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Bell Peppers

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Botanical name: Capsicum annuum

Plant type: Vegetable

USDA Hardiness Zones: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Sun exposure: Full Sun

Soil type: Loamy

Soil pH: Neutral


Peppers are a tender, warm-season crop. They resist most pests and offer something for everyone: spicy, sweet or hot, and a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. For this page, we will focus on sweet bell peppers.

Planting

  • Start seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before last spring frost date.
  • The temperature must be at least 70 degrees F for seed germination, so keep them in a warm area for the best and fastest results.
  • Start pepper seeds three to a pot, and thin out the weakest seedling. Let the remaining two pepper plants spend their entire lives together as one plant. The leaves of two plants help protect peppers against sunscald, and the yield is often twice as good as two segregated plants.
  • Begin to harden off plants about 10 days before transplanting.
  • A week before transplanting, introduce fertilizer or aged compost in your garden soil.
  • After the danger of frost has passed, transplant seedlings outdoors, 18 to 24 inches apart (but keep paired plants close to touching.)
  • Soil should be at least 65 degrees F, peppers will not survive transplanting at temps any colder. Northern gardeners can warm up the soil by covering it with black plastic.
  • Put two or three match sticks in the hole with each plant, along with about a teaspoon of fertilizer. They give the plants a bit of sulfur, which they like.

Care

  • Soil should be well-drained, but maintain adequate moisture either with mulch or plastic covering.
  • Water one to two inches per week, but remember peppers are extremely heat sensitive. If you live in a warm or desert climate, watering everyday may be necessary.
  • Fertilize after the first fruit set.
  • Weed carefully around plants.
  • If necessary, support plants with cages or stakes to prevent bending. Try commercially available cone-shaped wire tomato cages. They may not be ideal for tomatoes, but they are just the thing for peppers.
  • For larger fruit, spray the plants with a solution of one tablespoon of Epsom salts in a gallon of water, once when it begins to bloom, and once ten days later.

Pests

  • Aphids
  • Flea Beetles
  • Cucumber Mosaic Virus
  • Blossom End Rot
  • Pollination can be reduced in temperatures below 60F and above 90F.
  • Too much nitrogen will reduce fruit from setting.

Harvest/Storage

  • Harvest as soon as peppers reach desired size.
  • The longer bell peppers stay on the plant, the more sweet they become and the greater their Vitamin C content.
  • Use a sharp knife or scissors to cut peppers clean off the plant for the least damage.
  • Peppers can be refrigerated in plastic bags for up to 10 days after harvesting.
  • Bell peppers can be dried, and we would recommend a conventional oven for the task. Wash, core, and seed the peppers. Cut into one-half-inch strips. Steam for about ten minutes, then spread on a baking sheet. Dry in the oven at 140 degrees F (or the lowest possible temperature) until brittle, stirring occasionally and switching tray positions. When the peppers are cool, put them in bags or storage containers.

Recommended Varieties

Look for varieties that ripen to their full color quickly; fully mature peppers are the most nutritious—and tastier, too!

  • Green to Red: ‘Lady Bell’, 'Gypsy,' ‘Bell Boy,’ 'Lipstick'
  • Yellow: 'Golden California Wonder'

 

Recipes

Wit & Wisdom

The popular green and red bell peppers that we see in supermarkets are actually the same thing; the red peppers have just been allowed to mature on the plant longer, changing color and also gaining a higher content of Vitamin C.

Comments

By michael waldrop on May 22

this is first time planting bell pepper and i thought it was going great, the plant shot up big ang and tall. the first pepper has started nicely it is now about 3 inches around. my problem is now when the other buds, i had 5 more that flowered well and the little peppers started growing, but today 2 of them fell off the plant. is that normal? it seems like a healthy plant and like i said the first pepper is growing really well

By FredEric on May 20

The new, developing leaves on my pepper plants are misshapen, brittle, and crinkly--for lack of a better term. They are remaining green all the while, however, the margins of the older leaves are beginning to brown. Any thoughts? I am in the U.S. Midwest.

By Anonymous on May 20

what soil does the peppers need to be planted in.

By Anonymous on May 20

I am a beginner planter and I want to plant some red pepper. What should I put in the soil. I know they like sulfur. Can I plant red peppers in container planters.

thanks vjsmith

By Anonymous on May 20

I want to build a farm but I don't know what the best state would be. Can you tell me what the best state would be?

By Anonymous on May 18

Wandering if I can sink the stems of the peppers to make a sturdy plant.I know this world well with tomatoes,not sure about peppers?

By Anonymous on May 18

I just read earlier on another gardening site that unlike the tomato plant, the pepper plant will not grow an extended root if transplanted too deeply. I am interspersing pepper plants amongst my tomatoes this year, my first time cultivating peppers. Hopefully they will get along with each other.

By Anonymous on May 11

I live in Canada. We have had phenomenal success with a sweet cherry pepper variety. They make little spherical peppers, good for salads and cooking. This will be the 5th year for planting them. But .... they produce 2 crops per plant: once in July (about 6 peppers per plant) and then again in September (about 30-40 peppers per plant! much bigger plants by then). The problem is: the 2nd crop is the BIG crop, but they dont have time to ripen in September and I usually must pick them green to save them from frost. What can I do to get the 2nd crop to come earlier? Should I pinch off the July blooms to speed it along? Is it driven by rhythm of climate or by the rest pperiod between crops? I buy the plants as seedlings, so I cant really control how early they get sprouted. I'd like to see the big crop come in August, when there's time for them to ripen.

By tx guy on May 22

i heard that if you hold back from watering you can induce the fruit to start blushing. once a pepper begins to chang color you can pick it and it will finish turning color off the plant.

By Anonymous

I bought concentrated seed starting mix to germinate my seeds. Will this be enough or do I need to add plant food/soil as well?

By Almanac Staff

You can use the starting mix as is or you can mix it into soil or other soil mixes.

By Anonymous

Hi - I just wanted to let you know that a bell pepper is a fruit, not a vegetable.

By Almanac Staff

Yes, though a pepper, like a tomato, is botanically a fruit, it is commonly considered a vegetable and eaten as a vegetable, thus categorized that way for growing.

By Anonymous

In instructions on ur page it says to put 3 seeds in pot then thin out to 2 ok then when u plant them in garden do u separate them or plant as is in pot because in ( ) it says keep paired plants close to touching , it sounds like u have to separate? Please explain further. Thank u

By Anonymous

I didn't see another post that addresses this question. I too and curious about transplanting seedlings outdoors 18"-24" a pair but keeping paired plants close to touching. How close is too close?

By Almanac Staff

Ideally you should plant peppers at least 18" apart. If you have 2 seedlings in a starter pot separate them carefully before planting. Some readers have suggested that you can plant 2 peppers close together (the way they are in the pot) and you'll get a bigger "plant" that will do better in gardens with high winds that will bend small stems.

By Anonymous

how long can they remain productive?

By Almanac Staff

Bell pepper plants can live 3 to 5 years and produce fruits given right conditions, i.e., mild climates. Harvesting regularly will encourage the plant to keep blossoming and setting fruit, especially early in the growing season.

By Anonymous

Is there a certian number of peppers that a plant will produce to full maturity?

By Almanac Staff

The number of fruits per plant varies with the variety. Bell pepper plants may produce five to eight fruit per plant. However, do not be surprised if you get one or two. Peppers are sensitive to temperature and need consistent moisture, especially during dry periods.

By Anonymous

I live in Southern Africa, and i would like to start a pepper mini-farm on a piece of land i own. do i need to cover it with net because of the heat?

By Anonymous

If its to hot (over 110 Degrees) yes, more shade the better. I get my best production here in the Mojave desert in the fall and Spring. Summer I just have to get my plants through it or sprout new plants so they are read to fruit in fall.

I agree with keeping 2 plants either in a container togother or close by. This ensures Bio diversity

Most people get to grow through summer, I have to plan for the hot months and grow mellons and Okra.

By Anonymous

I grow my bell and chilli peppers in my conservatory it's late November and they are all pritty small ?

By Catherine Boeckmann

Even indoors, peppers require not only warm but bright conditions. Thought there is sunlight, they need the intensity of light. I'm not sure where you live, but if it's in the north, you may need to investigate a grow light or two.

By Anonymous

My four peppers (some basic variety of large red peppers) gave good yield in pots in a SW-facing balcony. Now they're finished, and I'm wondering about going to the trouble to overwinter them indoors, vs. starting fresh in a few months with seed. What's the benefit of overwintering? I assume we'd get peppers faster from these plants than we would waiting for seed to become mature plants, but what about the quality of the peppers? Thanks!

By Anonymous

I have space so I would go for the overwinter to get a jump on the spring fruits. Bell pepper plants can live 3 to 5 years and produce fruits given right conditions.

If you do not have the space and want to grow something else then I would just start over from seed.

By Anonymous

Hi we live in the middle east, we have nice pepper plants in the window facing south, the plants groe well, we get the white flower but no fruit, please advice

By Anonymous

It could be no good bugs are visiting your plants to spread pollen. Take a cotton swab and use it to rub the inside of the flowers 1 by 1.

By Almanac Staff

Usually, lack of fruit is due to temperature. Optimum temperatures fall between 70 degrees and 80 degrees F. Peppers like it warm (though not too hot)!

By anonymous

I have a sweet pepper plant and it seems healthy. You know how the flowers are supposed to fall off but the pepper stays on the plant? Well, when my flowers fall off, so does the pepper. What should I do? I need help bad. Do you know what may be the reason?

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