DIY Network

Pepper-Planting Tips Pepper-Planting Tips From "Fresh from the Garden" episode DFFG-112

Peppers and eggplants are colorful and flavorful and they're both part of the tomato family. Peppers can be found in so many colors, sizes and shapes it's hard to keep them straight. Luckily, all peppers can be broken into 1 of 2 categories: sweet or hot. To learn how to plant these tasty veggies with great results, read on....

advertisement

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C
	Figure D
	Figure E
	Figure F
	Figure G

• Pepper plants like sunny hot weather (figure A), but the fruits themselves need to be shaded. Plant leaves form a canopy to protect the peppers from direct light. Choose a location that gets full morning sun, but less direct afternoon sun. Afternoon sun can slip under the foliage and scald the ripening fruit. But without enough sun for the foliage, they can't produce high quality peppers. Hot weather and sunny days make hot peppers even hotter and sweet peppers even richer. For extra flavor, be sure to plant your peppers where they get plenty of sun.

• Garden centers carry peppers in 2 different forms, seedlings and seeds. Pepper seeds (figure B) are slow to get started and can be sensitive to light and temperature changes. Seedlings (figure C) are easier to get going because the plants are past the difficult germination stage. Look for seedlings that have thicker stems and that aren't flowering yet. You want a pepper plant to spend its energy growing roots, not fruit, for the first few weeks.

• Peppers like moist rich soil that is full of nutrients. Use a pitchfork (figure D) to turn the soil over and aerate it if it's packed down. Since peppers need a lot of nutrients, sprinkle a small amount of slow-release 10-10-10 fertilizer throughout your garden bed, about 4 Tbs. per square foot. Later, follow-up with regular doses of liquid fertilizer.

• To plant peppers make a hole deep enough for the pepper plant to sit even with the top of the soil (figure E). Peppers will dry out if planted too shallow and their stems will rot if they're planted too deeply. Pepper plants get 1-3 feet tall and about a foot and a half wide.

• Peppers, like all members of the tomato family are susceptible to soil borne disease. To protect them add 2-3 layers of newspapers around the plants (figure F). This will keep soil from splashing onto the plant leaves as they're watered. This is especially important for low growing plants like these peppers. The newspaper also makes it more difficult for weeds to pop up and compete for nutrients. On top of the newspaper add a couple inches of pine straw. The straw will help keep the soil moist and the newspapers in place.

• If you live in a climate where the soil is still cool when you plant peppers add black plastic to your beds (figure G). The black plastic will help the soil hold heat until the ground warms up. Use long nails or stakes like yard staples to hold the plastic in place. Cut slits in the plastic so you can place the plants in the ground; be sure to leave enough room around the base of the plants to water them. You can remove the black plastic as the soil warms up and the days and nights get hotter. You can buy black plastic in the garden section of your local home improvement store or you can use heavy-duty black garbage bags if you only need to cover a small area. You can use a soaker hose under the plastic to make watering easier if you want.