Garden Vegetable - Peppers

Botanical Information

Starting

Notes:

Requires a very warm sunny location and a fertile well-drained soil. Prefers a light sandy soil that is slightly acid and tolerates a pH in the range 4.3 to 8.3. Plants can tolerate a small amount of frost, but this species does not normally do well outdoors in an average northern summer and so it is usually grown in a greenhouse in these climates. However, if a very warm sheltered location outdoors is chosen then reasonable crops could be obtained in good summers.
This species is widely grown throughout the world, but especially in warm temperate to tropical climates, for its edible fruit - the sweet and chili peppers. There are many named varieties. The pungency of peppers depends upon the presence of a single gene. Cultivars that lack this gene are the sweet peppers. A short-lived evergreen perennial in the tropics, the plants are grown as annuals in temperate zones. Sweet pepper plants are good companions for basil and okra. They should not be grown near apricot trees, however, because a fungus that the pepper is prone to can cause a lot of harm to the apricot tree.

Propagation: Seed - sow late winter to early spring in a warm greenhouse. The seed usually germinates in 3 - 4 weeks at 68°F. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots of reasonably rich soil. If setting them outdoors, plant out after the last expected frosts and give them the protection of a cloche or frame at least until they are established and growing away well.