For daily wit & wisdom, get the Almanac newsletter.

Planting and Growing Bell Peppers

green bell peppers and red bell peppers on a plant in the garden
Image Credit:
D. Leonis/Getty Images
Sponsored Article:
Cummins
Botanical Name
Capsicum annuum
Grown as
Tender Perennial
USDA Zones
10a
10b
11a
11b
Toxicity
Non-toxic
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Water Needs
Moderate
Height
1–3 feet
Spread
1–3 feet
Soil pH
Neutral
Bloom Time
Summer
Flower Color
White
Special Features
Container-Friendly
Long Blooming
Attracts Pollinators
Resilience
Heat-Tolerant
Plant Type
Vegetables
Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Whether you’re stuffing them, slicing them raw, or grilling them to perfection, growing your own bell peppers is an easy way to add color to your garden — and your dinner plate. 

In this guide, we’ll teach you how to grow your own bell peppers from seed or starter plants and how to help these sunshine-loving veggies produce their very best!

Planting

When to Plant Peppers

Peppers are slow-to-grow plants that take about 60 to 90 days to mature when grown from seed. To work around this long growing season, many gardeners purchase starter pepper plants from nurseries, which can be planted outside 2 to 3 weeks after the last spring frost or when soil temperatures have warmed to around 65°F (18°C). That said, if you have the patience, you can also start pepper seeds indoors in pots about 8 to 10 weeks before your last spring frost date and then move the transplants outside when the weather warms.

Where to Plant Peppers

Peppers are full sun plants that should be planted in a well-draining spot that receives at least 6 hours of light per day and has rich and moist (but not wet) soil. Mixing some compost into the soil before planting will help peppers grow better, while northern gardeners may want to warm the soil with black plastic for a few weeks before planting to speed up planting times. You can also grow peppers in a well-draining pot that’s at least 3 to 5-gallons in size.

Due to the risk of disease transmission, it’s best to avoid planting peppers in an area where you’ve recently grown other nightshade family members—such as tomatoes, potatoes, or eggplants.

How to Plant Peppers

  • To start peppers indoors: Plant 2 pepper seeds per seedling cell or 3 per pot by burying the seeds 1/4-inch deep in seed starting mix. For faster germination, maintain soil at 70°F (21°C) or above with a heat mat. Move the seeds under bright grow lights, keep them well-watered until they sprout, thin out the weakest seedlings with fingernail scissors leaving just 1 plant per cell or 2 per pot, and repot the seedlings into bigger containers as needed until it’s time to move them outdoors.
  • To plant peppers outside: Wait until the weather warms and then harden indoor started plants or nusery starts off over the course of 1 to 2 weeks. Plant the seedlings in prepared soil at the same depth they were growing in their nursery pots or slightly deeper if their stems are leggy by burying the stems to the lowest set of leaves. If possible, transplant peppers on a cloudy day to reduce the risk of planting shock, plant peppers in their own pots or 12 to 18-inches apart in rows spaced 2 to 3-feet from each other, water well, and consider adding stakes or tomato cages to avoid disturbing plants later on.

Growing

Watering

Peppers should be watered regularly with about 1 to 2-inches of water per week. For best results, allow peppers to nearly dry out between waterings, then water them deeply, low and slow, and add a layer of mulch to lock in soil moisture levels. Make sure to keep up with a regular watering practice as irregular watering can lead to plant stress and issues like blossom end rot.

Fertilizing

Adding compost to the soil at planting time makes pepper plants more productive. After that, feed peppers regularly with an organic tomato fertilizer or other high potatssium fertilizer from the time the plants begin to produce flower buds. Bell peppers also do well with organic, balanced or low nitrogen, slow-release granular fertilizers.

Pruning or Maintenance

Bell peppers don’t need major pruning but they will grow bushier and produce more fruits if you pinch out the growing points at the top of the plant once the plants are about 8-inches tall.

Seasonal Care

Peppers are extremely heat-sensitive and may drop their blossoms if it’s too hot (above 85° to 90°F in daytime) or cold (below 60°F at night) or if water is inadequate. To avoid this fate, use shade cloth or row covers to protect bell peppers from heat stress or sunscald and cover plants with cloches or frost blankets if a cold snap passes through. Make sure to weed regularly to keep weeds from competing with bell peppers too!

 

Harvesting

When to Harvest

Begin harvesting bell peppers as soon as the plants begin fruiting and the peppers reach a usable size. You can harvest bell peppers when they’re green or when they reach their mature color, which may be red, orange, yellow, or even purple depending on the variety. Harvesting regularly prompts pepper plants to produce more fruit and safeguards harvests from pest damage; however, bell peppers get sweeter the longer they stay on the plant.

How to Harvest

To harvest bell peppers, hold the pepper stem and snip the stem off the plant with a clean pair of pruners, scissors, or a sharp knife. Don’t pull bell peppers off the plant as this can cause significant damage and make peppers less productive.

Storage

After harvesting, bell peppers should stay fresh in the cripsper drawer of your fridge for up to 10 days. For longer storage, you can also chop and freeze bell peppers, or wash, de-seed, chop and dry them in an oven or dehydrator set at 140°F for 4 to 6 hours.

Green and red bell peppers on plant

Pests and Problems

Just like other veggies, peppers can develop problems due to environmental stress, pests, or disease. Here are some of the most common complications you may encounter when growing bell peppers and what to do about it!

Common Problems

  • Flower drop and poor fruiting. Pollination can be reduced if temperatures fall below 60°F (16°C) or rise above 90°F (32°C), which can result in flower drop. Low humidity, lack of pollinators, and watering stress can also cause this issue, so it’s important to provide the care pepper plants need and encourage pollinators with companion planting.
  • Blossom end rot. Peppers may develop soft mushy sections on their ends if they don’t receive enough calcium or are watered irregularly. This is known as blossom end rot and can be corrected by adjusting watering schedules.
  • Sunscald. Sun damaged peppers may turn yellow or white on their upper margins and they can get mushy too. This usually results from overpruning plants and can be remedied with shade cloth and reduced pruning.
  • Yellowing leaves. Overwatering is the leading cause of yellow leaves in pepper plants, but leaf yellowing can also result from certain plant diseases and underwatering.

Common Pests

  • Aphids may leave a sticky coating on pepper plant leaves and cause leaf deformation. Usually aphids can be dislodged with a strong blast from your hose, but you can also treat them with weekly applications of organic soap spray.
  • Slugs and snails often chew ragged holes in developing peppers. Slug traps are the best way to manage these pests, but you can also remove them with hand-picking.
  • Spider mites also feed on plant sap and can leave peppers feeling sticky or cover them with tiny spider-like webs. Increasing watering and treating plants with organic soap spray should reduce mite issues quickly.
  • Deer typically leave peppers alone, but they may take big bites out of bell peppers if they get hungry enough. Growing deterrent plants and using motion-activated sprinklers or flood lights should keep these garden mauraders at bay,

Plant Diseases

  • Blight. A fungal issue, blight can leave lesions on plant stems and lead to rapid wilt. If this occurs, your best bet is to destroy infected plant parts, add mulch to reduce water splashing, and move peppers into a new section of your garden next season.
  • Mosaic virus. Commonly transmitted by aphids, mosaic virus can leave pepper leaves with a mottled yellow and green patterning, reduce fruit yields, and stunt plants too. There is no remedy for this disease, just destroy infected plants, sanitize the area, and grow peppers in a new part of your garden next time.

Types

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

  • Green peppers that turn Red: ‘Lady Bell’, ‘Gypsy’, ‘Bell Boy’, ‘Lipstick’
  • Orange: ‘Milena’, ‘Orange Sun’
  • Yellow: ‘Golden California Wonder’

Group of green bell peppers

Wit and Wisdom

  • Sweet bell peppers do not contain capsaicin, which is the compound that gives hot peppers their pungency and heat.
  • The green and red bell peppers we commonly see in supermarkets are the same pepper — the red bell peppers have just been allowed to mature on the plant longer, which gives them more color, a sweeter taste, and a higher vitamin C content.
  • A popular myth states that pepper fruits can be either male or female—the difference between them being that male peppers have 3 bumps on the bottom and are better for cooking, while female peppers have 4 bumps, a sweeter taste, and more seeds. However, this is not true! Pepper fruits do not have a gender and differences between them are simply the result of growing conditions or variety.

Vegetables

About The Author

Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana.

Read more from Catherine Boeckmann

More Like This

Comments

<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Wed, 08/26/2015 - 16:34

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.

 <span>Gb</span> Fri, 08/28/2015 - 11:37
My balcony gets sunlight from 11am till 4pm. The day time temperatures are between 85- 90F. It also rains most afternoons.The plant looks lush and has lot of buds and blooms but no fruit.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 08/28/2015 - 15:26

Make sure you have female flowers to pollinate. The flowers have a little bump at the bottom of the flower. Wait until mid-afternoon to pollinate for best results. It would also be better if you can get more full sun on your plants.

 <span>Zeffery D'souzaz</span> Thu, 08/13/2015 - 09:34
I stay in Maharashtra the climate here is heavy rain in rainy season cool in winter and very hot in summer so please tell me what is the correct time or month to plant all colour bell paper seeds the soil is red drain soil
<span>Burchel</span> Wed, 08/05/2015 - 21:46
I planted a bunch of seeds I had gotten from some peppers I was using for cooking in a big pot outside that had my little sister's cabbage plant in it. That Cabbage had died because the land lord for some reason sprayed it with some kind of pesticide and I had a couple questions. The seeds had actually been just sprinkled over top of the cabbage plant before it had died, I think maybe up to 50 seeds total in a 2 foot diameter pot. right now, they're growing really well but I've been thinking could the poison the land lord used have been soaked up by the seeds and possibly made any resulting peppers poisonous or is that impossible? Also, I live in South Carolina and during Summer we typically get a thunderstorm every week sometimes even two or three or even a few regular rainstorms is this ok? The seeds actually started growing about a month ago and already they're easily foot tall each if not more. Any advice you guys could give would be just great thanks!
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 08/10/2015 - 15:03

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.

 <span>Lee</span> Thu, 02/04/2016 - 11:27
I use only natural spray on all my garden and shrubs, roses and all. 1gallon water 4 cups rubbing alcohol 4 table spoons of Dawn dish soap Spray plants often
<span>Burchel</span> Tue, 08/11/2015 - 12:30
The seeds were literally sprinkled over the cabbage plant while it was still alive and before it was sprayed with the pesticide, so I think its safe to say the seeds definitely got sprayed with the pesticide I'll try to get the name of the pesticide that was used and if I can't, then to be safe I'll dispose of the soil in the pot and next spring or soon after disposing of the old soil if it is warm enough still and will be for a while I might plant them again from seed from new peppers I use when I cook. Do you know how long pesticides generally stay in the soil and cause anything planted in them to be non edible? I ask because I planted a peach seed in the soil next to the pot recently and I'm now worried that the soil may possibly still have had that pesticide in it.
<span>Mary Martinsen</span> Fri, 07/31/2015 - 14:24
I planted Sorano peppers and green bell peppers....they bloom but have not as yet formed peppers. What am I doing wrong?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Sun, 08/02/2015 - 08:52

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.