It should be mentioned that topping your peppers is only a good idea if your season is long enough. Topping your peppers sets the plant back by at least 4 weeks, and that time can make a big difference to your yield, if your season is short. I've overcrowded peppers for years with great results. Overcrowding eliminates the necessity of staking. Great video Brian thanks.
Tried growing the peppers closer this year because I was greedy . Wanted more peppers in my space I had. Planted 12 in a bed about 2 ft by 4 ft bed and they are thriving amazingly. Last year I planted only 8 in same bed and didn't grow as fast or as nice as these 12 are closer to each other. Great advice.👍
2 best tips that have improved my pepper growth and harvest are planting 2 plants in one container and topping plants for better stability. Having them in containers makes it easy to follow sun or put in shade. Massive harvest this year! Thanks for the tips!
You can also use a white 35% shade cloth that is about 6-8 foot off ground. The white cloth allows heat control and a balance of light spectrum to get thru. Your plants will grow healthy and fruit like crazy. Pruning does help.
I super enjoyed growing tomatoes last year, especially once I found your 'Grow tomatoes , not leaves' video!! 🙏 I have a soft spot for tomatoes, especially the 10 month olds (in CANADA!!) but Ive really grown to LOVE growing peppers!! I follow your advice and have what I think are 'next level' Yellow, purple, albino, Poblano, Habanero, Jalapeno, Cali Wonder, and other sweet, hot and bells! 💚 Thank you so much for helping me and so many gardeners acheive next level success! 💚 It's 95° and super humid, but off to prep my 2 new front yard raised beds! 🌞🥵😅 Happy Sunday!🌞
The sun and I must have done everything right this time as I had the best season ever. Here in Aust I am still picking peppers despite the near frost weather we are having at night.
Great info on staking and sun scald as well as growing them tightly. I usually plant 10 seeds together and only prune out enough to leave 4 of the hardiest. Works great! I've grown peppers for many years and now have a stabilized cross of our native Chiltepin and a Carolina Reaper. I topped it when it was only 4 inches tall. It then grew 8 more stems which I also topped when they were 4 inches tall. The plant is now only 3' tall, very bushy and massive amounts of peppers even in our average 110f heat now. Its thriving and still blooming. On Jalapenos and Serrano's I only top once and they explode.
Thank-you for mentioning Canada in the overwintering portion. I always felt like it was something not for us but I'm willing to give it a shot this year! Thank-you!! :)
Something to consider with topping is that it works best with smaller pepper varieties (smaller fruit, not plant). Things like sweet peppers don't seem to take well to topping and actually produce fewer fruit (IMO/experience). Works great for bushing out jalapeno, habs, Thai, etc.
Made many of those errors and production was terrible. This year I call them my “Brian” peppers as I have great production even in this 110-115 degree weather. I do have 50% shade cloth over them…stays on all the time as I was getting sun burn on them….from both morning and late afternoon. Planting two 1 inch apart was a game changer !! Thanks Brian!!
Can't imagine growing 2 king of the north bell pepper plants an inch apart. The plants are very vigorous and bushy and would ruin the air flow as well as break branches.
I'm east coast NC, and have overwintered peppers by piling pine needles or straw all the way up to the top of the plant. Pull away after last frost and it just gets hotter....
Great video, Brian. I wish my plant were 8" tall so I could top them. Most that I started this year are barely 3" tall and those I overwintered (in the ground in my 10a garden) only sent up new growth from the bottom and it is also only 3-4" tall. Suggestions? For staking, I find the small tomato cages (useless for actual tomatoes, even determinant, as we have all discovered) work great for peppers. It also gives me something to clip small pieces of shade cloth to on the afternoon sun side of the plants to protect from sun scald. Thanks for taking the time to make videos for us with all you have on your plate right now.
@ Debbie Phillips I just recently discovered Dr Earth's liquid tomato vegetable and herb fertilizer along with Brian's aspirin trick. My peppers loved it and are producing lots of peppers. I got the fertilizer at Home Depot. The other veggies liked it also.
@Debbie Phillips - That's a great idea - using the tomato cages to hold small pieces of shade cloth. I have a couple of peppers in among other vegetables and this is a perfect way to shade only the peppers
Blossom End Rot - I grow mainly in containers. End rot will happen if I dont add calcium. In a 5 gallon bucket add a cup of garden lime, then pour a cup of vinegar in. Stir it up a little to dissolve the lime, it will foam up. Fill the bucket up with water. Then pour about 2 cups at the base of each plant. I usually do this about 3 times at the end of the season with two weeks in between applications. Good for tomatoes as well. If you notice end rot apply asap to save the rest of the harvest. Then do a second application a week later.
Instead of additives, have you considered adding a bunch of vermiculite? I find it’s water absorbing qualities means my roots never dry out/die/keep from absorbing calcium from the soil. I’m in 9b and it’s made a huge diff in my tomatoes.
@@melissasullivan1658 I have a lot of perlite in my container mix. I primarily have SIP's (Sub Irrigated Planters) that seldom if ever dry out. Without adding a Natural source of calcium, at least in my experience, blossom end rot always happens in my containers. The nice thing is that while its a good preventative, its also a fast acting organic cure. Though if used as a cure where blossom end rot is already present I would likely only wait a week before doing a second application.
I personally add eggshells as part of my compost. They are slow to decompose but I let my compost decompose for several years before using it. But I suspect most of their benefit is from controlling acidity, rather than a true lack of calcium compounds in my soil.
Love your pepper videos, they are packed with good sensible information! My pepper i over wintered after your other video is covered in peppers-I’m so pleased! (I’m in N Ireland and over wintered pepper so it works!!) Thank you! 🫑☘️☘️🫑☘️☘️🫑☘️☘️
So glad it worked for you👏👏👏. I too tried overwintering peppers last wintet. Not one of the 18 peppers survived. That was a failure experiment for me in zone 5. But i have great success planting seeds indoors.
I started watching your video at 2:30 and BOOM - sun...I forgot to throw on the sun shade cloth. Had to run out and do that to finish watching. My first year growing peppers, so NO, I didn't top off or prune. So, well see how it goes. I actually have two Mammoth Peppers growing side-by-side. Great video as always.
I plant my peppers in an extremely crowded bed and they do fantastic. I have sunflowers on the West End of that bed to offer them some shade from our extreme temperatures here in Southern New Mexico. I water them in the evening and I make sure that they do get wet if I don't at if I don't they Wilt and the peppers and blossoms fall off. We average triple digits for 30 days of the summer and our humidity goes between 3% and 10% at the highest unless it is actually raining at the moment. We had 3 days with rain and it totaled a little over 2" and my peppers loved it. We have now had almost 3 and a 1/2 inches of rain this year.
Great video! I'll just add, from my experience, if you are topping your peppers early on, it does indeed set the plant back about 1-2 weeks. So just start the plant that much earlier and in a slightly larger seedling pot.
I've been overwintering for several years now, I've found its easier to keep a little light on the plants to keep a little foliage going as opposed to thinking you overwintered a live plant only to find out its dead the next year. I've even pulled them all up, labelled them and planted everything back into a large pot just for the winter successfully.
Thank you for clarifying the 18" spacing, I container garden and have 6 in a 10X11 square bag and thought I was going to have to give up some of the plants. They really are doing well given the heat. Bless you for teaching us a true life skill.
I seed start 2 peppers per container this year and transplanted together out in main garden. Production is unreal! I don't top my plants, just never have. I successfully over-wintered a jumbo jalapeno plant this year as well. It's a beast and yes, started harvesting weeks before the others. Great vid and tips.
Bought three small plants .put them in my small poly greenhouse and next morning they were 1 inch stalks,!! I live in Cornwall, uk. So bought three more and they are staying on the kitchen window sill for now. Good video and great to know they can survive the Winter.
overwintering my pepper plants and pruning is the BEST advice ever :) ...my plants are alive...now I gotta go and stake them up to help them out a bit...again great advice ...thanks Brian :)
Last Fall I saved seeds from a store bought green bell pepper. I added them to seed starter in December in the house and planted in the garden in April ( min60F overnight). I read recently that those seeds are not viable, from store bought peppers. Today I picked 6 green bell peppers in Sacramento, Ca from the seed I harvested from a store bought pepper!!!!
I tried overwintering 10 peppers. Only half survived the winter, then all but one got killed by the weird spring weather. The last survivor has just been a green stick until today, I saw a couple of leaves on it. This winter, I plan on learning from my mistakes and trying again.
Good to know that I can harvest my yellow, red, and orange peppers a little early. Four of my yellow peppers grew in my kitchen all winter and I stuck them outside this spring. I was amazed to watch them fill out and produce. Thanks Brian!
Thanks Brian for another very useful video. I think that you’re one of the best RUclips gardeners because you start with science and incorporate art into your methods! Also a big fan of the organic techniques whenever possible!👍🏻🍅🌶
Yeah, I’ve made all of those mistakes….several times over. I’m not a big bell pepper fan so we grow California chilies, Poblano, Guajillo, Fresno, Serrano etc. Another possible error in growing peppers is over-fertilizing, especially with Nitrogen late term. I switch from 5-5-2 liquid organic to 0-10-10 granular right after first blossom set and monitor leaf color and density in case they need a shot of Nitrogen during fruiting. Thanks for the informative video. Good information on successful pepper growing.
I am in the MN where we have winter-winter, -30 F. I overwintered a pepper for the first time last winter. Since overwintering was new, I did one plant. That plant is now 4 peppers ahead of all the seed started peppers who are still in blossom. I plan to overwinter lots more peppers this winter. Thank you. I love your channel. I am also spraying with aspirin/baking soda along with my tomatoes. This is my second summer doing the spraying (and feeding). I had my best crops last summer. This year, the challenge it so beat the heat and the drought. Thank you Brian for all your sharing.
Interesting whether to top or not. Topping certainly gives more fruit but often not as big or thick .It is personal choice whether on likes thick meaty peppers or thinner ones. Only way to know which is best is to weigh fruit from same number of plants and same variety.
I have made several of the mistakes you mentioned. I am ikn a new house and new state with brand new built garden beds. My peppers are not getting enough sun and are probably to close to the zucchini. They were topped off and pruned thanks to your video. I have to stake them also because they have gotten quite tall. Probably trying to reach the sun. It's a learning process as you start at a new place.
I live in Canada and tried overwintering my peppers for the first time after watching your video. I started with five and lost one over the winter. I was worried about another one because my granddaughter accidentally fell on it and broke off one of the branches, but it recovered beautifully. I planted them in the garden when the timing was right and they're doing really well. I had California Wonder, Super Chili, and Jalapenos. There's lots of fruit and one of the peppers on the California Wonder is close to being picked. I'm very pleased with the results. I've never topped my peppers. This is something I will have to try next. Thanks, Brian, for all your helpful videos.
Regular ole tomato cages are perfect for pepper plants that are in raised beds. Tomatoes are done in our garden with two 90 degree cattle panels zip tied together to make a 3 x 3 x 7 foot cage. So far our fight is with mocking birds eating ripe tomatoes. Great video
Just started doing the container gardening this summer. Thank you so much for all the valuable info. I have peppers and cherry tomatoes popping up. Now I have to stake the peppers.
Somewhere along the way I missed the detail about planting peppers in pairs. Good to know. As an FYI: I overwintered several plants for the first time this past winter. Unfortunately, only one jalapeno survived. Will try again this year and go for better results.
Same results! Which is weird because I had more than one jalapeño that I overwintered. It must’ve just been the right soil moisture/light that helped us - otherwise I have no idea what the magic was for that jalapeño.
Same results! Which is weird because I had more than one jalapeño that I overwintered. It must’ve just been the right soil moisture/light that helped us - otherwise I have no idea what the magic was for that jalapeño.
Same results here in Northern California. I overwintered several peppers and only one jalapeño survived, and that one just started substantial leafing out a couple of weeks ago. This has been the best year for tomatoes I've had in many years and other veggies are doing fine, but the peppers (I planted small plants from the nursery after the overwinters died) are just pitiful.
I often end up with pepper plants as pairs, as I start them from seeds and I want to get at least one viable plant per starting cell; sometimes I get 2; but if I get more than 2 I separate them out when transplanting to a larger pot (easy when they are young). Pairing them up helps them support each other and use space more efficiently, especially for varieties with sparser growth habits, less helpful for very dense busy plants. Peppers are not as heavy feeders as tomatoes which is why this can work. I have also tried about 9" spacing (even with pairs) -- I think it is tighter than optimal, really crowded to see what is going on in there, but still very productive per square foot.
You’re right they’re ready to start fruiting earlier if you protect them from frost , very little watering is necessary. I’ve started to grow a pepper tree by removing the flowers & any lower shoots but I’m only 12 months on my way but it’s looking promising , I live in central Portugal , our winters are very mild usually but thanks for the tip about afternoon sun, we can have temperatures of over 40 centigrade !
Thank you! My first year of really trying to grow more peppers from seed-and I’ve made all the mistakes!! But you helped me at least to know this year not to put them out too early as they don’t like to be cold, which took awhile this year as we had a very cool, late and long spring in Missouri! Some of your suggestions, it’s not too late (like staking). I’m learning!
I do wish I'd have watched this before planting. I'm doing it wrong... But, hopefully I can rectify and get some good peppers this season. If not next year I will do different.... Love your tomato trellis's! That is going strong
Last year I had lots of sunburn, this year I place them behind a lattice fence that partially shaves late afternoon and it worked perfectly. Also, I overwintered and that is an absolute successful way to have earlier fruit.
Aspirin and peroxide. I had something going on with my tomatoes and peppers last year. I caught it early and did one spray of aspirin and the next day a spray of peroxide. The third day all my plants had it back together again. I redid the spraying 2 weeks later just to stay on top of my mystery issue.
I over wintered 4 plants last year. I probably waited too long to bring them in and 3 of the 4 survived. And they started regrowing so quickly this year
Topping is only ok if you have a long grow season. If it’s short then no. In our cold climate we start in beginning of Feb indoors, top at 6” and outside to greenhouse in April, then to ground late May.
Topping is my favorite but when plants are 5 to 6 weeks old. Hot sun if you are growing hot peppers is ok. Staking not needed for the most part when plants are topped.
FWIW, it seems like some varieties split/fork very low to the ground on their own without topping. My Habanero split/forked into multiple growing tips at about 2 inches tall. My New Mexican chilies split/forked at 8 inches. My manzano split/forked at 8 inches as well. Maybe you are right about topping though, last year I topped them and had a harvest by now. I am still waiting to harvest my first pepper a couple weeks later this year. There are other factors though, last year I grew Cubanelle and Annaheim in that spot. Annaheim out produced the Cubanelle, so this year I tried Big Jim, which is similar to Annaheim. And this year's peppers were in small cells a bit longer than the Annaheim last year, which might have slowed them down. Not to mention weather. A lot of possible factors.
I'm in Western PA United States. We get pretty weird summers here. On the summers where it's brutally hot and dry my peppers produce so much I run out of ways to use them. But summers like this year where we've had a ton of rain they don't do so well. I planted 12 varieties of peppers and only 3 varieties germinated. And they are really small plants no fruit yet.
I have so many questions lol. My plants this year looked terrible. 3 died. We did have drought and extreme heat in the first part of summer. I did water, every other day, with what rain water I had until it was gone, then I used city water. I feel like that might be why they did poorly. But I have 1 jalapeño plant left, I just pulled my last piñata pepper.. so sad because it's flavor is amazing. Hopefully I can over winter this jalapeño... we shall see lol.
Very good points and happy for the reminders. Question on over wintering. I am in MN, so u mean to dig up a pepper plant, pot it, keep it in the house? Then when it is warm enough outside for peppers again the next year, then replant it outside?
I topped all my peppers. I had no blossoms at all. After I topped my peppers they got really bushy. Then all of a sudden....boom....lots of blossoms. I'll be topping from now on.
My biggest pepper mistake this year is I was not home for 2 months and missed caring for the plants. Plus, I did not cage my jalapeno plants and the resident squirrel dug up the plants. I'll do better next year. :)
@@araslintakas9135 I'm in SoCal (not far from Brian's new place) so I might keep it outside and move it in when temps get low, or I might use a grow light next to a window. I don't have any good south facing windows. Thinking maybe something like this: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091Y112MJ
My peppers are suppose to be red n yellow but they are all still green - some are the size of my palm of my hand - ive watched other videos n they say not to pick till firm - n that would be ideal if I could feel firm I have dystonia in my hands n I dont feel well or do alot with my hands. Also I have some tiny peppers turning black which I've read they turn black before red- but it's so small I'm so confused. This is my 2nd video watching n you are extremely helpful because I seen that you said that they should be planted 18in apart but today you said that several can be next to each other which is good because I have mine in containers n in 3 large containers there are 3 plants in each n they seem to be doing better then the single pots
Hi Brian Thank you soooo much for all your helpful videos!!! Have a question….. Do you top all types of 🫑 pepper 🌶 plants. Because I have heard different opinions.
This year I have about 60 pepper plants. Yes Ik sounds crazy but what happened was we thought some died during the frost but in reality they came back plus we had new ones planted. I haven’t topped them this year to expirement and so far it’s not to bad except they are about 4 feet tall lol I gotten loads of peppers
Hi I just found your channel! I grew peppers for the first time and it’s been a big fail. You said irrigation. I plan on doing irrigation next year, what do you have your irrigation set for your tomatoes and peppers?
It’s been 120 degrees every day and all my plants are just sitting and struggling, not growing. And 10% humidity. It’s terrible :( it’s happening to everyone who lives here (Northern California) once it cools they start growing again but tomatoes just sit green on the vine for weeks when it’s like this :(
I’m in Utah and my pepper plants chili plants Serrano , hatch chili flowers keep falling . They are in pots and water every 2 days but hatch chili plant gets wilted if I wait to long . Do t know why they keep falling
@@BlackJesus8463 I totally misunderstood, commercial ag is totally different than growing in your back yard/community garden. I don’t wanna get to into it but it works like this: I have 10 plants, I can expect to loose 1% of my pods from scalding if they’re lined up N/S and get hit with the late afternoon sun. A comAg set up may have the same orientation, but it’s 10x100 or 10x1000 plants, they’re still only loosing 1% of pods to the same scalding. Foliage and canopies of surrounding plants protect each other. Def one of those “makes more sense when there’s a visual” think tank but it’s basically going to boil down to volume, and again natural and man made sun shades…things like citron do well year round in Mexico’s climate and are a great example of shading late afternoon sun while also adding means of revenue. Scalded pods are also still a good source of free seeds if they got ripe before scalding really sets and it’s not even a considerable loss if you’re dealing with bells or other varieties that give a massive seed yield per pod.
My pepper plants have been invaded all summer with aphids! Used neem, food grade DE ..they keep coming back. I even spray the leaves with water to get the bugs off…anything else to offer? They are in a greenhouse
![Yeat & Quavo - 5BRAZY [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4XxnTAwyxus/mqdefault.jpg)
It should be mentioned that topping your peppers is only a good idea if your season is long enough. Topping your peppers sets the plant back by at least 4 weeks, and that time can make a big difference to your yield, if your season is short. I've overcrowded peppers for years with great results. Overcrowding eliminates the necessity of staking. Great video Brian thanks.
Tried growing the peppers closer this year because I was greedy . Wanted more peppers in my space I had. Planted 12 in a bed about 2 ft by 4 ft bed and they are thriving amazingly. Last year I planted only 8 in same bed and didn't grow as fast or as nice as these 12 are closer to each other. Great advice.👍
2 best tips that have improved my pepper growth and harvest are planting 2 plants in one container and topping plants for better stability. Having them in containers makes it easy to follow sun or put in shade. Massive harvest this year! Thanks for the tips!
You can also use a white 35% shade cloth that is about 6-8 foot off ground. The white cloth allows heat control and a balance of light spectrum to get thru. Your plants will grow healthy and fruit like crazy. Pruning does help.
Well lordy, no wonder I'm not getting anything...
But look out next year. Thank you for all the great info
This is Exactly why you are my go to...when I have garden issues
I super enjoyed growing tomatoes last year, especially once I found your 'Grow tomatoes , not leaves' video!! 🙏 I have a soft spot for tomatoes, especially the 10 month olds (in CANADA!!) but Ive really grown to LOVE growing peppers!! I follow your advice and have what I think are 'next level' Yellow, purple, albino, Poblano, Habanero, Jalapeno, Cali Wonder, and other sweet, hot and bells! 💚 Thank you so much for helping me and so many gardeners acheive next level success! 💚 It's 95° and super humid, but off to prep my 2 new front yard raised beds! 🌞🥵😅 Happy Sunday!🌞
@ThinkSustain I am in Winnipeg, MB where winter gets to -40°C or worse, and summer can get to +40C° 🥵 Across the border from N Dakota 🌞
The sun and I must have done everything right this time as I had the best season ever. Here in Aust I am still picking peppers despite the near frost weather we are having at night.
Great info on staking and sun scald as well as growing them tightly. I usually plant 10 seeds together and only prune out enough to leave 4 of the hardiest. Works great!
I've grown peppers for many years and now have a stabilized cross of our native Chiltepin and a Carolina Reaper. I topped it when it was only 4 inches tall. It then grew 8 more stems which I also topped when they were 4 inches tall. The plant is now only 3' tall, very bushy and massive amounts of peppers even in our average 110f heat now. Its thriving and still blooming. On Jalapenos and Serrano's I only top once and they explode.
Thank-you for mentioning Canada in the overwintering portion. I always felt like it was something not for us but I'm willing to give it a shot this year! Thank-you!! :)
I don't have a spot in my yard with afternoon shade so I use a 40% shade cloth to prevent sun scald. It works!
Something to consider with topping is that it works best with smaller pepper varieties (smaller fruit, not plant). Things like sweet peppers don't seem to take well to topping and actually produce fewer fruit (IMO/experience). Works great for bushing out jalapeno, habs, Thai, etc.
Made many of those errors and production was terrible. This year I call them my “Brian” peppers as I have great production even in this 110-115 degree weather. I do have 50% shade cloth over them…stays on all the time as I was getting sun burn on them….from both morning and late afternoon. Planting two 1 inch apart was a game changer !! Thanks Brian!!
Can't imagine growing 2 king of the north bell pepper plants an inch apart. The plants are very vigorous and bushy and would ruin the air flow as well as break branches.
I'm east coast NC, and have overwintered peppers by piling pine needles or straw all the way up to the top of the plant. Pull away after last frost and it just gets hotter....
Great video, Brian. I wish my plant were 8" tall so I could top them. Most that I started this year are barely 3" tall and those I overwintered (in the ground in my 10a garden) only sent up new growth from the bottom and it is also only 3-4" tall. Suggestions? For staking, I find the small tomato cages (useless for actual tomatoes, even determinant, as we have all discovered) work great for peppers. It also gives me something to clip small pieces of shade cloth to on the afternoon sun side of the plants to protect from sun scald. Thanks for taking the time to make videos for us with all you have on your plate right now.
@ Debbie Phillips
I just recently discovered Dr Earth's liquid tomato vegetable and herb fertilizer along with Brian's aspirin trick. My peppers loved it and are producing lots of peppers. I got the fertilizer at Home Depot. The other veggies liked it also.
@Debbie Phillips - That's a great idea - using the tomato cages to hold small pieces of shade cloth. I have a couple of peppers in among other vegetables and this is a perfect way to shade only the peppers
Debbie, thank you for the tip of using the tomato cage!
Could be a phosphorus or a PH problem in your soil.
Lol...more than they can support "with dignity". Got a chuckle out of that wording. Poor embarrassed unsupported peppers.
Blossom End Rot - I grow mainly in containers. End rot will happen if I dont add calcium. In a 5 gallon bucket add a cup of garden lime, then pour a cup of vinegar in. Stir it up a little to dissolve the lime, it will foam up. Fill the bucket up with water. Then pour about 2 cups at the base of each plant. I usually do this about 3 times at the end of the season with two weeks in between applications. Good for tomatoes as well. If you notice end rot apply asap to save the rest of the harvest. Then do a second application a week later.
Thank u .. been having problems in buckets
I actually crushed up tums last year when I first noticed a tomato getting blossom end rot. Saved my plant and worked well
Instead of additives, have you considered adding a bunch of vermiculite? I find it’s water absorbing qualities means my roots never dry out/die/keep from absorbing calcium from the soil. I’m in 9b and it’s made a huge diff in my tomatoes.
@@melissasullivan1658 I have a lot of perlite in my container mix. I primarily have SIP's (Sub Irrigated Planters) that seldom if ever dry out. Without adding a Natural source of calcium, at least in my experience, blossom end rot always happens in my containers. The nice thing is that while its a good preventative, its also a fast acting organic cure. Though if used as a cure where blossom end rot is already present I would likely only wait a week before doing a second application.
I personally add eggshells as part of my compost. They are slow to decompose but I let my compost decompose for several years before using it. But I suspect most of their benefit is from controlling acidity, rather than a true lack of calcium compounds in my soil.
I brought my pepper plants in last fall. I have them in a grow tent in the basement and they are doing great. I live in Buffalo, New York
I place a tomato cage around my pepper plants when I transplant them into the garden. After topping, they fill out the cage perfectly.
Love your pepper videos, they are packed with good sensible information! My pepper i over wintered after your other video is covered in peppers-I’m so pleased! (I’m in N Ireland and over wintered pepper so it works!!) Thank you! 🫑☘️☘️🫑☘️☘️🫑☘️☘️
So glad it worked for you👏👏👏. I too tried overwintering peppers last wintet. Not one of the 18 peppers survived. That was a failure experiment for me in zone 5. But i have great success planting seeds indoors.
I started watching your video at 2:30 and BOOM - sun...I forgot to throw on the sun shade cloth. Had to run out and do that to finish watching. My first year growing peppers, so NO, I didn't top off or prune. So, well see how it goes. I actually have two Mammoth Peppers growing side-by-side. Great video as always.
I plant my peppers in an extremely crowded bed and they do fantastic. I have sunflowers on the West End of that bed to offer them some shade from our extreme temperatures here in Southern New Mexico. I water them in the evening and I make sure that they do get wet if I don't at if I don't they Wilt and the peppers and blossoms fall off. We average triple digits for 30 days of the summer and our humidity goes between 3% and 10% at the highest unless it is actually raining at the moment. We had 3 days with rain and it totaled a little over 2" and my peppers loved it. We have now had almost 3 and a 1/2 inches of rain this year.
Great video! I'll just add, from my experience, if you are topping your peppers early on, it does indeed set the plant back about 1-2 weeks. So just start the plant that much earlier and in a slightly larger seedling pot.
I've been overwintering for several years now, I've found its easier to keep a little light on the plants to keep a little foliage going as opposed to thinking you overwintered a live plant only to find out its dead the next year. I've even pulled them all up, labelled them and planted everything back into a large pot just for the winter successfully.
Thank you for clarifying the 18" spacing, I container garden and have 6 in a 10X11 square bag and thought I was going to have to give up some of the plants. They really are doing well given the heat.
Bless you for teaching us a true life skill.
I seed start 2 peppers per container this year and transplanted together out in main garden. Production is unreal! I don't top my plants, just never have. I successfully over-wintered a jumbo jalapeno plant this year as well. It's a beast and yes, started harvesting weeks before the others. Great vid and tips.
I topped my peppers this year and results are amazing! More peppers than I've ever had!
Bought three small plants .put them in my small poly greenhouse and next morning they were 1 inch stalks,!! I live in Cornwall, uk. So bought three more and they are staying on the kitchen window sill for now. Good video and great to know they can survive the Winter.
overwintering my pepper plants and pruning is the BEST advice ever :) ...my plants are alive...now I gotta go and stake them up to help them out a bit...again great advice ...thanks Brian :)
Last Fall I saved seeds from a store bought green bell pepper. I added them to seed starter in December in the house and planted in the garden in April ( min60F overnight). I read recently that those seeds are not viable, from store bought peppers. Today I picked 6 green bell peppers in Sacramento, Ca from the seed I harvested from a store bought pepper!!!!
I tried overwintering 10 peppers. Only half survived the winter, then all but one got killed by the weird spring weather. The last survivor has just been a green stick until today, I saw a couple of leaves on it.
This winter, I plan on learning from my mistakes and trying again.
Good to know that I can harvest my yellow, red, and orange peppers a little early. Four of my yellow peppers grew in my kitchen all winter and I stuck them outside this spring. I was amazed to watch them fill out and produce. Thanks Brian!
Thanks Brian for another very useful video. I think that you’re one of the best RUclips gardeners because you start with science and incorporate art into your methods! Also a big fan of the organic techniques whenever possible!👍🏻🍅🌶
Thank you!
Yeah, I’ve made all of those mistakes….several times over. I’m not a big bell pepper fan so we grow California chilies, Poblano, Guajillo, Fresno, Serrano etc. Another possible error in growing peppers is over-fertilizing, especially with Nitrogen late term. I switch from 5-5-2 liquid organic to 0-10-10 granular right after first blossom set and monitor leaf color and density in case they need a shot of Nitrogen during fruiting. Thanks for the informative video. Good information on successful pepper growing.
I am in the MN where we have winter-winter, -30 F. I overwintered a pepper for the first time last winter. Since overwintering was new, I did one plant. That plant is now 4 peppers ahead of all the seed started peppers who are still in blossom. I plan to overwinter lots more peppers this winter. Thank you. I love your channel. I am also spraying with aspirin/baking soda along with my tomatoes. This is my second summer doing the spraying (and feeding). I had my best crops last summer. This year, the challenge it so beat the heat and the drought. Thank you Brian for all your sharing.
Thanks for another grear video. Keep up the good work. Stay safe
I am growing peppers for the first time and I topped them (it was painful) but they grew quickly!
Interesting whether to top or not.
Topping certainly gives more fruit but often not as big or thick .It is personal choice whether on likes thick meaty peppers or thinner ones.
Only way to know which is best is to weigh fruit from same number of plants and same variety.
I have made several of the mistakes you mentioned. I am ikn a new house and new state with brand new built garden beds. My peppers are not getting enough sun and are probably to close to the zucchini. They were topped off and pruned thanks to your video. I have to stake them also because they have gotten quite tall. Probably trying to reach the sun. It's a learning process as you start at a new place.
I live in Canada and tried overwintering my peppers for the first time after watching your video. I started with five and lost one over the winter. I was worried about another one because my granddaughter accidentally fell on it and broke off one of the branches, but it recovered beautifully. I planted them in the garden when the timing was right and they're doing really well. I had California Wonder, Super Chili, and Jalapenos. There's lots of fruit and one of the peppers on the California Wonder is close to being picked. I'm very pleased with the results. I've never topped my peppers. This is something I will have to try next. Thanks, Brian, for all your helpful videos.
Regular ole tomato cages are perfect for pepper plants that are in raised beds. Tomatoes are done in our garden with two 90 degree cattle panels zip tied together to make a 3 x 3 x 7 foot cage. So far our fight is with mocking birds eating ripe tomatoes. Great video
Topped this year on your advice and we have the largest plants with the most fruit we've ever grown.
Just started doing the container gardening this summer. Thank you so much for all the valuable info. I have peppers and cherry tomatoes popping up. Now I have to stake the peppers.
My peppers are definitely much better than last year. I can’t wait to over winter them as well. Great tips!
Somewhere along the way I missed the detail about planting peppers in pairs. Good to know. As an FYI: I overwintered several plants for the first time this past winter. Unfortunately, only one jalapeno survived. Will try again this year and go for better results.
Same results! Which is weird because I had more than one jalapeño that I overwintered. It must’ve just been the right soil moisture/light that helped us - otherwise I have no idea what the magic was for that jalapeño.
Same results! Which is weird because I had more than one jalapeño that I overwintered. It must’ve just been the right soil moisture/light that helped us - otherwise I have no idea what the magic was for that jalapeño.
Same results here in Northern California. I overwintered several peppers and only one jalapeño survived, and that one just started substantial leafing out a couple of weeks ago. This has been the best year for tomatoes I've had in many years and other veggies are doing fine, but the peppers (I planted small plants from the nursery after the overwinters died) are just pitiful.
I often end up with pepper plants as pairs, as I start them from seeds and I want to get at least one viable plant per starting cell; sometimes I get 2; but if I get more than 2 I separate them out when transplanting to a larger pot (easy when they are young). Pairing them up helps them support each other and use space more efficiently, especially for varieties with sparser growth habits, less helpful for very dense busy plants. Peppers are not as heavy feeders as tomatoes which is why this can work. I have also tried about 9" spacing (even with pairs) -- I think it is tighter than optimal, really crowded to see what is going on in there, but still very productive per square foot.
Thanks for the great tips. Please do a video on cauliflower. 2 years of planting and no luck.
I over wintered peppers in my sunroom in pots! works great!
Thank you! I appreciate this video!
You’re right they’re ready to start fruiting earlier if you protect them from frost , very little watering is necessary. I’ve started to grow a pepper tree by removing the flowers & any lower shoots but I’m only 12 months on my way but it’s looking promising , I live in central Portugal , our winters are very mild usually but thanks for the tip about afternoon sun, we can have temperatures of over 40 centigrade !
A TON of great info, as usual!
I have learned a lot from your tomato and pepper videos. Your awesome. Thank you
Thank you! My first year of really trying to grow more peppers from seed-and I’ve made all the mistakes!! But you helped me at least to know this year not to put them out too early as they don’t like to be cold, which took awhile this year as we had a very cool, late and long spring in Missouri! Some of your suggestions, it’s not too late (like staking). I’m learning!
I do wish I'd have watched this before planting. I'm doing it wrong... But, hopefully I can rectify and get some good peppers this season. If not next year I will do different.... Love your tomato trellis's! That is going strong
Perfect timing again. I'm just putting my peppers out. Thanks for the great advice!!😊❤
Last year I had lots of sunburn, this year I place them behind a lattice fence that partially shaves late afternoon and it worked perfectly. Also, I overwintered and that is an absolute successful way to have earlier fruit.
Every one of my 18 peppers i overwintered in my garage died. What did you do to be successful. I'm open to success stories
@@klattin1501 really kept them inside instead of a cold garage ....I would assume.
Thanks! I have 3 peppers. The one in the most sun got a midday sunbonnet today! LOL
Aspirin and peroxide. I had something going on with my tomatoes and peppers last year. I caught it early and did one spray of aspirin and the next day a spray of peroxide. The third day all my plants had it back together again. I redid the spraying 2 weeks later just to stay on top of my mystery issue.
Than you! I needed this video badly!
I over wintered 4 plants last year. I probably waited too long to bring them in and 3 of the 4 survived. And they started regrowing so quickly this year
Topping is only ok if you have a long grow season. If it’s short then no. In our cold climate we start in beginning of Feb indoors, top at 6” and outside to greenhouse in April, then to ground late May.
Topping is my favorite but when plants are 5 to 6 weeks old. Hot sun if you are growing hot peppers is ok. Staking not needed for the most part when plants are topped.
I find that the heat and high altitude like here in Colorado is worse for sun scald.
We have leftover tile we use to keep fruit off the ground, it works.
Thanks Bryan. Great job. Good info.
FWIW, it seems like some varieties split/fork very low to the ground on their own without topping. My Habanero split/forked into multiple growing tips at about 2 inches tall. My New Mexican chilies split/forked at 8 inches. My manzano split/forked at 8 inches as well. Maybe you are right about topping though, last year I topped them and had a harvest by now. I am still waiting to harvest my first pepper a couple weeks later this year. There are other factors though, last year I grew Cubanelle and Annaheim in that spot. Annaheim out produced the Cubanelle, so this year I tried Big Jim, which is similar to Annaheim. And this year's peppers were in small cells a bit longer than the Annaheim last year, which might have slowed them down. Not to mention weather. A lot of possible factors.
I have given up on bell peppers though I would love to grow them. They are at most 3/4 size of my fist and usually smaller and have super thin walls
Great advice
Thanks Brian!
thank you Brian!!
I'm in Western PA United States. We get pretty weird summers here. On the summers where it's brutally hot and dry my peppers produce so much I run out of ways to use them. But summers like this year where we've had a ton of rain they don't do so well. I planted 12 varieties of peppers and only 3 varieties germinated. And they are really small plants no fruit yet.
I have so many questions lol. My plants this year looked terrible. 3 died. We did have drought and extreme heat in the first part of summer. I did water, every other day, with what rain water I had until it was gone, then I used city water. I feel like that might be why they did poorly. But I have 1 jalapeño plant left, I just pulled my last piñata pepper.. so sad because it's flavor is amazing. Hopefully I can over winter this jalapeño... we shall see lol.
Very good points and happy for the reminders.
Question on over wintering. I am in MN, so u mean to dig up a pepper plant, pot it, keep it in the house? Then when it is warm enough outside for peppers again the next year, then replant it outside?
You have any videos on habanero or Serrano chili plants? Tips to keep them thriving in humid climates like Florida?
I topped all my peppers. I had no blossoms at all. After I topped my peppers they got really bushy. Then all of a sudden....boom....lots of blossoms. I'll be topping from now on.
Houston we have peppers....woo hoo.
I was scared to but the ones I topped are doing better than the ones I didn’t. It did take longer to get peppers but man there are so many more!
A mistake not mentioned is if you live in cooler climates with shorter growing Seasons a big mistake is topping your peppers.
Fabulous video. Thank you. 👍
Here in Florida I use 50% shade cloth it seems to work really well otherwise it's just too brutal
Tks for sharing this
This is so helpful, thank you!
My biggest pepper mistake this year is I was not home for 2 months and missed caring for the plants. Plus, I did not cage my jalapeno plants and the resident squirrel dug up the plants. I'll do better next year. :)
Overwinter is the best trick. I did it with Carolina reapers. Four plants and 100% success rate. And this is Canada!
Not only can you overwinter them, but you can make a Bonchi while you're at it. That's a bonsai chili. I plan on trying that this winter.
Have you seen this someplace? What kind of light do you plan on using? Natural, in a south window? Grow lights?
@@araslintakas9135 I'm in SoCal (not far from Brian's new place) so I might keep it outside and move it in when temps get low, or I might use a grow light next to a window. I don't have any good south facing windows. Thinking maybe something like this: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091Y112MJ
@@araslintakas9135 lots of videos... search Bonchi
🙏 first time view your video .....great ....i loved the video .........🌷🌷
My peppers are suppose to be red n yellow but they are all still green - some are the size of my palm of my hand - ive watched other videos n they say not to pick till firm - n that would be ideal if I could feel firm I have dystonia in my hands n I dont feel well or do alot with my hands. Also I have some tiny peppers turning black which I've read they turn black before red- but it's so small I'm so confused. This is my 2nd video watching n you are extremely helpful because I seen that you said that they should be planted 18in apart but today you said that several can be next to each other which is good because I have mine in containers n in 3 large containers there are 3 plants in each n they seem to be doing better then the single pots
Hi Brian
Thank you soooo much for all your helpful videos!!!
Have a question…..
Do you top all types of 🫑 pepper 🌶 plants. Because I have heard different opinions.
What about picking some of the blossoms off?
This year I have about 60 pepper plants. Yes Ik sounds crazy but what happened was we thought some died during the frost but in reality they came back plus we had new ones planted. I haven’t topped them this year to expirement and so far it’s not to bad except they are about 4 feet tall lol I gotten loads of peppers
Great tips!
How can you tell a good time to pick green bells. I know you don't like green but thought I'd ask. Thanks.
Is there a time when it is too late to prune top off pepper plant (e.g. when there are a few flowers starting)
What do you think of weed tea?
Dripping makes all our veggies happier
How warm of an area should they be in?
What about topping my peppers here in NY city ?
My peppers are not doing well. Keep thinking I should try again if it's not too late. In NC but so humid here.
Hi I just found your channel! I grew peppers for the first time and it’s been a big fail. You said irrigation. I plan on doing irrigation next year, what do you have your irrigation set for your tomatoes and peppers?
It’s been 120 degrees every day and all my plants are just sitting and struggling, not growing. And 10% humidity. It’s terrible :( it’s happening to everyone who lives here (Northern California) once it cools they start growing again but tomatoes just sit green on the vine for weeks when it’s like this :(
I’m in Utah and my pepper plants chili plants Serrano , hatch chili flowers keep falling . They are in pots and water every 2 days but hatch chili plant gets wilted if I wait to long . Do t know why they keep falling
I just transplanted dill right next to my cucumbers and my peppers are closer than 18 in maybe 12 should I move them?
Perennial? I’m growing most of my peppers in tubs. I’ll have to research this. If they go dormant maybe I can store in garage? Thank you!
I want to know how they grow perfect bell peppers in Mexico because mine always got sun scald.
Sunshades and growing in areas naturally blocked by afternoon sun.
@@countdrugula1 Not on a commercial scale. I can buy them for $1 at the store so no way.
@@BlackJesus8463 I totally misunderstood, commercial ag is totally different than growing in your back yard/community garden. I don’t wanna get to into it but it works like this:
I have 10 plants, I can expect to loose 1% of my pods from scalding if they’re lined up N/S and get hit with the late afternoon sun.
A comAg set up may have the same orientation, but it’s 10x100 or 10x1000 plants, they’re still only loosing 1% of pods to the same scalding. Foliage and canopies of surrounding plants protect each other.
Def one of those “makes more sense when there’s a visual” think tank but it’s basically going to boil down to volume, and again natural and man made sun shades…things like citron do well year round in Mexico’s climate and are a great example of shading late afternoon sun while also adding means of revenue.
Scalded pods are also still a good source of free seeds if they got ripe before scalding really sets and it’s not even a considerable loss if you’re dealing with bells or other varieties that give a massive seed yield per pod.
My pepper plants have been invaded all summer with aphids! Used neem, food grade DE ..they keep coming back. I even spray the leaves with water to get the bugs off…anything else to offer? They are in a greenhouse