A Rainbow of Colors
Whether you're making salad, sizzling up a stir fry, or barbecuing some shish kabobs, sweet peppers are an essential ingredient. That blend of sweet and crunchy just isn't equaled by too many vegetables. There are well over 100 different varieties of sweet peppers. Here's an easy way to grow your favorites.
What You'll Need:
- Miracle-Gro® Garden Soil for Flowers & Vegetables
- Miracle-Gro® Shake 'n Feed® Tomato, Fruit & Vegetables Continuous Release Plant Food plus Calcium
- Rake
- Shovel or trowel
- Hose or watering can
Project Steps
Basic Ingredients for Successful Planting
Like most garden plants, your sweet pepper needs soil that's rich in organic material. It also requires plenty of sun, and ample, consistent watering. If you grow sweet peppers in containers (and they're a good veggie for that), your potting mix should have lots of organic material. Miracle-Gro® Organic Choice® Potting Mix is an example. In your garden bed, you can work in compost or Miracle-Gro® Garden Soil for Flowers & Vegetables.
Planting Sweet Peppers
If you want to grow peppers from seed, you can start them inside 8-10 weeks before you move them to your garden. If you're planting outdoors, wait till after the frost date. Space your plants about 24 inches apart. Some gardeners recommend moving them closer together to prevent sunscald and weeds. Add a continuous-release plant food, such as Miracle-Gro® Shake 'n Feed® Tomato, Fruit & Vegetables Continuous Release Plant Food plus Calcium, and water in.
Harvesting Your Sweet Peppers
You have a harvesting choice: You can let your peppers ripen on the vine, or you can pick them green and let them ripen indoors. It just depends on your preference. Many gardeners love the satisfaction of going outside, picking a pepper or two, and adding them to the meal that very moment. Either way works, though, so enjoy them the way you want to.
Tips for Growing Sweet Peppers
Water regularly. Pepper plants should never dry out. When you do water, be sure to water at the base, not the leaves.
Photography and article provided by the National Gardening Association