There are more than 7 species of bell pepper in the world. Bell pepper is a seasonal plant that we can grow either in our backyard garden or in direct pots or containers. Some of the best gardening methods to grow bell peppers are container planting, lasagna gardening, aero gardening, square foot gardening, no-dig gardening, raised bed gardening, permaculture, etc.
But before starting the bell-pepper growing process, you need to understand some basics of growing bell pepper in pots.
Let's discuss them all.
Growing bell pepper in pots
If you don't follow the right season, climate, soil mixture, and fertilizers, then there are high chance that you will not be able to get fully-grown bell peppers.
If you don't choose native bell pepper seeds, it can also affect the ideal growth of bell pepper plants. For example, maybe you will be a full-grown plant but without flowering and bell peppers.
So here, we discussed all the requirements and steps to grow bell peppers in pots.
- Soil type and other components
You can't use garden soil directly to grow bell peppers. You have to make it fertile by adding compost and coco-peat. Most of the time, 4:4:2 of garden soil, compost, and coco-peat work in bell pepper growing.
But if humidity is too much in your locality, then you can increase one portion of garden soil and one portion of coco-peat. Thus it will become 5:2:3.
- Fertilizers
You can use 70% concentrated organic liquid fertilizers with water. Just add 1 portion of these fertilizers in 3 portions of water.
It is better to do organically sustainable gardening but If you don't want to use organic liquid fertilizers, then you can better use 90% decomposed black compost which is highly productive.
- Pots required
You need two types of pots for bell pepper plants. Use plastic nursery cups for seed germination and transplantation, you need 25 cm x 30 cm deep and in diameter respectively. These bigger pots can be either plastic or cement.
It is optional to choose the same measurement of pots, if you don't get such pots then find slightly bigger pots. Some other vegetables that grow well in pots are tomato, cabbage, celery, bok choy, etc.
- Shade and sunlight
Bell peppers like partial shade and 3 to 4 hours of direct sunlight. It is not good to keep the plants in a 70% dark area for too much time in a day.
Season and climate of growing Bell peppers
You can grow bell peppers in even climate conditions. Generally, we can grow bell peppers in moderate temperatures but climate conditions matter. But don't expect to grow them in cold winters because plants can't survive this.
The temperature should be moderate from 68 degrees Fahrenheit to 77 degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime. It should not reduce to less than 64.4 degrees at the night for better growth.
Steps to grow bell pepper in pots
The following steps cover every single step from soil preparation for plants to bell pepper harvesting-
- Soil mixture preparation
Take a tub(according to your seeds). Add 5:2:3 of garden soil, compost, and coco-peat respectively. Suppose, for 20 seeds, you have to make a 5 kg mixture of soil. So you need 2.5 kg of garden soil, 1 kg of compost, and 1.5 kg of coco-peat. Spray some water and mix them well.
- Seeding
Take nursery cups for seeding(mostly plastic-made). Fill the soil mixture in every cup. Now, with the help of a small pencil, make a 1 cm hole in the soil and put the seeds in it. Repeat this with every cup and seed.
Cover all the seeds with a very thin layer of the same soil mixture and spray some water. Keep it in a partial shade area and you will see germination after 8 to 15 days.
- Germination
After 8 to 15 days, seeds start germinating with a 5% mortality rate. Don't use compost or any fertilizers till not suggested. Don't spray water in the germinated seeds.
Let them grow in the same pots till they become 4 to 5 inches tall.
- Transplantation of small bell pepper plants
After 25 to 30 days, germinated seeds become 4 to 5 inches plants. They can't grow faster and healthier in the same pots, so you need to transplant them into new bigger pots.
Take 25cm deep and 30 cm wide in diameter pots which should have a proper hole in the bottom for extra water drainage.
Prepare the same soil mixture and this time, increase the compost by one portion extra in it. Fill every pot with the soil mixture.
Use a sharp cultivator tool and pick every plant safely from the cups. Now., put them in the new soil mixture pots and cover them with soil gently. Repeat the same process with every pot and spray some water after. Keep them in sunlight(as suggested above) for further growth.
- Fertilization and irrigation
After 15 to 25 days of transplantation, you should feed compost to every plant. A 1-inch layer of compost is enough for every plant. It will help them before entering the flowering process. Irrigate your pots every 2 to 3 days. Don't wet the soil too much.
Fertilize your soil one last time 30 days before harvesting.
- First flowering and vegetable formation
After 55 to 60 days from seeding, when you follow the regular processes, you will find that plants start flowering in pots. These flowers look white and later, they will convert into bell peppers.
Every plant takes 18 to 27 days to fully convert from flower to bell pepper.
- Harvesting of bell pepper
So till now, we are considering that you follow every essential step of growing bell peppers. After 90 to 120 days, you are ready to harvest bell peppers. It depends on your choice that what kind of bell pepper you are choosing to grow.
Generally, we collect all the bell peppers directly by hand picking method but you can use scissors to harvest them. Cut them from their vertex. Wash them, clean them, and enjoy your vegetables.
Can we grow bell pepper in winter?
Bell peppers can't grow in winter because of the sensitivity of plants to cold. Yes, there are one or two hybrid varieties of seeds but they don't match the quality of normal bell peppers.
On winter nights, the temperature falls badly for the plants. So how can one grow them in the open sky or indoors?
Yes, greenhouse farming is a solution for bell pepper growing in winter. If you can start a small vegetable greenhouse farm, then you can easily grow off-season vegetables like bell peppers in winter. It increases your overall cost of production but in the end, it is your choice.
Winterization of the plants is also an option to keep plants safe during frost.
You can go to your local greenhouse farms to ask them(if they allow you) for a small space for your bell pepper growing pots.
some other vegetables that are good to grow in winter are kale, spinach, collard, broccoli, etc.