Peppers
Peppers have a cult like following with numerous varieties in different sizes, shapes, and colors and various degrees of “heat”. Peppers are often grouped with tomatoes because the plants are commonly available in the spring, but they are different in habit. Peppers appreciate much cooler weather as they mature than tomatoes and take up less space.
Your local nursery or garden center they will have plants of the best varieties for your area. Purchase and plant them as soon as they become available in the spring and cover with cut down milk bottles as described for eggplant. Early planting gives you a head start that can extend the growing season by up to a month. The plants should be set about a food apart. Only the largest varieties, like bell peppers will require staking or support to them bear the weight of the fruit.
Prepare the soil well and set the plants about eight to twelve inches apart. A mixture of Nature’s Guide Lava Sand and Nature’s Guide Texas Green Sand incorporated into the soil seems to make a great difference in the size and rich green color of the plants. To encourage fruiting apply 5 lbs of Nature’s Guide Tomato and Pepper Food per 100 square feet. Soak the plants and root system with 2 oz of Nature’s Guide Root Stimulator mixed with one gallon of water when you transplant. Mulch each plant with at least an inch of one of the Nature’s Guide Composts and water the plants as needed.
In warm weather, Red Spider mites are one of the few insect pests to afflict pepper plants. Controlled them with a careful dusting of Nature’s Guide Diatomaceous Earth that reaches up under the leaves where they hide or spray with Nature’s Guide Tomato and Pepper Spray. Making sure that applications of these products reach the underside of the leaves is more important than the quantity applied.
Bell Peppers
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Pepper Seed