Pl a n t a p e c k o f p e p p e r s
DAVID MINK GateHouse Plus

Peppers - whether your prefer the fiery chili variety or the sweet and tangy bells are a welcome addition to any garden and table. Peppers, once established, are easy to grow and maintain and produce high yields for your efforts! Follow these simple steps to grow picture perfect peppers in your garden.

+ Start your peppers from seed. It's cheaper than buying those six packs from the store, and you'll have more varieties to choose from. Plus, most peppers from the store have been raised in climate and pestcontrolled conditions, and are easily stressed once removed from that ideal growing environment to real life: your garden.

+ Plant! Gather your containers. You can use six-packs, peat pots, yogurt cups, or milk cartons. Fill with a well-draining potting soil, and sow the seeds two to a hole. Water to dampen, then place the containers inside a plastic bag until they germinate. Peppers love heat, so speed the germination by placing them in a warm spot. Once the sprouts have poked their way through the soil, remove the bag and place the seedlings where they can get adequate sun or artificial light for at least 8 hours a day. Once the plants have their true leaves, move them into your garden!

+ Once you have healthy, sturdy seedlings with at least 4 inches of growth, you can move them into the garden. Dig your hole and carefully place the pepper plant inside, backfilling with rich compost. Peppers don't like soggy soil, so water well, but do not flood them.

+ Give them what they need, steadily. Peppers are heavy feeders, so be sure to fertilize with a phosphorus-rich fertilizer once during initial growth, and again at pepper production time, after the blossoms have set. It's also important to water steadily but to not overwater peppers. An inch a week is the rule, and it should be done all at once.

+ Pick those peppers! Depending on the variety you choose, it should take 60 to 90 days for your plants to start yielding bushels of ripe produce! And it always seems as though they ALL ripen at once, so it's a good idea to plan what you will do with them once harvest time is near. Gently cut them from their stems, rinse, and prepare to either can, freeze or cook the awesome veggies. Whichever way you go, you can enjoy your pepper harvest all winter long!

- Courtesy Essortment.com