Growing Bell Peppers
Bell
peppers are a very particular plant, as I have come to learn. When I lived in our old house, I had a couple
of bell pepper plants, but knew nothing about how to take care of them. I subscribed to the idea that I could just
put a pepper plant into some Miracle Grow soil, water it, put it in a sunny
window, and let it be. My first plant
flourished and produced two tiny bell peppers.
When I went to move it outside, I didn’t allow it time to harden, so it
died after a week. I never understood
why until I went to research how to make this amazing and nutritious fruit
grow.
Bell
Peppers are a warm weather fruit. They
were originally found in Mexico, Central America, and the northern parts of
South America. They can be grown in
greenhouses almost anywhere, but flourish best in warm humid climates like
Florida. Seeds are generally planted 4-6
weeks before the last frost of the season, almost exclusively indoors, because
they need to be kept at about 70-80° while starting to grow. Most seeds kept at this temperature will
germinate within 10 days and be ready to harden within 3 weeks following the
last frost. “Hardening” is the process by which a plant can gradually adjust to
the outdoor temperatures. A grower would remove the plant from its indoor location
and leave it outside for a few hours, gradually increasing the time spent
outside until the plant is adjusted to the outdoor weather and ready for
planting in a field. Planting a Bell
Pepper plant straight into the ground after it has been kept inside for so long
will cause shock to the plant and potentially kill it, or at least slow its
growth down dramatically. Waiting until
it has adjusted to the outside temperatures also allows the ground to heat up
to the ideal Bell Pepper temperature of 65°.
In colder areas, farmers will cover the ground in black plastic to keep
it warm, but in most instances, a heavy layer of mulch will keep the
temperatures ideal for growth. They also
have a considerable growing season of 90-100 days, which is why it is important
to start early in the season and plant indoors when the weather is not
ideal. A farmer would also want to make
sure that they are very careful about removing the plant from their existing
pot into the ground as Bell Pepper plants are prone to shock if they are not
carefully removed from an existing seedling pot into the ground. If they are in paper containers, it is best
to cut the paper container open rather than try to remove the plant manually.
Bell Peppers prefer “sandy” or
“loomy” soil, rich in nitrogen, with a neutral pH level around 6.0 to 6.8. Farmers are divided on tilling with some
saying that heavy tilling in the spring and fall are essential to healthy
growth as it turns over the cover crop completely, and others saying that the
remains of the cover crop are essential for providing the ground with the
nitrogen needed to grow Bell Peppers. Good cover crops include clovers, wheat,
and buckwheat. These plants deliver a
much needed boost of nitrogen to the soil that will keep the Bell Peppers happy
as they grow and produce fruit. While Bell Peppers love nitrogen, it is
important to choose a mulch that is low in nitrogen so that the soil doesn’t
get overloaded. The leaves will grow very well on a Bell Pepper plant with too
much nitrogen, but the fruit will not.
Bell Peppers also like friends. Planting
species like Sunflowers near a Bell Pepper crop not only helps provide shade to
the plant with its long leaves and lots of nitrogen to the soil through
photosynthesis, but it also attracts pollinators and insects who would feed on
the Bell Pepper’s top three pests: aphids, whiteflies, and the European corn
borer. Sunflowers also have a much deeper root structure than the Bell Pepper,
allowing for more moisture absorption, which helps maintain a balance for the
Bell Pepper to thrive in. Excess water in the soil attracts soil pests and can
cause the roots to rot. A Bell Pepper
plant needs about 2” of water per week.
While overhead watering is common in industrial farming, a more
eco-friendly solution is drip irrigation, which delivers water slowly and
directly to the soil. You also want to keep native plants nearby but not in the
field. Native agriculture encourages the
growth of pollinator populations and predatory species populations, but a special
type of fungus that is common to the Bell Pepper can transfer to native plants
so you want them around but not near the growing plants.
Cucumbers, carrots, and corn are also
plants that grows well with Bell Peppers, since they also need the high nitrogen
soil and will help maintain a good biodiversity among the field. Geraniums, petunias, and marigolds make for
excellent companion plants to the Bell Pepper as well. But you want to be careful. Bell Pepper plants like their space. They need 18-24” of space between plants, and
it’s not wise to grow the sweet Bell Pepper too close to its more spicy
cousins. Cross-pollination from pepper
plants that are too close together can lead to spicy Bell Peppers and sweet
Habaneros.
That spacing between plants leaves
a lot of soil exposed and the Bell Pepper plant does not have a deep root
structure, so The Farmer’s Almanac advises to grow smaller companion crops such
as dill and basil, or even a cover crop like buckwheat, in between the plants,
not only to ensure that the soil is being maintained, but also because the
herbs are natural pest repellants, and could provide a small bit of pocket
change when the Bell Peppers are ready to harvest, as is the case with the
cucumbers and sunflowers in my drawing.
But you absolutely want to avoid planting Bell Peppers near cabbage
family plants, fennel, and apricot trees.
When a Bell Pepper plant starts to reach maturity, it is suggested that the farmer either stake the plant or encapsulate it in a tomato cage to help it stay vertical, instead of allowing it to lay on the ground where ground pests can eat the fruit. The same is suggested of cucumbers. Crop rotation is required of this plant because of its heavy demands on nitrogen rich soil. It should be rotated out every 2-3 years and never rotated into a field where a nightshade plant has been in for at least 3 years. Regardless of its particularities, it would appear that growing Bell Peppers is almost as easy as growing corn. Take care of the soil, let it adjust to changing climates, give it some friends, a bit of water, and voila! A perfectly grown crop of Bell Peppers.
Bickerton, M. W., & Hamilton, G. C. (n.d.). Intercropping
for Insect Pest Management. Retrieved from Rutgers New Jersey
Agricultural Experiment Station:
https://njaes.rutgers.edu/organic/intercropping.php
Diaz-Perez, J. C., Phatak, S. C., Ruberson, J. R.,
Silvoy, J., & Morse, R. (2008, March). Effect of Winter Cover Crops and
No-Till on the Yield of Organically-Grown Bell Pepper (Capsicum annum L.). Acta
Horticulturae, 767(25), 243-247. doi:10.17660/ActaHortic.2008.767.25
Engel, H. (n.d.). Vegetable Garden Companion for
Planting Bell Peppers. Retrieved from SFGate:
https://homeguides.sfgate.com/vegetable-garden-companion-planting-bell-peppers-46329.html
Finley, R. (2020, April 22). How to Grow Bell
Peppers: 7 Tips for Growing Bell Peppers. Retrieved from MasterClass: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-grow-bell-peppers
Growing Bell Peppers: Planting, Growing, and
Harvesting Bell Peppers. (n.d.).
Retrieved from The Old Farmer's Almanac:
https://www.almanac.com/plant/bell-peppers?page=5&trk_msg=SBG14LULT2T47803EAJVI2A2RO&trk_contact=VMRR54E455P5SKD0T9TV4NEI50&trk_sid=GEG3JA526TVFOGCJCE6L51LT5O&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Bell%20Peppers%20%28title%29&utm_campaign=Companion
Parker, J. E., Snyder, W. E., Hamilton, G. C., &
Rodriguez-Saona, C. (2013). Companion planting and insect pest control.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. INTECH.
Peregrine Farm News Vol. 10 #17, 5/29/13. (2013, May 29). Retrieved from Peregrine Farm:
Food with a Face, a Place, and a Taste:
https://peregrinefarm.net/tag/no-till/
Schidler, A. (2019, March 20). Grow Crunchy,
Sweet Bell Peppers in Your Own Backyard. Retrieved from Gardener's Path:
https://gardenerspath.com/plants/vegetables/growing-using-bell-peppers/#:~:text=moisture%20related%20stress.-,Growing%20Healthy%20Plants,and%20warm%20temperatures%20to%20thrive.&text=Full%20sun%20and%20loamy%2C%20rich,evenly%20moist%20throughout%20the%20s
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