2010 Bell Pepper Garden Bed Results

Each year I have grown 10-12 plants with maybe only 1 or 2 successful peppers each. The plants have been rather small and not very strong. Last year I gave them a bit more room than I usually do, but still had poor production. They also set pretty late and therefore most of them were still green by October. Here were my paltry results:

Pepper Harvest Results for 2010

So how can I improve my pepper production?

Seedling Care

  • seeds started 3/7/10 and planted out 6/5/10, but they weren’t potted up as seedlings
  • roots could have been stunted from being in the small container too long
  • transplant shock could have stunted them…

Timing

  • was the soil too cold when planted out on 6/5/10?
    • probably not – the lows were in the 60’s that week

Water

  • the peppers were on the same watering system as the eggplants and cherry tomatoes
  • These other plants did well, and the pepper plants weren’t wilting, so I think the watering was okay
  • Lack of humidity may have been a problem, though

Soil

  • pH at the beginning of the season was 6.8

Nutrients

  • phosphorous seemed to have been good, since there was lots of flowering, for the peppers as well as the others in that bed
  • Calcium seemed okay also, since there was no blossom end rot.
  • Leaves were green, but not overly productive, so I don’t think nitrogen was too high

Pollination

  • I had lots of bees and other insects buzzing around…
  • again, lack of humidity could have been a problem

Pests & Disease

  • one plant had a fungus that made a pepper rot from the inside-out…but the others looked good.
  • Leafhoppers were in abundance, but there was no outward sign of them being an issue.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.