Wondering how to fertilize pepper plants? You’re not alone. If you are serious about the quality of your garden’s produce, you know that fertilizing properly is paramount to your success. It isn’t difficult, as long as you understand some basic principles. Like the fact that your pepper plants will respond well to a little extra attention at the beginning of their growth stages. And like most other garden vegetables, they will do a happy dance with some high-quality organic compost mixed into the soil.
How to Fertilize Pepper Plants – 3 Easy Steps
Pepper plants are an easygoing group. But fertilize properly and you’ll notice a bigger harvest right away.
Here’s How:
Before transplanting into the garden, soak the root ball in fish emulsion.
Then once a week for the first three weeks, fertilize only with fish emulsion.
After four weeks, apply ¾ cup of Hyr-BRIX Tomato & Pepper Fertilizer in a two-foot radius around each pepper plant. Do this again when the plant has been in the garden for eight weeks.
More Growing Tips
Don’t set young plants out until the last chance of frost has passed (you can find your average last frost date here). All types of peppers like hot weather, so keep them indoors or in a cold frame until the time is right. Also, make sure to provide a full-sun location for peppers, no matter which variety you’re growing.
If you have grass clippings from an untreated lawn, not only will they make a good mulch around the plants, but the slow breakdown of the clippings will provide extra nutrients to the soil. This is also a wonderful way to maintain control over pesky weeds and to keep moisture in the soil around your plants.
Pepper plants are popular in home gardens because you get a lot of bang for your buck. The plants have a compact and neat upright growth habit, and they take up very little space for the number of fruits they bear. Peppers are available in nearly every color and size, and from super sweet to fiery HOT! There is even a scale, called the Scoville Scale, to classify the heat intensity of different varieties of hot peppers.
How to Use Your Garden Peppers (In Everything)!
Peppers are versatile in the kitchen. They can be served on raw veggie trays, sliced in fresh salads, stir-fried, or cooked into nearly every imaginable dish. Sauteed along with onions, bell peppers are the requisite ingredients in fajitas, Western omelettes, and sloppy Joes. Pico de gallo and salsa verde would be nothing without jalapeno peppers. But the best part? Peppers are one of the easiest plants to grow in a patio container or directly in the ground.
Stuffed bell peppers are great with ground beef, cheese, or chopped mixed vegetables combined with breadcrumbs. Marinated peppers in vinegar, salt, sugar, and water are a delicious wintertime appetizer. And roasted peppers fresh off the grill are among summer’s best offerings.
Happy growing!
All articles are copyrighted and remain the property of the author.
By Dan Heims, President, Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc.
Photographs courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc.
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