Vegetable · Solanaceae
Bell Pepper
Capsicum annuum
Give it full sun, even water, and warm soil, and the bell pepper will keep your kitchen happily stocked all season.
Full sun
Every 3–7 days
59–86°F · 15–30°C
60–90 days
Overview
Bell peppers are the sweet, no-heat cousins in the nightshade family, grown for their thick, crisp fruit, and they are a kind plant to learn on. The same pepper changes color as it ripens, beginning green and turning red, yellow, or orange depending on which variety you chose. They are slow to get going at first, but settle them into a warm spot and they will thank you with weeks of picking.
These are warm-season plants that simply have no taste for cold. They sit and sulk in chilly soil and shed their flowers in a heat wave, so the gentle trick is to time them into the steady warmth of early summer. Get that window right, and even a first-time grower can count on a heavy crop from midsummer to the first frost.
Once they are settled in, peppers are remarkably forgiving and ask very little of you. Steady moisture, full sun, and a quick soil test before you feed will cover nearly everything they want. The one slip to watch is letting the watering wander, which can invite blossom-end rot, and even that is easy to head off once you know about it.
Care
The short version: give them full sun, warm soil, and steady moisture of about 1 to 2 inches of water a week in rich, well-drained ground, with a balanced feed worked in at planting time, and you are off to a good start.
Light
Bell peppers want full sun, with at least 6 to 8 hours of direct light each day. Too much shade leaves you with weak, leggy plants and few peppers, and it thins the leaf cover the developing fruit leans on for its own shade.
Water
Aim for steady, even moisture, about 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) a week. Try not to let the soil dry out hard and then drown it, since those swings are exactly what bring on blossom-end rot. A simple layer of mulch holds the moisture in and keeps the soil temperature comfortable.
Soil
Give them rich, well-drained loam worked through with plenty of organic matter. Peppers are happiest at a slightly acidic pH of 6.0 to 6.8, so a quick soil test before planting is well worth the small effort.
Temperature
Peppers are content between 59°F and 86°F (15°C to 30°C). They tend to drop their flowers when days climb past the high end or nights dip below it, and cold soil will stall them, so warmth is the kindest thing you can offer.
Humidity
Ordinary outdoor humidity suits them just fine, so there is no number to chase here. What helps far more is room for air to move between plants, which keeps the leaves dry and disease at a distance.
Feeding
Work a balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 into the bed at planting, guided by a soil test, then offer a light nitrogen sidedress once the first fruits set. Go gently, because too much nitrogen grows a leafy plant that holds back on fruit.
Pruning
You can skip most pruning with peppers. Just pinch off the very first flowers on small transplants so the plant can build itself up before it fruits, and stake or cage it so a heavy crop never snaps a branch.
Repotting
Garden peppers do not need repotting, but seedlings appreciate one move up. Shift them from their cell trays into 8 to 10 cm pots before they go outside, giving the roots room so they never begin circling.
Size & spacing
Plants reach 18 to 35 inches (45 to 90 cm) tall and spread 12 to 24 inches (30 to 60 cm) wide. Give each one that much elbow room so air flows through the planting and the leaves dry quickly.
When to plant
Bell peppers live for warmth and have no patience for frost or cold ground, so timing is your friend here. Start the seeds indoors in late winter, move the transplants out a few weeks after the last frost once the soil has warmed, and you will be picking fruit from midsummer right up to the first fall frost.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: 8-10 weeks before the last spring frost
- Plant: 2-3 weeks after the last frost, once soil has warmed to about 18°C (65°F) and nights stay above 13°C (55°F)
- Harvest: Harvest from midsummer until first fall frost; pick green at full size and firm, or leave fruit on the plant to ripen red, yellow, or orange
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 9–11
Temperature: down to -7°C
Troubleshooting
Most pepper troubles show up on the fruit, where uneven water and harsh sun leave their marks, or on the tender new growth that tempts pests. Spot them early and a small worry stays small, so there is no need to panic. Find what matches below, then take the simple step while it still does the most good.
Dark, sunken patch on the bottom of the fruit
Take heart, because this is blossom-end rot and the cause is almost always watering, not bad soil. When the ground keeps lurching between parched and soaked, the plant struggles to move enough calcium into the fruit. Settle into a gentle, steady rhythm of about 2.5 to 5 cm a week, tuck mulch around the base to hold that moisture, and remove any peppers already spotted so the plant can move on.
Fix:
- Remove affected fruit so the plant redirects energy
- Water deeply and consistently, about 2.5-5 cm per week
- Apply organic mulch to even out soil moisture
Flowers drop without setting fruit
When the days climb past 90°F (32°C) or the nights sink under 59°F (15°C), peppers quietly let their blossoms go, and there is nothing wrong with your plant. Keep the watering even and go easy on the nitrogen while the weather sorts itself out. The plant will set fruit again on its own as soon as a milder stretch arrives.
Fix:
- Keep plants evenly watered through hot spells
- Wait for moderate temperatures; fruit set usually resumes on its own
- Reduce supplemental nitrogen
Curled, sticky new leaves with tiny insects underneath
Those tiny soft specks gathered at the shoot tips are aphids, and the sticky shine they leave is honeydew that can invite sooty mold. Don't worry, they come off easily: knock them down with a firm spray of water, then dab the leaf undersides with insecticidal soap if a few cling on. Lady beetles and lacewings will happily keep thinning the colony for you, so leave those helpers be wherever you can.
Fix:
- Dislodge aphids with a strong spray of water
- Apply insecticidal soap or horticultural oil, covering leaf undersides
- Preserve natural enemies such as lady beetles and lacewings
Pale, papery blisters on the sunny side of the fruit
Those pale, papery blisters are sunscald, and they appear when a pepper that grew up shaded suddenly finds itself in harsh sun after the leaves above it thin out. You will only ever see it on the side that faces the sun. The good news is the pepper is still perfectly fine to eat once you trim the damaged skin, so the real work is simply protecting the leafy cover that shades your crop.
Fix:
- Harvest affected fruit promptly; undamaged portions are still edible
- Manage leaf-spotting diseases to preserve foliage cover
Toxicity
Here is some welcome news for a home with pets: the whole bell pepper plant is safe. The sweet cultivars carry little to no capsaicin, and the ASPCA does not list the plant as toxic to cats or dogs. The fruit is an everyday vegetable, and even a stray nibble of leaf will do no harm.
Safe for
People · Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Cats None
You can relax with a cat in the house, since sweet bell pepper is safe for them. A curious nibble of the fruit does no harm at all, though a big mouthful of leaves might bring a brief, mild tummy upset, just as any new food might.
Dogs None
There is no need to fuss over a dog around bell pepper. Plenty of dogs love a crunchy slice of the ripe fruit, and the plant holds no toxin to keep you on edge.
Horses Safe
A bell pepper plant has nothing in it that could hurt a horse. Most horses turn their noses up at the sharp-smelling leaves anyway, so there is little to watch for.
Rabbits Safe
Rabbits are welcome to sweet pepper, and a little piece of the fruit makes a lovely treat. Just set aside the seeds and the stem, which they have no need for.
Livestock Safe
Cattle, goats, and sheep have nothing to fear from this plant, so any extra peppers are a perfectly harmless scrap to hand along.
Birds Safe
Birds are safe around pepper, and they even brush off the heat compounds that bother mammals. Backyard hens will gladly peck away at a little chopped fruit.
People Safe
Sweet bell peppers are an everyday vegetable, lovely raw or cooked and safe for every member of the household.
No special handling needed. As with other Solanaceae vegetables, the fruit is the part intended for eating; discourage pets from chewing large amounts of foliage or stems.
Varieties
Most home gardeners lean on a few dependable sweet peppers, and these are the ones worth getting to know by name.
California Wonder
A dependable open-pollinated heirloom whose thick-walled, blocky four-lobed fruit shifts from green to red as it ripens.
King of the North
An open-pollinated treasure for short-season northern gardens, loved because it ripens its fruit to red so reliably.
Big Bertha
A hybrid that rewards you with extra-large, elongated bell fruit stretching to about 18 cm (7 in) long.
Companions
Bell peppers do well beside herbs and alliums that share their conditions and help shrug off pests, but keep them away from fennel, which holds back almost everything planted near it.
Plant near
basil: Traditional companion listed on extension companion-planting charts; shares growing conditions and may help deter some insect pests.
onions: Listed as a compatible companion for peppers on extension companion-planting charts.
carrots: Listed as a compatible companion for peppers on extension companion-planting charts.
Keep apart
fennel: Extension companion-planting guidance lists fennel as incompatible with most garden vegetables, including peppers, because it inhibits neighboring plants.
How to propagate
There is just one way to start bell peppers at home, and it is a friendly one: from seed sown early indoors, giving the slow seedlings plenty of time to grow up before they head outside.
SeedEasy
Sow indoors 8-10 weeks before the last spring frost · Germinates in about 7-14 days at 24-29°C (75-85°F); transplant-ready in 8-10 weeks
Growing peppers from seed is easier than it looks, and you start them indoors 8 to 10 weeks before your last spring frost. Cool soil makes them slow and patchy to sprout, so rest the tray on a heat mat at 75°F to 85°F (24°C to 29°C) and you should see seedlings come up in 7 to 14 days. In most temperate climates, hold off on sowing straight into the garden, since the plants really do need that early start to be transplant-ready in 8 to 10 weeks.
Myths
Green and red bell peppers come from different plants.
Rest easy, because they are the very same fruit caught at different stages. A green pepper is just one picked early, and most varieties go on to ripen red, or to yellow or orange depending on the cultivar. Leave the fruit on the plant to color up and it grows noticeably sweeter, too.