There is nothing more beautiful than a basket full of homegrown bell peppers.
There are many reasons to love bell peppers besides their beauty. For starters, they are really easy to grow, they are loaded with nutritional value and they taste amazing raw and cooked. If you are a first-time gardener, peppers are a great place to start.
Bell peppers, also known as sweet peppers can be red, yellow, orange, green or even lavender and white. Bell peppers are the only members of the genus Capisicum that does not produce capsaicin, the extremely hot chemical that we are familiar with in hot peppers.
Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America.
If you start with more mature pepper plants, place them 18 inches apart in garden soil that is rich with organic matter.
Peppers also grow well in raised beds and containers. Add slow-release organic fertilizer to the hole when planting. To grow large, healthy peppers, plants need between 6 and 8 hours of sunlight daily.
Water plants immediately and provide 1 to 2 inches of water per week – more if the weather is hotter. Feed plants every three weeks after fruit sets with an organic fertilizer to promote growth.
Apply mulch or straw around each plant to help retain moisture. Provide support to pepper plants as they grow.
Harvest peppers as soon as they reach a good size.
As peppers stay on the vine they become sweeter and also contain more vitamin C.
Don’t pull peppers off of the vine, instead use sharp and clean scissors or a sharp and clean knife to remove fruit from the plant.
