grow red peppers
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Once you know the right varieties to grow, the key to getting lots of sweet red peppers is to 1) give them an early start indoors; 2) warm up the ground before you plant them outside; and 3) never give them any reason to stop growing. Start pepper seeds indoors at least eight to 10 weeks before nights remain above 50 degrees. If your indoor growing space is on the cool side (in a basement or other unheated room), start seeds two or three weeks sooner. "The idea is to have a transplant with some buds on it at planting time, but no open flowers," says Johnston. Harden off transplants for at least a week by leaving them outside for increasing amounts of time each day. "And, if you water them with a high-phosphorous fertilizer solution (compost or alfalfa-meal tea) at planting," he says, "they won't miss a beat and will set peppers rapidly."
When nighttime air temperatures stay above 50 degrees, peppers can he transplanted. At soil temperatures above 65 degrees, pepper growth accelerates. Plants may become stunted and never recover if either the soil or air temperature is much below 55 degrees. To combat cool ground, cover your beds with plastic mulch as early in the spring as possible. (Clear plastic warms the soil more quickly, but black plastic controls weeds better.) Once the soil has warmed, remove the plastic or cover it with grass clippings or other mulch to prevent the plastic-covered soil from becoming too warm.
Another trick, recommended by MOTHER'S Almanac contributor and retired Texas extension agent Bill Adams, is to place wire cages around each pepper transplant, wrapping the cages with clear plastic. These mini-greenhouses trap heat and act as a physical barrier to fungal diseases. After the weather heats up, remove the plastic around cages or the plants will get too hot.
If your summers get really sultry, your peppers will appreciate a heavy mulch after the spring season. Several inches of straw or dried grass clippings will keep the soil cooler and reduce moisture evaporation. Continually moist ground is a necessity for peppers, as they suffer from blossom end rot, a physiological disease caused by a calcium deficiency. Most soils contain ample calcium, but the mineral relies on water to transport it to the plant's root system. When the soil lacks moisture, the calcium can't reach the plants and a tell- tale black leathery spot forms on the blossom end of developing fruit.
Big, sweet peppers require a continual source of nutrition. The easiest way to fertilize them is to incorporate gradual-release fertilizer in the ground at planting. Fish-meal pellets, alfalfa pellets or cottonseed meal are all good organic choices. You also can foliar-feed plants every week or two with a fish/seaweed soluble fertilizer, spraying the tops and bottoms of leaves, or water the ground with the same mixture.
