As with planting zucchini, the ice saints are also an important marker when cultivating peppers. The nightshade family even likes it a little warmer than their pumpkin-like bed neighbors. In 2022, the dreaded frosty nights in mid-May did not come to the delight of all garden lovers. It is prepared for the small, large, pointed, round, hot, sweet and above all colorful fruits that once came to Europe from South America. In this article you will learn how to prefer peppers on the windowsill, what is important when moving outdoors and what mistakes should not be made when caring for them.
If you know that peppers come from very warm and humid regions, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination and even less gardening know-how to realize that the plants like exactly these conditions best in our latitudes. However, it is not true that the popular vegetable inevitably only grows big in the greenhouse. Although a lot of paprika varieties have much better cards in the sheltered from rain and well-tempered houses. Especially the young plants that have been painstakingly cultivated on the windowsill at home. And that’s how it works.
Incidentally, the vast majority of paprika varieties do not have it that close either. That’s why you should pay attention to the distances when planting out, whether in a bed or greenhouse. There should be a “safety distance” of about 50 centimeters between the plants. In the best case and with the appropriate bed size, the rows are even about 60 centimeters apart. Friends of the balcony garden are best off grabbing a flower pot that is as large as possible and embedding the plants in ordinary vegetable soil. You also have significantly better chances of a rich harvest here if the bucket is protected from the rain, i.e. has a roof over your head. Similar to tomatoes, rain is also the gateway for various fungal cultures that transmit diseases in peppers.
If you want to skip the steps performed so far, it is best to use the paprika plant that is already bearing (e.g. the exotic heart). But the same applies to them: keep them warm and, if possible, safe from the rain.
Cultivating peppers requires a lot of patience. In contrast to tomatoes, the crunchy vegetable grows very slowly. A little liquid fertilizer every two weeks and daily watering (especially in the summer months) are therefore mandatory. A layer of lawn mulch can also reduce evaporation and keep the soil toasty and warm. The feel-good temperature of the vast majority of wild peppers is between 25 and 28 degrees. Temperatures that in our latitudes can only be achieved with a greenhouse. If you don’t have space for a greenhouse, you need some imagination.
This article contains so-called affiliate links. Further information are available here.
