Tips for Growing Peppers

Blossom-End Rot - Stress brought on by both drought and too much rain is the cause of Blossom-End Rot. Drought can be defeated by providing a minimum of one inch of water a week, keeping the plants well mulched, and ensuring high amounts of organic material are present in the soil. A deficiency in calcium also causes Blossom-End Rot, so be sure to maintain a pH level of 6 to 6.5 by applying limestone to your container.
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Peppers- Most varieties of peppers have a decent amount of vitamin C in them. A half-cup of chopped chili peppers has 107.8 mg of vitamin C. A cup of chopped red bell pepper contains 190 mg., and the same amount of green peppers has 120 mg. -- The Prepper Project: "What To Grow To Avoid Starvation and Malnutrition" ..
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The Pepper Journal

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April 19, 2014
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I went to the Minter Country Garden today and picked up some more plants and seeds for the balcony garden - plus three more bags of soil to lug up to the apartment. I've never really grown plants from seed before so we'll have to see how it goes. I bought Hot Pepper Mix, Sweet Pepper Mix, Climbing Beans, Carrots, Radish and Cucumber.
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The peppers I should have read a little more closely because it says on the package that they have to be started indoors and won't be ready to transplant for around three weeks. So now I have eight cups filled with dirt and seeds on my window sill, seeing if they will grow. As I've said before, I've had mixed luck with peppers, but I've always bought them as seedlings first. Hey, why not take the plant I have the most difficulty with and make them even more difficult by starting them from seed? Oh well, if they don't work out, I'll just have to buy some seedlings in a few weeks. I really like peppers, but after two years of trying if I don't get some production this year I suspect it might be wise to try something else that's easier to grow..
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June 19, 2014
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Sweet Mix Peppers and Hot Mix Peppers

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The peppers which I transplanted from the window sill a few weeks ago are now taking root and growing to just where they are peeking over the rim of the pots. I had planted eight seeds and five made it, and out of those five, only one is struggling after the transplant (below right). Grow, my little babies, grow! You can certainly see the difference between topsoil-mix and potting-soil-mix in those pictures (below), can't you? The topsoil is full of little bits of bark and stuff, while the potting soil (the soil in the large containers) is nice and clean with no debris in it. I've read that potting soil is lighter than topsoil too.
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Sweet Mix Peppers & Hot Mix Peppers

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July 25, 2014
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Peppers starting to flower

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The peppers have finally flowered and, if you look closely on the right, have just begun to fruit. So far, out of the five pepper plants, four have flowered. These things sure do flower late in the year - the same as last year when they flowered so late I didn't think they would at all - but then, around the end of July or beginning of August, bam! And they were ready to pick by September. This year seems like it will be a repeat.
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August 2nd, 2014 - Sunset Pictures from the Balcony (no commentary)
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September 10, 2014
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The peppers as well were good - but as you can see in the top picture, they didn't grow terribly large. This has happened to me every year so far. It would be nice if they would grow bigger, but to be honest, I'm not sure how much bigger they should be in a "natural" state. What I mean is, most food from the grocery store is genetically modified - that's why strawberries from the store are the size of a small apple but have almost no flavour, while my strawberries are much smaller but pack so much flavour there is almost no comparison. I'm sure the peppers I'm buying from the store as well are genitically modified, so, while I know my peppers should grow bigger, I don't really expect them to grow as big as the store bought ones.

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I'll tell you what I've had really good luck with though - hot peppers. They just keep producing and producing... then I pick them, and a couple more flowers show up, and soon, more peppers to pick once again. Each year now, I've had way more hot peppers than I thought I'd get - and unlike the green peppers, they always grow to a mature size.
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February 26, 2015
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After I was done with the compost, I planted some tomato seeds and pepper seeds in small yoghurt containers I've been saving up over the winter. In another week or two, I'll start some cucumber seeds in a few more containers. I hope these little things work out. Last year I used a few coffee cups, and that worked out okay. I'm going to try to grow everything from seed this year, to cut down on expenses.
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April 22, 2015
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I planted a few of the pepper seedlings I had growing on the window sill, and as you can see, the kale is filling into those two pots nicely. In a week or two, I should start some more seedlings so I have something ready to go into those containers once the kale comes out.
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Peppers (Left) and Kale (Right)

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