Friday, September 5, 2008

Growing Peppers

This certainly isn't shaping up to be the year of the pepper in our container garden. So far, our plants have produced only six small Jalapenos (four of which were on the plant when I bought it), two very small Tabascos, and one Bell that rotted before it ripened. The Tabasco and Habanero plants look great, but just aren't putting on any blooms or peppers. But at least they are still alive, which is more than I can say for the Jalapeno and Bell (granted, our Mastiff Tessa sat on the bell). Finally, the Purple Beauty Bell Pepper is the slowest growing seedling I've ever encountered. At its current rate it might be ready to set out by next March. Do any of you seem to have more trouble growing peppers than other vegetables?
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Habanero on left, Tabasco on right

Very slow growing Purple Bell Pepper plant

4 comments:

Robj98168 said...

I just am not luvky with peppers- I eiter overwater, underwater, I don't know. But I keep trying!

DP Nguyen said...

I think a lot of people have trouble with peppers. I'm not sure why, but I've also had trouble with them this year. They prduce in spirts I think. This one bell that I planted in May has only given me 2 bell peppers. One was in June and the other is currently growing.

Good luck with yours.

J said...

I've actually had quite good luck with peppers, which is more than I can say for much of the other things we've been trying to grow.

And oddly, the peppers in our container garden are doing a lot better than the ones we have in the ground at the community garden.

I do know that excessive heat will cause them to, well, not bloom, or drop any flowers that they may have. I also only water them when they are dry after a "finger test" (I just stick my finger in the dirt to see if it's wet). They also like to be fed regularly. We give ours a dose of worm castings every 3 weeks or so. Hope this helps a little.

Anonymous said...

I've had trouble with everything I've tried to grow this yr. Don't know what the problem is. No pollinators is what I blame it on.