Planting and Growing Bell Peppers

Bell peppers require a long, warm growing season to fully mature to red, yellow, orange or purple, but can also be enjoyed in the unripe green stage, which can be white or lavender in newer varieties. Home gardeners can enjoy both ripe and green peppers with proper care when planting and growing.

Starting Bell Peppers from Seed

Bell pepper seeds germinate slowly, so sow pepper seeds indoors in peat pots or containers of sterile seed starting mix at least 10 weeks prior to the frost-free date in your area. Peppers require warmer germination conditions, so use a heat mat or other method to ensure timely sprouting and discourage seeds from rotting.

Selecting Transplants

If you choose to use purchased bell pepper transplants in your garden planting, the plants should have a sturdy stem, about the diameter of a pencil. Avoid transplants that already have blossoms or have set fruits, or are root-bound.

When to Plant Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are warm-weather plants and may grow very slowly or not at all when temperatures overnight are below 50 degrees. Low nighttime temperatures may also cause blossoms to drop without setting fruit. Plastic mulch, cloches, row covers and moveable cold frames can increase the soil and ambient temperature around the plants to encourage growth early in the season. In areas with a short frost-free growing season, these season extenders may be the only way to get ripe red or orange bell peppers from a home garden planting.

Bell Pepper Spacing

When planting peppers in a row, space them 18-24 inches apart. Bell pepper leaves need full sun, but excessive exposure can cause sunscald on the peppers themselves. Planting peppers as close as 14 inches in a wide-row planting provides enough room for the plant and root system, while allowing the foliage to shade the fruits. Square foot gardeners can plant one pepper per section.

Bell Pepper Planting Tips

Some gardeners plant bell peppers deeper than they were growing in the nursery container or starter pot. This doesn’t harm the plant, and for leggy seedlings, this practice can keep the stem from breaking. However, peppers, unlike tomatoes, do not grow additional roots from the buried section of stem. An otherwise strong seedling won’t benefit from deep planting.

Bell peppers can be planted next to hot pepper varieties without any concern for the current season’s produce. Hot and bell peppers may cross-pollinate, but the peppers that grow on a plant from a bell pepper seed will still taste like mild bell peppers, even if they were pollinated by a hot pepper. Hybridization will only be apparent if the seeds from one of the cross-pollinated peppers are saved and planted next season.

Keeping Bell Peppers Watered

For well-formed peppers with thick walls, provide an even level of moisture. A steady water supply also heads off blossom end rot. Supplemental irrigation is necessary when rainfall is less than one inch per week. To avoid foliar diseases, water the base of the plants rather than the leaves.

Fertilizing Peppers

Use a starter fertilizer when planting bell peppers. When the first flush of blossoms sets fruit, apply an additional side dressing of fertilizer. Bell peppers are heavy feeders and should be rotated through the garden along with tomatoes and other nightshades.