Like I did in my recent Tomatoes and the Victory Garden 2.0 post, I’m riffing off of the National Garden Bureau’s continuing series of articles, their latest being a Q&A with their NGB Experts that is all about peppers. The Victory Garden 2.0 project, as I’ve said before, is aimed at helping new pandemic-prompted gardeners have some success with their new hobby. It’s not just a hobby, after all. The garden is a legitimate source of food for folks who don’t want to make as many trips to the store.

NGB’s pepper Q&A is about 15 questions long. I’ll take just a few of those questions here, sharing their professionals’ answers along with a few of my comments and/or experiences.

Q. I started bell pepper seeds indoors and they looked great, hardened off and transitioned outside. Still great, but zero growth in three weeks. Is that normal?

A. Several of the questions asked of the NGB experts revolved around temperature. Peppers love warm weather, and if they are planted outside too early or if it’s just too wet early on when planted, they won’t really thrive. The “zero growth” this gardener is experiencing is likely caused by too-cool temps. Why risk the possibility of a late frost? Just keep the peppers sheltered until nighttime temperatures are reliably 50F or warmer. I’ve been doing this for years, so trust me. Keep them inside until it warms up!

Q. How do I plant pepper plants in the garden?

A. Instead of planting the root ball even with the soil as is common with most planting techniques, plant it in a deep hole so that about half the stem is buried. This will make the plant sturdy and will encourage additional root growth. I’ve just heard of this technique myself and I can’t wait to try it to prevent my pepper plants from tipping over,!

Q. Do I need pollinators to fertilize my pepper flowers?

A. Pepper flowers have both male and female flowers, so pollen is easily transferred without the aid of a pollinator.

Q. Do I have to worry about pests?

A. The NGB expert answered that peppers aren’t all that attractive to insects. I beg to differ. Each year my peppers end up with pepper maggots growing inside of the pepper, hidden away until you cut into it. So, beware of that white-bodied larva. What to do about it? I wrote about it in this BLOG POST; give diatomaceous earth a try.