Peppers: More Growing Tips

Here are a few more tips about growing peppers:

Most peppers, sweet or hot, take at least 70 days from transplanting time until you can eat the first fruits. And, another 3 to 4 weeks to reach full maturity.

In general, the hotter the pepper, the longer it takes to mature.The hottest of the hots need anywhere from 90 to 200 frost-free days.

The days – to – mature numbers in catalogs are based on ideal growing conditions. A pepper that takes 70 days to mature in New Mexico might take up to 100 days in Seattle, Washington. And,

If you live in a place with wet, humid weather – hot or cool- make sure that you plant only disease- resistant varieties.

If you live up North, you’ll have the best chance of success with short-season varieties. I have found that these grow well almost in any part of the country:

Sweet
“ Biscane” – 7- inch tapered fruits that start out lime green, turn yellow, then red. ( They’re great roasted or fried. I pick mine when they’re yellow-green.) 65 to 85 days

“Sweet Chocolate” – bell peppers go from green to chocolate brown. Best of all, the plants don’t mind cool nights. 65 to 90 days.

“Yankee Bell” – a great short season. Green- to -red bell. This pepper is open-pollinated, so I can save my seeds from one year to the next. 65 to 85 days.

Hot
“Early Jalapeno” – green fruits turn red ( but they are best harvested green). 70 to 90 days.

“Long Slim” – vigorous plants with 6-inch, green -to- red fruits that are very hot. 75 to 90 days.

“Hungarian Yellow Wax Hot” – moderately hot fruits go from pale green, to yellow, and then to red. 70 to 95 days.

Do you know that when peppers are ripening, the plants aren’t producing more flowers, so you get fewer fruits in the longer run. That’s why most folks pick their peppers at the green stage, even though the flavor can be a little bitter at that time.

But guess what – we’ve found a great compromise! We wait until our peppers are just starting to turn color, then harvest them and leave them at room temperature. Once they are fully colored, we put them in plastic bags and refrigerate them to stop the ripening process. They’ll keep for about two weeks this way.

Want to know more tips about growing peppers?
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Yours truly for a great garden with outstanding berries, veggies, and flowers.

Polly, organic grower