Growing Capsicum, also Bell peppers, Sweet peppers

Capsicum annuum : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
      S S              
        T T T          

(Best months for growing Capsicum in Australia - tropical regions)

  • S = Plant undercover in seed trays
  • T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 64°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 8 - 20 inches apart
  • Harvest in 10-12 weeks. Cut fruit off with sharp knife.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Egg plant (Aubergine), Nasturtiums, Basil, Parsley, Amaranth

Your comments and tips

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02 Oct 17, Tash (Australia - temperate climate)
Just pulled out some old unperfoming capsicums (left one in). Anything suggesions on good vegies to follw in their place (will re compost soil etc, but should i follow with any particular types?) Cheers
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04 Oct 17, Darren (Australia - temperate climate)
Anything from the allium family, onions, garlic, leeks, chives, or beans (legume family) is recommended to follow fruiting crops.
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04 Oct 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
If you are re-composting your soil and it has a good balance of nutrients- NPK and trace elements etc, then you could grow anything. There is an order of growing plants - but I don't follow it. A leafy veg like lettuce will take N out of the soil, then you plant a root veg like carrots (with less N you don't get so much leaf). You can then grow something like tomato and finally something like beans (they put N back in the soil for the lettuce). I may not have the order right here - read up on the internet.
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16 Dec 17, Frankly (Australia - arid climate)
Can you give me material about the process of growing Capsicum capsicum, I want to plant in Vietnam Dalat And planted do not need greenhouse, thank you!
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23 Sep 17, Romyna (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I am always very unssuceful in growing Capsicums in my garden the sun is very strong in summer 38d to 43 or more it kill many plants in the full sun. Do I need to grow the pepers plants in shady areas ?
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25 Sep 17, Darren (Australia - temperate climate)
I live in a warm temperate area and found that capsicums can suffer in hot sun, despite what the literature says. Shadecloth, plenty of mulch, and regular deep watering helps.
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24 Sep 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Maybe try planting late summer and grow into the winter.
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25 Jul 17, Kev (Australia - temperate climate)
my capsican plants were looking great and producing heaps of fruit, but did not finish off well. The problem that came up was the fruit started getting dry brown lines through them. I cannot find any information on this problem. Any feed back would be helpful.
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07 Aug 17, Jennifer (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Hi Kev, your post got me thinking I had the same problem with my capsicums, looked it up and it says that Thrips cause those brown scars.
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10 Jun 17, Lyndal (Australia - temperate climate)
I have heaps of green capsicum in my garden which are long and thin. They don't appear to be growing any bigger or changing colour. I planted sweet mix capsicum and some are probably as long as 20cm but skinny and green. Are they ready to pick or how do I go about making them yellow and red. They have been in my garden for ages.
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Showing 71 - 80 of 430 comments
See comments for all plants

Depends on what type of capsium you are looking for. For ordinary bell peppers try California Wonder. They grow quite easily. I don't know how well you know the cycle of the pepper, but yellow peppers actually come from the same plant as green and red. All peppers start out green - hence the name "green pepper". This is also the time to start picking them. However, if you leave them on the plant, the green pepper will turn yellow. If left longer it will turn orange, then red and finally purple. There's just one snag: your plant will produce more peppers if they are picked green than left to turn yellow, orange, red and purple which is probably why green peppers are so much cheaper then their brothers. I always found it difficult to grow peppers from seeds gotten from fruits bought in stores. Rather buy a dried, treated seed like Stykes and Ayres. There's a wonderful seller on Bid or Buy called Seeds for Africa. They sell all matter of seeds and have quite a variety of capsium seeds from peppers to chillies. You might want to check them out.

- Micky Brand

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