Growing Peppers

[NeilMac]

Their was a thread back in 2009 so I didnt want to do necromancing so starting new thread.

Been growing peppers for about 5 years now, bought a house a year ago so now I have much more room and better conditions.
Habaneros are my favorite, Pumpkin being the most flavorful I find. My Apache Peppers are the first to ripen, other slowly getting ripe now.

 

[imasickboy]

Here's one that is more recent, and stays fairly active: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/gardening-my-tomatoe-and-pepper-progress.576301/

 

[NeilMac]

I thought that was more of personal thread.
Thanks!
Could merge the post if that is appropriate.

 

[passedpawn]

I thought that was more of personal thread.
Thanks!
Could merge the post if that is appropriate.

Not necessary, but I'll do it if you want me to. Say the word.

 

[catdaddy66]

I was pretty happy with my peppers this year. I don't have many but they are producing well (for me) and that is more than I have come to expect.

Recently I was at my brother's place and he showed me his peppers... Twice as tall and double the size/amount! Now I just feel sad.

I will have to try bigger pots and fertilize twice as often next season. My brother and I are very... Competitive.

 

[Evilgrin]

I will have to try bigger pots and fertilize twice as often next season. My brother and I are very... Competitive.

You may want to reconsider WHAT you feed them vs how much you feed them. Straight N-P-K values are slightly misleading. Plants will only use what they can. Too much of one nutrient will interfere with other nutrients. Other things can strongly effect a plants ability to use what it needs such as pH and trace elements or micro nutrients. Fish and Kelp based products often cover a wide range of what a plant needs directly and indirectly.

Look up Mega Crop. Its a "hippie" fertilizer with a huge variety of the stuff besides NPK. They have a free 230gram sample for around $3 shipping.

 

[NeilMac]

Less is more, more diluted and more often might be better, their are charts that show what the leaves look like with deficiency so you can adjust as needed.

 

[Evilgrin]

Very true. When its hot here i have to water pretty much daily for container plants. Feeding higher strength liquid nutrients every 2 weeks does not work as well. Something like a 3-1-2 every 4-7 days works far better. The easiest way around it for me though is swapping to a dry product like Alaska brand veggie and tomato 4-6-6 pellets. A cup or 2 per 5-7 gallon pot is enough for a month or slightly more. Its just not very cost effective if you have lots of pots.

Something like half strength fish emulsion is cheap enough to use often. Even full strength its really cheap and works.

 

[NeilMac]

Picked these this morning. Gonna use them in some Rhubarb Jam Im doing
These are low heat, first time growing them, good as a base for stuff, sweet and very mild heat.

 

[Evilgrin]

One thing i really love with sweet heat type peppers is powder. Ive got a couple test subjects drying now along with some Aleppo.

 

[catdaddy66]

Picked these this morning. Gonna use them in some Rhubarb Jam Im doing
These are low heat, first time growing them, good as a base for stuff, sweet and very mild heat.

Looking great! What variety?

 

[NeilMac]

Sweet Heat
https://www.totallytomato.com/P/03088/Sweet+Heat+Hybrid+Pepper

 

[catdaddy66]

My red habanero pepper plant has 6-8 pods! I also see a ton of blossoms so I will need to feed with the fish emulsion I picked up Sunday.

I also took Evilgrin's suggestion for Alaska brand tomato fertilizer (3-5-6) which I believe is good for peppers as well...

 

[Evilgrin]

Alaska veggie and tomato is 4-6-6 but thats not really why i like it. The kelp and nice shot of calcium is what makes it a good product. Slow release even if you get lots of rain or need to water frequently.

 

[NeilMac]

I like Alaska, had the liquid fert, out of it right now, more affordable then the high price of Neptune.

 

[Evilgrin]

Alaska fish emulsion is easy to find. Nearly all the shops have it and its really cheap in the fall (around here). Well under $20 a gallon at certain times. Whats hard to find is their liquid seaweed. Nobody but the hydro shops carry it and all those type of shops charge a premium. I could order a gallon of a better brand online for less.

I really want to try this one sometime. The mix looks great with the addition of the humic acid.
https://www.groworganic.com/pvfs-organic-liquid-kelp-gallon.html

CONTAINS NONPLANT
FOOD INGREDIENTS
20% Kelp derived from
Nereocystis Luetkeana
(microbe food)
0.3% Humic Acids Derived
from Leonardite Shale

 

[catdaddy66]

Alaska veggie and tomato is 4-6-6 but thats not really why i like it. The kelp and nice shot of calcium is what makes it a good product. Slow release even if you get lots of rain or need to water frequently.

Sorry EG, I have the Alaska fish fertilizer (5-1-1) but a product called Expert Gardner for vegetables and tomatoes (3-5-6) in a strikingly similar bag as Alaska has.

Hmm...

 

[brewcat]

Alaska veggie and tomato is 4-6-6 but thats not really why i like it. The kelp and nice shot of calcium is what makes it a good product. Slow release even if you get lots of rain or need to water frequently.

Blossom end rot is usually a watering issue.

 

[Evilgrin]

Tell you what, i would rather have a fertilizer with 3-7% calcium than one with none. It has more uses than just preventing BER.

https://migardener.com/role-calcium-garden/

Calcium is vital for building strong cell structure. Just like our bones, calcium is the bones for plant structure. The next thing calcium does is help to make larger fruit, and a larger plant. Calcium is a growth regulator for plants, It works hand in hand with Nitrogen and builds the structure, while Nitrogen helps to continue the growth. The last thing Calcium does is help to regulate the flow of other nutrients in and out of the cell. In situation where access calcium is in the soil, the plants can uptake more nutrients, and therefor grow faster. Recent studies show that calcium is one of the only nutrients to regulate nutrient flow in and out of the cell.

 

[catdaddy66]

Peppers are starting to have another burst of fruits as they seem to be getting their second wind. Applying epsom salts one week, fish emulsion the following week and tomato fertilizer this weekend to reinvigorate the bell and cayenne plants, but the habanero is looking awesome and is sporting over 20 pods of which almost half a

are full size.

Sorry for my crappy LG Spree phone pics.

 

[catdaddy66]

Got my 1st two habanero peppers but not my last! The size disparity is due to my feeding the plant after these showed up...

 

[catdaddy66]

It's cooling now and I am in the middle of my second (and probably final) flush of peppers for the season. My cayenne plants are full and the habanero plant has about 15 left to ripen.

The fruit on my large cayenne plant is plentiful but it is about half as large as the other plant, or even for its own earlier in its first harvest. The original fruit averaged about 3" in length but currently they are about 1.5" long. Any guesses as to why? I made sure they are in sun 10 hours a day and water has not been ignored. I even increased the fertilizer to every 3rd week instead of every month.

The plants look very healthy and even have new growth on them but for some reason are making tiny peppers. Oh well... No big whoop.

 

[passedpawn]

It's cooling now and I am in the middle of my second (and probably final) flush of peppers for the season. My cayenne plants are full and the habanero plant has about 15 left to ripen.

The fruit on my large cayenne plant is plentiful but it is about half as large as the other plant, or even for its own earlier in its first harvest. The original fruit averaged about 3" in length but currently they are about 1.5" long. Any guesses as to why? I made sure they are in sun 10 hours a day and water has not been ignored. I even increased the fertilizer to every 3rd week instead of every month.

The plants look very healthy and even have new growth on them but for some reason are making tiny peppers. Oh well... No big whoop.

Peppers on my cayenne’s got tiny at end of season. HOA got after me for my bucket farm and had to pack it up.

 

[Evilgrin]

Very early pods seems like some are small and quite a few with off shapes.
Peak season very few are small.
Late season near the very end....many are small.

Climate of course and odd varieties like certain rocotos sometimes dont produce a decent pod till near the end.

 

[catdaddy66]

Anyone planning to overwinter their peppers indoors? I have 4 California wonder bell peppers (one is blooming right now!), two cayennes and a red habanero. All have ripening fruit and I was only going to bring in the hot ones but the bells look too healthy to give up on at the moment. I have watched several Youtube videos and feel confident in the results.

It means more peppers next year!

 

[mashpaddled]

Anyone planning to overwinter their peppers indoors? I have 4 California wonder bell peppers (one is blooming right now!), two cayennes and a red habanero. All have ripening fruit and I was only going to bring in the hot ones but the bells look too healthy to give up on at the moment. I have watched several Youtube videos and feel confident in the results.

It means more peppers next year!

If you have the space you can overwinter them in pots under a full spectrum light. I've had better luck digging them up along with the dirt to avoid destroying the root system but I know a lot of people fully transplant to new soil indoors. Be vigilant watching for aphids because they can completely destroy your plants with no predators in your home. This fall I pulled all my pepper plants and have them growing under a light in my basement. For now they look about as healthy as they did outdoors and are still aggressively producing fruit.

Alternatively a lot of people transplant and cut the plants down to the major stems. This uses a lot less space in your home and doesn't require the same lighting. I had a harder time getting the plants to rebound in the spring that way. Aphids are still a problem.

 

[NeilMac]

I have some transplanted for inside, dont know if they will survive the winter if the aphids is a problem and in the past they have wiped out all the plants. I also started using the kratky method and have them separate, so far they are doing well, no soil for the bugs to hide in.