About Peppers
(Page 2 of 5)
May/June 1988
By Sara Pacher
How to Grow
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Peppers are a warm-weather crop. Even though they're perennials in their native habitats, they're grown as half-hardy annuals elsewhere, unless kept indoors. Yields are reduced when the temperature goes below 55°F. On the other hand, blossoms can drop if the thermometer reaches above 90° F. Peppers also require a long growing season and can be seeded directly in the ground only in the warmest climates. Most gardeners buy young plants instead of starting their own. However, though peppers are slightly more difficult to grow from seed than, say, tomatoes or even eggplants, cultivating seedlings offers a gardener a wide choice of varieties.
Even under warm indoor conditions, seeds can take up to two weeks to germinate, so plant them about eight weeks before the last expected spring frost. Use peat pellets, vermiculite or a finely screened mixture of equal parts of sand, loam and compost. (An inorganic planting medium isn't as likely to harbor the fungus that causes damping off. If you use garden soil, sterilize it first by baking it in a medium oven for at least 30 minutes.) Generally speaking, one 15-foot row of seven or eight plants, each of which can produce as many as 30 fruits, will provide enough peppers for a family of four. A packet of hybrid seed (many of which have a germination rate of about 75%) will grow a minimum of about 50 plants. The seed will remain viable for two years.
Sow seeds ¼ inch deep, and keep the medium uniformly moist. Since seeds will lie dormant if cool, put the growing container in a warm, sunny window. After the first true leaves show, prick out each plant to a three-inch pot filled with a sterilized potting soil, and transplant the seedling to a larger pot before it becomes root-bound. When the plant is about six inches tall, pinch off the growing point to encourage bushiness.
Once the danger of frost is past, it's still best to avoid moving these half-hardy plants directly outdoors. Take a week or two to harden them off in a cold frame, or put them outside on sunny days and bring them inside for warmth at night. Once the weather is settled and the earth is warm (a soil temperature of 65°F is ideal), choose a sunny location protected from the wind with well-worked, well-drained, fertile loam with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. To enrich the soil, use rotted compost; avoid fresh manure, since too much nitrogen will encourage leaf growth to the detriment of the fruit. Instead, add potash in the form of granite dust, greensand, seaweed and wood ashes. If your soil is deficient in magnesium (a lack of which can cause leaf drop, poor production and sunscald of fruit), use dolomite lime, talc or Epsom salts to provide this essential nutrient.
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