Whether you‘re a pepper aficionado or a first-time pepper planter, this class is for you! Our pepper expert Dan Alexander discusses the different varieties and how to plant for a successful pepper crop. Scroll down for our supply list!
Webinar: Growing Peppers 101
Supply List
- Sloat organic potting soil/FoxFarm Ocean Forest/Recipe 420
- EB Stone tomato/veg food
- Monterey FoliCal if available
- Down to Earth Oyster Shell
- 5-gallon size containers (various)
- Bamboo stakes in packages
- Pepper seeds, Pepper starts, various
- Seed starter mix
- Cow pots
- Trowels
- Gloves
- Animal repellent
- Bird netting
- Insecticidal soap
Genus Capsicum
- 25-30 species, all from South/Central America.
- Most are perennial, grown as annuals in our climate.
- Need sun, warmth (even more than tomatoes) and good drainage.
- Members of the potato family like tomatoes, eggplant.
- Five species have been domesticated, though some still grow wild.
- Peppers are self pollinating but cross-pollinate readily, and with their vast genetic library have made many hundred cultivars throughout the world.
- Bolivian Amazon is the center of biodiversity.
- As with tomatoes, different varieties of peppers require different lengths of
time/heat/humidity to ripen. - Early varieties are 65-75 days from transplanting seedlings.
- Mid-season are 75-85 days.
- Late to very late season are 90-120 days.
- In our climate, early to mid-season will be most rewarding. But it is possible to
ripen even very late season peppers. - Most pepper varieties are compact, and will easily grow to maturity in a 5-gallon sized
container (as opposed to a tomato which requires about 15-gallons of space.) - Peppers may require light staking, but do not need “tomato cages” for support.
- Generally, by the end of the season, pepper plants still usually look fresh, but the
tomatoes will look worn out. - Examples of different varieties within the 5 domesticated species:
○ C. annuum
○ Bell Peppers/mini bells/lunchbox - Sweet Italian (Cuban)
- Jimmy Nardello (My personal favorite – highly recommended)
- Cornu di Tornu
- Bergamo
- Giant Red Marconi
- Cubano or Cubanel
- Anaheim (NewMex- many varieties)
- Poblano (Dried = Ancho)
- Jalapeno (Smoked = Chipotle)
- Hot Thai
- Serrano
- Cayenne
- Paprika
- Fresno (moderately hot Cuban)
- Shishito (var. Takara consistently sweet, otherwise 10% hot)
- Pimiento di Padron (10% hot)
- Cherry
- C. baccatum – used largely in Peruvian cuisine
- Aji amarillo (Aji amarillo paste)
- Aji limon
- Criolla sella
- C. chinense – usually very hot
- Habanero
- Scotch Bonnet
- Trinidad Scorpian
- Carolina Reaper (Ghost x Red Jalapeno, current heat record holder at 1,500,00 to
2,200,000 Scoville Heat Units) - Bhut Jolokia (Ghost) (C. chinense x C. frutescens hybrid > 1,000,000 Scoville units)
- Habanada (sweet)
- Flavor is fruity. Most are late to very late season.
- C. frutescens
- Fruits usually grow erect. (“Bird Peppers”) believed to have been dispersed by
birds.
- Fruits usually grow erect. (“Bird Peppers”) believed to have been dispersed by
- Piri Piri
- Tabasco (Tabasco Sauce)
- Still grows wild in Central and South America.
- May be a parent of C. chinense.C. pubescens
- Rocoto and Manzano peppers.
- Cherry and apple shaped peppers.
- Flowers are purple, seeds are black. Leaves hairy and dark green. Grows as a
large multi-stemmed vine. Andean – more cold tolerant.
- Peppers have a self-imposed internal limit on how much fruit will set on the plant.
- You will get more overall production if you pick the peppers at all stages – green,
starting to color and ripe – then the plant will continue to set fruit throughout the
season.
- You will get more overall production if you pick the peppers at all stages – green,
- Peppers require fertilizer but in moderation. Less than tomatoes.
- Balanced fertilizer, meaning the numbers for the macro nutrients Nitrogen (N),
Phosphorus (P) and Potash or Potassium (K) should be roughly equal, i.e., 5-5-5
or 4-3-6, etc. - Peppers also require a source of calcium, either in the balanced fertilizer or
separately from a source like oyster shells. The calcium will limit the problem of
blossom end rot, a problem for many members of the potato family and for
squash as well.
- Balanced fertilizer, meaning the numbers for the macro nutrients Nitrogen (N),
- Peppers are easy to grow from seeds.
- Start them in small pots indoors or use the moist paper towel in a zip-lock bag on
the refrigerator technique which I will show you.
- Start them in small pots indoors or use the moist paper towel in a zip-lock bag on
- Peppers do not suffer many diseases, and hot peppers are designed to repel mammals
from eating the fruit, but rodents will eat the plants themselves. - Be sure to check out the “BonChi” (pepper plants grown to be miniature trees like
Bonsai) at Fatalii.net
Resources:
ChilePlants.com , Fatalii.net , Marin Library System, sloatgardens.com
Books: DeWitt and Lamson, The Field Guide to Peppers (Timber Press, 2015) Presilla, Peppers of the Americas (Lorena Jones Books (Ten Speed Press,) 2017)
