peppers easily cross-pollinate to produce new kinds.) The hotness of a pepper is determined by a number of blister-like sacs of capsaicinoids on the interior […] More
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Fertilizer for Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplants
Summer fruiting crops such as tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants will benefit from a side-dressing of organic fertilizer when they first set fruit and every 4 to 6 weeks thereafter. An alternative is to water in a dilute solution of fish emulsion, seaweed extract, or kelp meal every 10 days. Feed fruiting crops that have flowered […] More
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in How to Grow, Plant, Tips
Peppers, Melons, Eggplants—Hate the Cold
Cool days and nights can be a problem for the most tender warm-season crops–peppers, melons, and eggplants. Temperatures in the 40sF won’t kill these plants but their growth will be stunted. Wait to plant out very tender crops until the lowest temperatures do not fall below 60°F. If you plant sooner use row covers, plastic […] More
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When to Plant Peppers
Plant pepper seedlings in the garden 2 to 3 weeks after the last frost in spring. Start pepper seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks before setting transplants in the garden. Don’t set out pepper seedlings until the average night temperatures are 55°F (13°C). You can set pepper seedlings in the garden earlier if they are […] More
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How to Harvest and Store Peppers
Pepper can be harvested as soon as they are large enough to eat. Most mild and hot peppers take at least 70 days from transplanting to reach edible size and another 3 to 4 weeks to reach maturity. Some hot peppers take longer. If you know the variety of pepper you are growing (check the […] More
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in How to Grow
Pepper Growing Success Tips
1. Peppers prefer deep, aged-compost–rich soil. If your soil is heavy with clay, grow peppers in a raised bed, adding loam and sand. 2. Growing peppers in your native soil: add at least 2 inches of aged compost across the planting bed and sprinkle with 5-10-10 organic fertilizer, then turn the soil to at least […] More
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in Quick Tips, Tips
Pepper Growing Quick Tips
Sowing and Transplanting: Transplant pepper seedlings to the garden 2-3 weeks after the last frost. Sow seed indoors 8-10 weeks before transplanting to the garden. Sow seed directly in the garden only in long-summer regions Start seed indoors in a warm, well-lighted location—in a bright window or under grow lights. Sow 1-2 seeds ¼” (6 […] More
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in Preserve
Beginner’s Guide to Canning Peppers
Can sweet bell peppers and chile peppers—which can be sweet or hot–to preserve your summer harvest? Can peppers after deciding if you want to preserve sweet or heat or a combination of the two? Sweet green, yellow, orange, or red bell peppers are large and thick fleshed. They have a sweet, crisp flavor. Chile peppers—such […] More
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How to Choose a Chili Pepper for Heat, or Not
The potent spicy heat you experience eating chili peppers is caused by capsaicin, a colorless, odorless, waxy compound found in the white pith of the pepper’s inner wall where the seeds are attached. Capsaicin is an irritant to most mammals—including humans; the sensation it leaves when it comes in contact with mucus membranes of most […] More