Pepper Plant Planting Instructions
If you’ve purchased seedlings, or if you’ve grown your own, here are the steps for transplanting the peppers. You’ll need:
- A shovel or trowel (for planting in the ground).
- A suitably large container (for growing in a pot).
- Soil and soil amendments (compost, aged manure, etc.).
- For larger pepper plants, a “cage” or a post (to help keep the peppers off the ground).
- Mulch.
- Your pepper plants.
For container growing, the general guide is that you need a container that will hold 3 or more gallons of soil and amendments. Very large pepper plants require at least a 5 gallon container, and 7 gallons is even better. Fill the container with the soil and amendments, about 1/2 way full.
If you are planting in your garden, dig a hole at least 18″ across and a foot deep (two feet deep is better). Place soil and amendments in the hole, filling it up about 1/2 way.
Pepper Planting Technique
Spread your fingers and place them over the top of the seedling container. Turn the container upside-down and gently tap the container until the pepper plant comes out. Place the plant in its final container or in the ground. Add soil and amendments until full, and gently firm the soil around the plant. Place the cage or the post in place (large varieties only).
Give your plant a good drink of water, and add more soil, if necessary. Finally, mulch the pepper; this helps prevent weeds from popping up, helps to regulate the moisture in the soil, and also helps to control soil-borne bacteria.
Fertilize your pepper plants after about a week; but only fertilize at 1/2 strength. Once the pepper blossoms appear, you can begin using fertilizer at 3/4 to full strength.
Wasn’t that easy?
Pepper Growth Requirements
Want to try your hand at growing peppers? It’s really not hard!
Whether your choice is bell, sweet or hot, you’ll find the guidelines for sun and warmth below.
Growing Peppers
Like most fruits and vegetables, peppers require at least 6 hours or direct sunlight a day. Peppers also require warm weather — frost will kill them. The ideal temperatures for most (not all!) peppers is the 80’s to 90’s during the day, with nights in the 60’s and 70’s. (Temperatures in degrees Farenheit.)
And you know something strange? When it comes to hot (chile) peppers, the hotter the climate the better! Well, maybe that’s not strange…
Peppers will grow and set fruit in warmer weather, as well as in cooler weather; they just won’t be quite as productive. Keep your local temperatures in mind when selecting pepper varieties. For example, a grower in the cool Pacific Northwest would be better off with early peppers (those that mature in 70 days or less), as well as peppers that are bred for cooler weather.
Live in a hot climate? As mentioned before, peppers, and especially chile peppers, like it hot! Just make sure that the peppers don’t get too much direct sunlight in the afternoons, or they might just shrivel up on you. Morning sun and afternoon light shade in the South is just the ticket.
So, keep your local climate in mind when selecting pepper varieties. Oh, and an adequate water supply is essential for peppers to produce fruits; an average of an inch of water per week is considered optimal, but if you live in a dry climate, you might want to provide a bit more.
