Growing Perfect Peppers
This month Chris shows us his techniques & methods for transplanting pepper plants ready for harvest…
Capsicums or more commonly called sweet or bell peppers are not only superb in summer salads, but frozen they provide colour and flavour to a range of dishes throughout the year. They are relatively easy to grow but need a long growing season to perform at their best. I usually sow them direct into plugs during the first week of March and germinate at around 22 degrees C. If the temperatures are slightly lower, they can take up to 4 weeks to germinate especially if the seed is a couple of years old but will still produce a usable plant.
They need good light as seedlings and unless you can provide artificial light, I have found earlier sowings can become weak and spindly. Starting in early March in the Midlands is a good balance between an economic use of heat / light and giving them a good long growing season. Around Mid-April, when nighttime temperatures are higher, I pot them into 10cm pots of a good multipurpose compost and grow on in an unheated greenhouse with some back up heating should a frost threaten.
By late May / early June the plants will be strong and stocky with the first flower buds forming on some of the faster maturing cultivars, it’s now the perfect time to transfer them to the final containers which for me are 5 litre pots.
The compost I use for the final potting I have developed over the last six years, essentially from when compost was hard to get hold of during the Covid lockdowns. For each mix, I use 30 litres of a peat based multipurpose compost (or grow bag compost) but Elixir Organic Coco Coir Blocks perform equally as well, and 30 litres of shredded hedge prunings with a proportion of grass cuttings which has been composted and matured for three years. I make this myself from Beech, Holly, Yew and Leylandii hedges around the garden so I’m completely in control of the feedstock going into the mix. To a combined 60 litres of substrate, I add 120 grams (2 grams per litre) of Elixir EX4 General Purpose Premium Fertiliser to ensure the compost has sufficient nutrition.
All the components are then mixed together to provide a rich lumpy blend which is full of voids and oxygen – essential for root growth. This is also my go to mix for Tomatoes planted in Ring Culture. I have found the garden compost element in the mix to provide essential background nutrition, crops grown in it never run out of food and I would suspect that the organic colloids also better retain any added fertilisers making them more available to plant roots.
A key tip for potting peppers is not to bury the stems too deeply. Unlike tomatoes which root from the stem and can be planted deeply, peppers will not tolerate this and will quickly develop stem rots and collapse if planted too deeply. I like to ensure the cotyledons (the seed leaves) are still visible above the finished surface level. I always water well after planting but then I don’t water until the plant either starts to wilt or the compost becomes very dry – this is to ensure the roots grow down quickly into the compost in search of water which really helps to build a good root system quickly.
The pots can stand ‘pot tight’ for about three weeks in a cold frame or greenhouse after which they will require spacing out. Once the peppers are forming its important to feed weekly with a high-quality soluble fertiliser, I use Elixir Bumper Crop High Potassium 15-5-30+mg alternated with Elixir Bumper Crop Soluble Tomato Food 9-15-38, the provides a good balance of Nitrogen for continued crop growth and potassium to support the developing fruits. I am growing a couple of new cultivars this year as my old favourite and reliable red fruited ‘Lany’ seems to be no longer available. I am replacing it with ‘Red King’ F1 and the orange fruited Delirio F1, these join the very reliable:
– King of the North – red fruited.
– Mavras F1 – purple fruited.
– Red Star F1 – red fruited.
– Golden Star – yellow fruited.
I have grown many cultivars over the years some with more success than others. F1 hybrid peppers in my opinion grow faster and produce fruit more reliably than open pollinated cultivars and are well worth the increased seed cost. There are exceptions to this of course, King of the North is a great open pollinated cultivar and well worth considering, but I have to admit that since growing the ‘Star’ series and the excellent Mavras the number of large peppers of extremely good quality has increased dramatically with plenty of fruit to fill the freezer for the winter months.
Chris Jones
Based in Shropshire Chris has many years experience both in growing projects of his own and passing on his expert outdoor knowledge to others through growing and gardening societies. Keep an eye on our blog posts and newsletters for his seasonal articles to keep you well informed on all things outdoors.
Bamboo Garden Canes | Heavy-Duty Plant Support | 2ft – 10ft
£4.79 £186.24Price range: £5.75£4.79 through £223.49£186.24 incl. VATex. VAT
Organic Chicken Manure Pellets (Composted & Compressed Poultry Manure)
£5.74 £31.24Price range: £6.89£5.74 through £37.49£31.24 incl. VATex. VAT
Fish, Blood & Bone (5-5-6) Multi Purpose Organic Fertiliser & Plant Food
£4.99 £43.74Price range: £5.99£4.99 through £52.49£43.74 incl. VATex. VAT
Organic Hebridean Liquid Seaweed Fertiliser
£7.71 £55.63Price range: £9.25£7.71 through £66.75£55.63 incl. VATex. VAT
75L Organic Coir Compost Blocks
£10.74 £216.46Price range: £12.89£10.74 through £259.75£216.46 incl. VATex. VAT
1L 360g/l Glyphosate Weedkiller | Super Strength Root-Killing Concentrate
£20.83 £184.24Price range: £24.99£20.83 through £221.09£184.24 incl. VATex. VAT
Square Thermoformed Seedling/Nursery Pots (7cm (0.25L) & 9cm (0.75L) Sizes)
£4.66 £112.91Price range: £5.59£4.66 through £135.49£112.91 incl. VATex. VAT
100% Organic Wormcast (Multi-Purpose Compost & Potting Soil)
£5.74 £169.91Price range: £6.89£5.74 through £203.89£169.91 incl. VATex. VAT
Bumper Crop Growmore Fertiliser (7-7-7)
£4.38 £14.91Price range: £5.25£4.38 through £17.89£14.91 incl. VATex. VAT
4L Fast-Acting Weed & Moss Killer | Glyphosate-Free Ready-to-Use Formula
£15.74 £156.04Price range: £18.89£15.74 through £187.25£156.04 incl. VATex. VAT
About Elixir Gardens Supplies
For over 35 years Elixir Garden Supplies have been providing gardeners with all the essentials they need to achieve growing.
Our online store makes sure that all our customers have access to the information they need to make the right decisions when choosing the products they need for their gardens. We know from experience that gardening means many different things to our customers. Whether you have a balcony, patio, lawn or allotment, Elixir Gardens are proud to supply both amateur and professional gardeners alike.
We regularly use our many years of experience to developed our exclusive formulations in specialist fertilisers. Many of these have stood the test of time and have become firm favourites with amateurs and professionals alike. In fact our knowledge of fertilisers, feeds and garden care is well known within gardening circles. But don’t just take our word for it, why not check out the thousands of fantastic reviews on Trustpilot.
