Sweet bell peppers are a tender, warm-season crop and a relative of the tomato. Here’s how to plant and grow bell peppers in your garden!
Peppers resist most garden pests and offer something for everyone: spicy, sweet, or hot; and a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. On this page, we focus on growing sweet bell peppers.
Unlike their spicy brethren, bell peppers do not contain capsaicin, which is the compound that gives hot peppers such as jalapeño peppers their pungency and heat.
Common Bell Pepper Questions
Do different-colored peppers come from different plants?
Surprisingly enough, the green and red bell peppers that we commonly see in supermarkets are actually the same pepper; the red bell peppers have just been allowed to mature on the plant longer, which changes their color and lets them develop a higher Vitamin C content. More mature peppers also tend to be sweeter than their greener counterparts.
However, there are quite a few varieties of bell peppers out there, including purple, yellow, orange, white, and brown ones.
Are there male and female peppers?
There is a popular myth which 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, have more seeds, are sweeter, and are better for eating raw. This is not true! Pepper fruits do not have a gender and any obvious difference between fruits is simply the result of growing conditions or variety.
Reader Comments
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My first time growing Bell
My first time growing Bell peppers they are doing well, but will the plant produce year after year?
Bell Peppers: Annual or Perennial?
We’re glad to hear your bell peppers are doing well! In most of temperate North America, the pepper is grown as an annual, meaning that you’ll have to plant again next year. It is a “tender” vegetable and easily killed by frost. However, in tropical regions, the pepper grows as a perennial plant, so it will produce again.
Bell peppers
I'm a beginner at gardening: my bell pepper plant has only produced one pepper! There's no flowers or buds around it neither, just the one pepper.
The pepper is doing good though, it's quickly growing in size, the plant leaves are nice and healthy, they're not wilted or damaged.
I've just recently transplanted it with CIL transplanting soil in a 12" deep 12" diameter pot with proper drainage holes. I only water it when it needs to (usually every 2-3 days when the soil dries out)
I have no idea what I'm doing wrong here, I'd love to see my plant produce more fruit.
Please give me some input/advice !! Thank you :)
where's the pepper
Any time you transplant something, you have to give it time to adjust to the new environment. In do doing you literally uproot it. Think about it: it was comfortable, producing, getting on with its business—slowly maybe (for lots of other reasons). But it had shown you that it could make fruit. Then you removed it from its familiar surroundings—with good intentions, no doubt. But now it has to essentially settle in and then maybe get back to the business of making fruit. Next time, put the plant into a pot that it can call home for the season and surround it with proper soil. It’s hard to know if you there is enough time in the season (and the plant’s life) for it to produce again. We give it a strong maybe. You can only wait and see.
Red bell pepper branch
I have a large branch from my pepper plant that broke off. It has 6 baby peppers on it. Will it continue to grow if I leave in a vase of wayer? Is there any way to keep it growing?
green bell peppers
I live in Florida and love to grow things i get a pretty good amount but are small about the size of a tennis ball or smaller how can i get them larger?
small bell peppers
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.
Bell peppers
Are Bell peppers perennials and will they flower more that one time after harvesting?
growing bell peppers
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.
bell pepper flowers and plant size
My plants are starting to flower and are about a foot tall. Would it help production to cut off the early flowers to allow the plant to grow larger and stronger before allowing the fruit to set?
removing first flowers on pepper
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.
Approximately many bell
Approximately many bell peppers can grow on a plant at once?
How Many Peppers per Plant
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).
Bell Peppers
When do peppers change their color
Pepper color
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.
Yellow bell peppers
I bought what was supposed to be red and yellow peppers. They are not turning. I picked what is supposed to be yellow this morning. It is about 3 1/2 x 3 1/2" and had been on the plant about 3 weeks. How long does it take to turn? Should I gave left it. I am thinking that it was labeled wrong.
red and yellow peppers.
So if I understand this, you just wait for them to turn the red or yellow.
is it too late to put peppers
is it too late to put peppers outdoor now??
pepper planting times
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).
https://www.almanac.com/gardening/planting-calendar
the one we called capsicum in
the one we called capsicum in india is the same to bell peppers?
ps : i think your article is very helpfull
Yes. Bell peppers and
Yes. Bell peppers and capsicum are the same thing.
My bell peppers have flowers
My bell peppers have flowers coming from them. I initially thought they were peppers but now I see that it has opened up as a flower. will it not give me peppers.? I just planted seeds from the peppers I bought at the store, but has grown well.
pepper flowers
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.
maintenance of Capsicum plant after harvesting :-
I have a Capsicum pepper plant and harvested the peppers. Now my plant has become dry after harvesting. Could you provide any tips on how to care for my pepper plant after harvesting? Thank you.
pepper care
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.
lighting
how long do i keep the plant light on for bell peppers. just started them from seeds
Keep the seedlings under the
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.
Re: Keep the Seedlings Under the Lights
I recently started peppers from seeds using peat moss pellets. Most of the seeds I planted have begun to sprout. I've started leaving the plants in the windowsill and then under a regular desk lamp for light and heat. Do they need to have light all night right now?
how many are the plant yield
how many are the plant yield of bell pepper??/ pls advice thankyou
bell pepper yield
The yield of a bell pepper will depend on many factors, such as variety, weather and soil conditions, pests, timing, spacing, light, etc. However, for a rule of thumb, bell peppers average about 6 to 8 peppers per plant. Some may yield less (2 or 3), some more (15 or more). Pepper size will vary as well.
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