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Peppers will be ‘easy’ to grow and turn out ‘delicious’ if you use one thing to grow them. Joe’s Garden shared a tip for growing peppers at home, saying they are “super easy” to manage and one of his “favourite crops”. He has a special trick up his sleeve, making a mini greenhouse.
Start by cleaning an old supermarket container, such as one for mini brownies or mini flapjacks. If there aren’t any already, be sure to poke holes in the bottom for drainage. Fill the container with soil and sow six seeds one to two centimetres deep. Water the container well and shut the lid to create a miniature greenhouse. After a few weeks, they will sprout stems with a handful of leaves. This is the time to pot them individually into small containers. Once they’re a foot long, they should be repotted again into larger containers.
The plant will start to grow small white flowers, which are what will become peppers. Harvest them quickly if you like green peppers, or leave them on the plant to ripen to red.
From seed to harvest is about three to four months, according to Joe’s Garden, depending on the weather. A number of varieties will fruit all summer long.
When the plant starts to flower, Joe says it is worth giving it a bi-weekly feed using liquid fertiliser. He uses liquid seaweed, but homemade is also good.
According to the Royal Horticultural Society, sweet peppers need lots of sun and consistent warmth to crop well, so they are usually grown under cover in the UK, such as in a greenhouse.
They are only really successful outdoors in milder parts of the country or in long, hot summers. When planted outdoors, they are likely to produce fewer fruits, which may struggle to ripen before temperatures start to drop in late summer.
Aphids are attracted to sweet pepper plants, so check shoot tips and under leaves regularly to prevent colonies getting established. Several other sap-sucking insects can be problematic too, especially in a greenhouse and in dry conditions.
