Help Growing Peppers

• Sweet Bell peppers ripen from Green to Yellow, Orange, Red or Chocolate colour.
• Average plant height is 30 inches and most varieties can be grown in 8 inch pots from seed which takes 1-3 weeks to germinate. Hotter varieties may take a bit longer.
• Pinch out the growing tip to get laterals and give plants plenty of support
• A nitrogen feed helps young plants followed by tomato food once flowering starts.
• Peppers need a long growing season
• Orange Bell is a productive plant producing typical ‘blocky’, thick walled fruits with delicious sweetness. The fruits start green, ripening to a gorgeous orange.

Hot Chilli Peppers

• None Bell peppers have conical, curved or long tapered fruit. Arousa is used in Spanish Tapas and Conquistador can be dried then ground to make Paprika
• Extreme heat is found in the seed oil. Flesh is hotter at the shoulder than the blossom end.
• Capsicums Chinese are some of the hottest Chilli Peppers around. Seeds from 10 Habanero vaieties and  Scotch Bonnet are able to compete with C. annuum ‘Tepin’ and C. frutescens ‘Zimbabwe Bird Pepper’ for the hottest seeds around.
  Available from Thompson Morgan a seed, Chilli and vegetable specialist.
• Jalapeno are a traditional early strain popular in tex-mex cooking. They are a mid range heat.
• Georgia Flame sounds like a good variety for a salsa with thick crunchy flesh.
• Heat can vary even on the same plant so test several to find a varieties you like.

Gardeners Tips
Naga types need heat to germinate
Cayenne types are generally quite prolific.
Bell peppers have no heat and are ideal for salads, stir fries and stews

The Complete Chilli Pepper Book: A Gardener’s Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking