You can certainly freeze peppers, but it’s recommended that you do a little prep work beforehand. Wash the peppers and dry them, cut off stems, split each pepper in half, and remove the seeds. Then cut into slices, if desired. Spread the pieces on a tray, so that each piece does not touch any other, then place in the freezer for about an hour or so until frozen. Then remove the tray and place the frozen pieces in a dated and labeled zipper freezer bag, squeezing out as much air as possible, and place in the freezer.

Fertilizers, both organic and synthetic, can be found at garden centers. The package may tell you what plants they are good for, such as vegetables. Peppers do better in a fertilizer lower in nitrogen, such as 5-10-10, before they set fruit; after that, it is OK to use a more balanced formula. Or, you can add aged manure or compost. They also like fish emulsion, if you want to go that route. To learn more about the various types of fertilizers, you may be interested in this page: http://www.almanac.com/content/fertilizer-guide-npk-ratio-organic-fertil...

As to planting directly in the ground, you can certainly do that, but depending on your soil, you might have better success by using potting soil if planting in a container, or if planting in the ground, by first preparing the plot to improve soil structure, adjust pH if needed, add any nutrients that are deficient, improve drainage if needed, etc. Peppers like loose soil, and a pH around 5.8 to 6.5. For more information about preparing soil for planting, you might like:

http://www.almanac.com/content/preparing-soil-planting
http://www.almanac.com/blog/gardening/garden-journal/organic-soil-amendm...
Also, here is a video on preparing soil in spring:
http://www.almanac.com/video/how-enrich-your-garden-soil-minerals

Hope this helps!

I’m not sure that I understand the setup–are there several pepper plants in one container, one plant being far more advanced than the others? Or, are they all now planted out in a garden? As the above article suggests, two seedlings grown together seems to work well, but otherwise it is best to space plants 18 to 24 inches apart; you might want to thin them out a little, by snipping at the base (don’t pull plants up, to avoid disturbing roots of plants you’d like to keep). Fertilize when transplanting, and then after first fruit set. Be careful not to give too much nitrogen, which encourages leaf growth over flowering, until the peppers are developing. If you have lots of flowers but no fruit, you might try hand pollinating to help things along,

It’s hard to know what it might be, as there are several things that can cause large brown spots on fruit. However, I’m wondering if it might have been anthracnose; for more information about this disease, see: http://www.almanac.com/pest/anthracnose and this article from the Ohio Cooperative Extension:
http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/sallymiller/Extension%20Outreach/informa...
which shows you a picture of it on bell pepper fruit.

Some other possibilities might include:
blossom end rot: http://www.almanac.com/pest/blossom-end-rot
                           http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=C938
sunscald: http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/hot_and_sunny_days_promote_sunscald_in_pepp...

Hope this helps!

You can keep your pepper seedlings in the peat pellets, to help minimize transplant shock (they are especially good for that, since you can plant them pellet and roots together in the ground). If you do not plan to transplant them out directly in the garden for several weeks, you might consider at some midway point between now and then, transplanting the seedling (including its peat pellet) into a larger pot. Otherwise, wait and plant outside directly, after hardening off. As to the lighting, seedlings usually need about 12 to 16 hours of light. Make sure that your desk light is not on constantly overnight–use a timer. It would be better to use a grow light that offers the spectrum needed by plants, or a fluorescent shop light. The windowsill and desk lamp (if using a regular light bulb) may lead to thin, elongated stems. If there is no other option, though, adjust the lamp so that it is close to the seedlings, but not too close to cause any heat damage. Keep rotating your plants every day, even twice a day, so that the stems do not grow in one direction (toward the source of light). Good luck!

It’s up to you. Some gardeners pull the whole plant and hang it upside down in a basement or garage, while others just harvest the ripening peppers. The fruit can be placed in a paper bag with an apple to help hasten ripening, if you prefer. If you have lots of peppers that are not up to full size yet, you might try pulling the whole plant in case the plant can still give the fruit a tiny bit more nutrients before the plant dries. But if your peppers are mostly of a mature size, then just harvesting the peppers themselves should work fine.

Hi, Janice, Your Green Bell Peppers Will Turn Color, Eventually. Depending On The Variety, It Could Be A Couple To A Few Weeks. You Must Leave Them On The Vine, Too, BTW. (This Is One Reason Why Red, Yellow, And Orange Peppers Cost So Much More Than Green Ones.

– Welcome!

Small peppers can be caused by several things, including planting them out too early (daytime temperatures should be 65 to 70F, nighttime above 55F), temperature extremes or drastic fluctuations in weather, not enough light or water, fertilizing too early to encourage leaves at the expense of fruit, poor pollination, or some other stress, such as disease or insects. Check your plants for insects and disease; monitor the light, water, and fertilizer; and watch the weather–protect plants from cool and overly hot temperatures as best you can.

Good question. In most of temperate North America, the pepper is grown as an annual.  It is a “tender” vegetable and easily killed by frost. However, in tropical regions, the pepper grows as a perennial plant.

If your pepper plants are vigorous and doing well, it may not improve their production and overall health to remove the first round of flowers. However, if the plants are struggling or growing slowly, then it can sometimes help to remove the first round of flowers.

As is mentioned below, bell peppers average about 6 to 8 peppers per plant. Some may yield less (2 or 3), some more (15 or more).

Peppers change color as they near their ripe stage. Check the “days to maturity” on seed packets or in catalogs for a guideline for your particular variety (such as ‘Bell Boy’ bell peppers mature in about 70 days). This will be the time when the pepper is at the peak of maturity, and fully colored. If you want your peppers immature (for different crispness and flavor), pick them earlier. Some peppers will start coloring up different colors before their final color (such as turning from yellow-green to yellow to orange to red). Timing, though, will depend on variety and local conditions.

That might depend on where you live. Please visit the following page, input your location, and it will give you the recommended times to plant out peppers (or first sow indoors) based on frost dates from the nearest weather station in your area (if you are in the United States).

http://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-dates

It sounds like your pepper plants  are coming along nicely. The flowers will form the bell peppers (the fruit of the plant), once they are pollinated. Bell peppers self-pollinate, so usually they don’t need any help from outside influences, such as bees or hand pollination.

Do you mean an ornamental pepper (Capsicum annuum), that holds its fruit upright and is usually grown as a houseplant? If so, then in the United States, these are usually grown as annuals, unless you have a greenhouse or live in a tropical environment. After they fruit, they are usually discarded.

Keep the seedlings under the lights as long as you keep the plants indoors. Move the light up as the seedlings grow. When the seedlings are about 3 inches tall you can move them into small individual pots. When night temps reach about 50 degrees it’s time to start hardening the pepper plants. Put them outside in the shade for ½ day at first. Then put them outside for the day and gradually move them into the sun before planting them in the ground.

Heat causes blossoms to drop. Daytime temps above 90 or night temps above 75 degrees can cause blossoms to drop and even small fruits to abort. Optimum high temperatures for peppers are 60 degrees at night and 85 during the day. Also how shady is your mesh screened balcony? They might not be getting enough light.

1) As to the pesticide, it might depend first on whether it was approved for use on edible crops. If it was not, then we would not recommend using any peppers from your plants, since it is possible that the plants can absorb certain chemicals that remain in the soil from that application. Whether the seed itself can do so, it might be possible, too (they were sown after the spraying, right?). We don't know how much of the pesticide would actually pose a danger, but you might want to play it safe and be overly cautious. If the pesticide was approved for edible crops, then you might obtain the name of the pesticide and call the manufacturer about safety procedures, or contact the National Pesticide Information Center at 1.800.858.7378
 
2) Peppers should be watered when the soil feels dry about 1 inch deep. How often will depend on your climate. If the heat of summer dries your container out quickly, you might need to water every day between storms. Or, you might need to water 2 or 3 times per week. But if the storms provide enough water, you may not need to water at all. Be sure that there is drainage at the bottom of the pot, though, so that the plant doesn't sit in water.

Pepper blossoms are sensitive to temperature fluctuations. It is difficult for them to set fruit if the night temps are below 58 degrees or the daytime temps rise above 85 degrees. The blossoms will fall off before they can be pollinated. If that is not the case in your area, it may be due to a lack of bees or other pollinators.

Is it possible you had some cool nights? On trick to increase blooms on peppers is to use a 16 oz spray bottle of water with 1 tbs of epsom salt.

Hi Lindsay,
We don't have any information or experience about growing peppers and peanuts in the same spot. We suggest that you move your peppers to a different spot in the garden to see if they will do better. It is a good practice to rotate your crops every year.

Depending on where you live, it is a little too cold now to grow peppers outdoors (they like warmth). Putting them in the greenhouse is a good idea. Bring them back outside when overnight and morning temperatures are not quite so chilly.

The peppers will eventually turn red if they get enough sun. You can speed up the final ripening by putting them in a paper bag with a ripe tomato. The ethylene gas it emits will help things along.

It's difficult to be certain, but this could be caterpillars or flea beetles. Try an insecticidal soap, available in garden supply stores.

Bell pepper plants are annuals: They produce through one growing season and then die. However, they may produce many peppers through that growing season, and not all at once, so it may seem like they keep producing. And they do—but only in one growing season. They will not survive or come back for next growing season. You need to start with new plants or seeds every year. Got it?

If you are concerned about soil contaminants, you might want to have a soil test done beforehand. Your county's Cooperative Extension may be able to give you some names of soil testing labs that test for contaminants. If your home has been built before 1978, and was painted, it may be that it was with lead paint. In this case, we'd suggest having your soil tested, not planting edibles near the foundation, and using a raised bed further out in the yard.
For more information, you might see:
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/s...
Gardening guidelines for soil with lead:
http://www.douglascountyhealth...

Depending on where you live, it is a little too cold now to grow peppers outdoors (they like warmth). In general, mini sweet bell peppers can grow in a 5-gallon pot, about 12 inches deep and 12 inches wide. One plant per pot. You can certainly grow them in a greenhouse. If you do not have a greenhouse, but have a location that will be about 70F to 80F or so in temperature consistently, then you can grow them indoors over winter. They will need about 14 to 16 hours of daylight or fluorescent grow lights (1 cool bulb type, 1 warm) per day. Set the plant lights about 4 to 6 inches above the plants. You will need to hand pollinate the flowers to encourage fruiting. Keep up with the watering. Good luck!

Only time will tell. If the injury left some of the vascular system intact, so that the plant juices and nutrients can still flow between the roots, stem, leaves, and fruit, then there might be a chance it will muddle through to the end of the season. But, the plant is now more susceptible to disease and insects, and may possibly go into shock. Providing support is good--do anything else that you can to coddle the plant so that it is under the least stress possible. Good luck!

Your peppers will greatly appreciate some extra support.

Do you mean the stem end or the bottom of the pepper? Black areas starting at the bottom of the pepper might be due to blossom end rot. This is caused by a calcium deficiency which can show up in dry weather or uneven watering. It might also happen if there is root damage, a lot of salts in the soil, or lots of nitrogen. In this case, you don't need to worry about other plants getting the disease, since it is a cultural problem. Mulch to maintain moisture, and water consistently. Avoid high-nitrogen fertilizer.
 
If the black area is at the stem end, it might be bacterial soft rot. This is caused by bacteria that causes watersoaked areas on the fruit, which rots. Leaves will wilt. Discard any affected fruit, and give your plants plenty of spacing so that they have good air circulation; keep up with pests; and mulch to keep the bacteria in the soil from splashing onto plants.
 
Or, perhaps the variety was mislabelled and it is actually a black sweet pepper? In which case it is just part of the ripening process.

Hot peppers can tolerate heat better than bells. Perhaps at the time of flowering, it was too hot for sufficient pollination for the bells, but the hot peppers came through? (That wouldn't explain the Cubanelles, though.) Too much nitrogen can also cause lack of flowering/fruiting, but the other plants seem to be OK. Are all plants getting the same amount of soil nutrients, sunlight, water, etc? If not, perhaps the area where the bells are is different enough to cause a problem.

Hi, Elizabeth: Well, it's not really a "wrong," but what you're not doing enough of is being patient. They will turn color eventually. Sometimes, once you start to see a little color, you can speed up the final ripening by putting them in a paper bag with a ripe tomato. The ethylene gas it emits will help things along.

On one pepper plant, you may get 1 or 2 peppers to form or you may 6 to 8. It depends on the pepper variety and your garden/weather conditions. If you pick the pepper before it's fully mature, you will spark your plant into producing more peppers because the plant wants its "babies" to succeed, though many gardeners say the pepper tastes better if it's fully mature. One idea is to harvest early on some plants and let others mature. Try this experiment and see what works for you!

Most likely, the peppers are suffering from blossom end rot, which can spread to any area of the fruit and is not always on the "ends". Provide a good mulch to prevent moisture evaporation, and shade your plants during the hottest hours of the day. Keep the soil evenly moist like a wrung out sponge, not wet and not completely dried out.

Depending on what weather you have had, it could be that cold temperatures are delaying sprouting, since pepper seeds like a warm soil temperature to germinate. Keep the soil moist (not soggy) to help penetrate the hard seed coat and help the seed germinate. The variety of pepper also affects how fast it will germinate: some hot peppers can take almost a month.
 
Cold temperatures can also slow plant growth (Look through the questions/answers below for similar problems.) If temperatures are still cool, you might place row covers over the plants to help keep them warm at night. Black plastic mulch helps to keep the soil warm.
 
As to whether sowing seeds now will give the plants enough time to produce, check this page and put in your zip code to determine best times for your area:
http://www.almanac.com/gardeni...
In some areas, sowing now through end of June should be fine for a Setember/October harvest.
 

It seems that several gardeners are having the same problem (see questions/answer below), probably because of cooler temperatures (or the temperature fluctuations). You might want to pick the fruit and allow the plants to get taller; side dress the area with a bit of balanced fertilizer to encourage more plant growth.

When a pepper plant starts producing fruit before it has reached full growth, it sometimes helps to remove the tiny peppers and side dress the area with a bit of balanced fertilizer to encourage more plant growth. Cool temperatures during flowering may also affect pollination (the pollinators aren't out as much), resulting in tiny, misshapen fruit.

Please see the answer below.

They might perk up when temperatures get warmer, although there is a possibility that they will remain stunted. In the meantime, if your area is still cool, you might place row covers over the plants to help keep them warm at night. Black plastic mulch helps to keep the soil warm. When a pepper plant starts producing fruit before it has reached full growth, it sometimes helps to remove the tiny peppers and side dress the area with a bit of balanced fertilizer to encourage more plant growth. Cool temperatures during flowering may also affect pollination (the pollinators aren't out as much), resulting in tiny, misshapen fruit.

This could be any number of things -- it's good that you're on top of it! Make sure that it is getting enough sun. Make sure that it is getting enough water, but not too much! Water regularly, but only when the top surface starts to dry out to a depth of an inch or two. It could be a nutrient deficiency; try a little bit of some well-balanced (10-10-10) fertilizer. It could be pests: Do an inspection and use some eco-friendly pesticide if necessary. So, your order of action here should be Pests, Water, Sun, Nutrients -- in successive but quick order!

Our advice would be to thin just to one seedling (pinch one off, rather than pull it out) because these are so close together and might be competing too intensely. When you plant the peppers in the garden, you could place another plant about 3 inches away; this might help with the sunscald and the plants may support each other as they grow further. If you don't have a problem with sunscald, then regular spacing might be best.

Hi William,
If you already have white flies on your peppers try predator insects, such as parasitic wasps and ladybugs. Some folks recommend putting yellow sticky tape around the garden and others have used insecticidal soap and oil sprays with some luck.

Most store bought peppers come from hybrid plants and seeds collected from them don't grow as well as seeds planted from a seed package. But, you already have seedlings growing so you can transplant them into bigger pots when they are about 2 to 3 inches tall and see what happens. The seedlings will not grow well if they are crowded.
Good luck!

Pepper seeds germinate best at temps between 85°F and 90°F, and seedlings develop well at 75°F during the day and no less than 65°F (some say 60°F) at night. They slow down during cool periods. Did anything change in your temp conditions?
If they come back to life, beware of transplant shock: reduce the air temp and amount of water and increase the air circulation around them before bringing them outside.

Peppers have many fans that are not humans.
Corn earworm (shows up where corn is grown, probably not your area), fall armyworm (strikes in autumn, as the name suggests), pepper maggot (is about the size of a housefly; here's a candidate) and pepper weevil larva (these are tiny and found in sub-tropical areas, also a contender) are among the insects that bore into the fruit. There are others.
Management on a few pots (vs a field or bed) usually involve using crop rotation methods (or changing pot soil from year to year) and using trays or saucers under the pots to deny some pests entry from the bottom. Use a slow-release fertilizer and if using composted material, be sure that it reached a temperture high enough to kill pest organisms. 
See the next entry for more advice.

Peppers do like warmth and the temperatures you've been experiencing are quite cold for these plants, so this combined with a lot of rain could potentially be the cause of the yellowing. I would expect to see wilting too though. It might be a good idea to cover the bed at night to provide a little extra warmth. It does sound more like a nutrient deficiency to me though - without seeing the plants it's difficult to say what, but if you think this could be a possibility I would recommend watering in a balanced organic liquid feed (make it fairly weak) and do this once a week until you see signs of improvement.
If, despite your best efforts, the cool to cold temps have done in your peppers, then you should get new seedlings, harden them off before planting (see above answer for ideas on that), and try again.

Correct. You won't have issues with the crops this season, but if you save these seeds and replant, you will get attributes of both parents. For example, you may find a sweet pepper has spicy notes. Or, a fruit won't taste very good.  The plants lose their unique characteristics.

See our indoor planting tips on this page. Are your seedling too crowded? Peppers need warmth. Make sure the temp. doesn't drop below 65 degrees. Sometimes a small fan that circulates the air will help.

Usually you can transplant your seedlings into the garden after about 8 weeks indoors. Peppers love sunlight, just be careful that it doesn't get too hot on the windowsill. Before you transplant the seedlings you may want to harden them off by putting them outside during the day and bringing them inside during the night.

We're not clear. Are they still in pots or are peppers now in the ground? Peppers will suffer slow growth and not thrive if it's too cool. Our best guess is that the temps are too cool.
You can start them indoors 6 to 8 weeks ahead, and transplant them outdoors when soil has been thoroughly warmed in the spring.

Our research indicates no good or easy answer to this one. Mold is usually caused by too much moisture or water. Some sources suggest that you should start over again, but before you do that, scrape the mold off if you can and try to dry out the containers. Some sources suggest trying to replant the seeds/seedlings in new material and nurture them the old-fashioned way (not in this type of container). You have quite a potential crop and we wish you the best with it.

It should have some nitrogen. A 5-10-10 fertilizer works well for bell peppers.

Yes, peppers go dormant when temperatures reach 50 degrees.

Peppers can withstand light frost, however, they will start to go dormant when the temperatures get down to 50 F.

No dumb questions in gardening! Peppers grow anew each season; they generally take 35 to 45 days to mature from flowering to full color. People do try to keep growing peppers over the winter but in most climates they would need a lot of grow lamps and heat to keep going; usually, the declining amount of sunlight slows them down.

You should expect to be harvesting your delicious peppers about 65–85 days after transplanting.
You can harvest those peppers before they reach full maturity if you wish; sometimes the flavor is even better.

There are a variety of possible reasons why the peppers are small and deformed. The most common reason is temperature. Peppers are very sensitive to temperatures that are too cold or hot. If the temperatures dip below 60 degrees during fruit set, they can be small and misshapen.

Your peppers will continue to ripen after being picked. Just keep them at room temperature; if they are in cool conditions, they won't ripen very well.

If your peppers are not bearing fruit, the most common reason is due to temperature. Daytime temps can't get above 90 degrees F. and nighttime temps can't get above 75 degrees F. They prefer temps between 70 degrees and 80 degrees F.

Yes, there are white bell pepper varieties. Here is an example: http://www.reimerseeds.com/whi...

The number of fruit really depends on the variety of plant, your location, and your conditions.
For example, a 'Vidi' variety might produce 4 to 8 peppers.
A 'Gourmet" may produce 6 to 12 fruit.
There are also varieties that produce smaller-size fruit--and 20 fruit would be normal.
Of course, hot pepper plants produce even more!

Let's just back up: Peppers generally grow slowly. On one pepper plant, you may get 1 or 2 peppers to form or you may 6 to 8. It depends on the pepper variety and your garden/weather conditions. If you pick the pepper before it's fully mature, you will spark your plant into producing more peppers because the plant wants its "babies" to succeed, though many gardeners say the pepper tastes better if it's fully mature. One idea is to harvest early on some plants and let others mature. Try this experiment and see what works for you!

Peppers need warm soil to thrive. Make sure they get a lot of sun and keep the soil moist. Add some mulch around the plants.