Peppers Are Perennials. Who Knew?

 I guess I'm not the only person unaware of this marvel, or the Charming Gent on YouTube's California Garden TV wouldn't be teaching it. The benefits of this information, obviously, are that 1) you don't have to start or buy new pepper plants every spring, and 2) you can get mature plants going earlier and thus begin to harvest fruits sooner and longer. (I love poblanos!)

Photo by Desi Min on Unsplash

To learn about overwintering peppers in various climates, please see the Charming Gent video link above for good visuals. It is some work in all but mild climates involving pruning the plants back severely with a well-cleaned and sharp cutter, leaving no leaves. Cut nearly to the nodes in the crotches and near leaves. Remove branches that have no nodes and spindly branches that won't bear fruit. Put the peppers into 1 to 3 gallon pots to bring inside. Don't water them during the winter unless the soil is very dry. (Don't be afraid to grow them in a sizable pot, at least 3 gallons, to begin with, if that is what will become of them.) I might try pruning them and covering them in a little hoop greenhouse for my first year on the Oregon coast. I can hope. If it doesn't work, I'll start more from seed the next year and figure out something cozier in the fall. 

Starting from Seed

Peppers take a while to germinate, up to two weeks for sweet peppers and a month for hot ones. Put a little hydrogen peroxide into a bottle of water and use the mixture to wet a paper towel. Put the seeds on it, fold it, and put it into a zip lock bag. Place the bag on a warming mat and keep it between 60 and 75 degrees Farenheit. Start checking on them in a week or so, and once little white sprouts appear, plant them in pots of seed starting mix 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep. Keep them moist. You can use a liquid fertilizer, if you wish, once you see leaves. Harden them outside once it will not dip below 50 degrees F. at night. 

Plant them in a space with good morning and midday light and afternoon shade. They will drop their flowers, as will tomatoes, if they are left in the sun and temperatures hit 90 degrees. You can use shade cloths if necessary. Keep them always moist, but don't let them sit in water. If you do need fertilizers in your early soil-building years, you don't want much nitrogen for peppers or you will have few fruits. Use a rock phosphate (other phosphates will burn the plants.) You can use a 2-4-2 or 3-8-8 fertilizer, but the first number must be lower than the next. If you have rotting at the blossom end of the peppers, your soil will need gypsum and possibly more water. 

Once they have five or six leaves, cut the top set off, which will cause the plant to grow two stems (there is usually a Y shape at the bottom level; keep both stems.) This will increase the capacity for fruiting. Be sure to leave enough space between plants for them to spread out and grow, but as a permaculturist, allow the good neighbor weeds to fill in the spaces on the ground to increase photosynthesis to benefit the soil. You may need to cut off weed tops to allow sunlight to the pepper plants while they are small; just drop the cuttings below.  

Thanks to Desi Min for the photo above, and great thanks to California Garden TV (someday I'll know his name) and Keith from Canadian Permaculture Legacy for the information. 

Please see my permaculture posts if you are not familiar with the method. It is a great way to help the planet (air, water, and soil) and the easiest way you can imagine to garden. No rototilling or weeding!

Any comments? I'd love to hear from you.