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 S S S S
T T               T T T

(Best months for growing Capsicum in Australia - sub-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 18°C and 35°C. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 20 - 50 cm 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

10 Sep 13, faye pitt (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
hi do capsicum plants like cow & chook manner? thanks
15 Sep 13, ej (Australia - temperate climate)
Cow manure tends to have a low nutrient analysis because it comes from animals grazing on grass. This makes it great as a general purpose soil conditioner and great for phosphorous-sensitive native plants when it's well rotted. Raw Chook manure usually has the highest nutrient content and always has a higher nitrogen level, making it great for fertilising lawns and for use in the vegie garden. However, it needs to be mixed well with soil to reduce the impact of being over rich (hot). You don't need much. Note: High nitrogen levels can be a cause of Capsicum blossom-end rot which appears as sunken brown spots on the sides or end of the fruit.
06 Sep 13, Cherie (Australia - temperate climate)
Can Capsicums and Tomatoes be planted in the same garden next too each other?
15 Sep 13, ej (Australia - temperate climate)
Probably not. Capsicum are susceptible to viruses & will contract Tomato spotted wilt virus. Ripening tomatoes also give off ethylene gas which will affect the capsicum fruit.
05 Sep 13, ros (australia temperate climate) (Australia - temperate climate)
My Capcicums never grow to full size before they rot and fall off why ?
15 Sep 13, ej (Australia - temperate climate)
Could be a number of reasons ... A common ailment with capsicum is blossom-end rot. This condition just effects the fruit and not the plant blossom or flower. The condition gets its name because the symptoms appear at the ‘blossom end’ of the fruit. The first sign of blossom-end rot is that the end of the fruit becomes off-whitish to brown in colour and takes on a ‘sunken in’ appearance. As the fruit matures, these symptoms become more pronounced and the colour of the rot becomes dark brown to almost black. Blossom-end rot is caused by insufficient calcium supply. However, the most common cause is from irregular watering during the critical growing period of the young fruit. Even when calcium levels in the soil are sufficient, a plant receiving insufficient or irregular water will have difficulty absorbing and delivering calcium to the fruit. To control blossom-end rot. Boost the soil with calcium by adding lime, dolomite, gypsum or composted animal manures before planting the seedlings. Water regularly. Most capsicum crops continue to flower and bear fruit for prolonged periods of time, so ensure the soil around their roots is kept moist. Avoid fertilisers with a high nitrogen content. Nitrogen fertilisers will promote leaf growth at the expense of fruit, allocating calcium to the leaves instead of to the fruit.
02 Sep 13, Madeleine (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
My capsicums have only grown about 10 cm in about 8 or 9 weeks. all other plants in same bed doing well. can anyone help?
15 Sep 13, ej (Australia - temperate climate)
That last cold snap may be the cause. Plants retarded by cool weather tend to harden and seldom regain the vigorous growth necessary for high yields. Then again, you may be over fertilising them. Capsicum do not respond well to nitrogen (which most fertilisers have a lot of)...The only nitrogen capsicum need is obtained from a good compost added when planting. Do not continue fertilising (feeding) these plants. When you see first signs of blooms fertilise with a high phosphrous fertiliser, but one with very little nitrogen. The most common mistake made is planting capsicums in the same bed as leaf crops like silver beet, Asian greens, lettuce, broccoli, peas/beans, all of whuich need high nitrogen.
15 Sep 13, ej (Australia - temperate climate)
That last cold snap may be the cause. Plants retarded by cool weather tend to harden and seldom regain the vigorous growth necessary for high yields.
18 Aug 13, Ash White (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
My capsicums have half of the skin covered in a brown scaly rough texture. it is also on the leaves aswell. Do you know what it is and how I can treat it? Cheers.
Showing 241 - 250 of 430 comments

Hi Jen, This is a bit late because you are maybe 2 months into your work but I planted a similar garden in raised beds at the start of Sep/16, my first time with most of these plants. Put the strawberries in their own patch because they have different requirements to everything else and will try to invade the surroundings via their runners (stolons). Try to keep stolon production to a minimum unless you want baby plants, in which case let the runners root in separate peat cups and then cut+transplant when they look big and healthy, but not too big because they will punch through the peat and start rooting in the bed where they sit (you can use plastic instead of peat, but the peat ones go straight into the ground when you transplant). I had mediocre fruit production when the strawbs were planted last year but mega crops this year (27 plants). Don't keep them too wet, be on regular lookout for slugs, tear away old leaves which promote rotting and fruit turning, fortnightly seaweed with a splash of fertiliser for the leaves. Rosemary becomes a full-grown bush - put it where you would want a hedge and cut it back twice a year, esp after flowering, to encourage a nice full shape (it will shoot rather vertically otherwise). Rosemary doesn't need much water or fertiliser, I use some slow-release and let rain do the rest except for prolonged dry spells. Zuccs and cukes get quite large, so make sure you allow at least a foot between plants because they come on really quickly from seedling. I got fruit in about 2 months and they are still going now, don't let the fruit sit too long or they can get quite huge quite quickly, tending towards being woody. Zuccs I find can start to yellow when the flower falls off, so keep an eye on that. Also give the cukes some support to climb, otherwise they will just spread like a kind of moppy mess over the garden bed. Basil I did from seeds, they are annuals so just get a packet and put some down about a foot in front of your tomatoes, they do well as companions. The basil can get to about 1-2 feet high if really happy. Capsicums I managed 6 in two rows of 1.2 m, they are quite slender plants and don't need heaps of space like tomatoes or zuccs. These are nearby the tomatoes as they have similar requirements. I also chucked in two chilis that look very happy, consider this as you get capsicum + basil + chili + tomato in one go = a meal waiting. Lastly toms - IMO the most difficult to keep happy. They need more water and fertiliser than the other guys and get wilty more quickly in hot weather. My main tips in my second year with cherry toms is to limit the number of branches you allow, because they will get tall and thick really quickly. I planted mine 1 ft apart but they are a little too close, I'd try 2 ft next time around. You need staking or cages obviously, but in 3 months my toms have gone from 20 cm to about 4 ft, so be prepared for them to outstrip your initial heigh expectations if they are happy. If they are intermediates, they will try to off-shoot at every junction (you can see the baby shoots at the V-intersection between two existing main shoots), so pluck those away everywhere except at the top. You'll also want to thin the tom leaves out because they will get thick and happy and green, but at the expense of fruit. Also remove the lower tom leaves as they can get a bit soggy and disease prone. Buy yourself some garden twine because you'll be at it every week or two to keep the toms supported. I find the toms are quite temperamental, they are prone to yellowing and disease. Keep an eye out for caterpillars, around spring they can come without warning and start putting holes all through your leaves and fruit. I was out daily for about a week in October crushing hundreds of tiny little green caterpillars before they could decimate the plants. Also after excessive water some toms can split, so take those off the vine and refrigerate - eat quickly before they spoil. Any green toms that fall off you can put them next to bananas in the fruit bowl and they'll ripen up nicely. I find my collected unsplit toms last 1-2 weeks in the fruit bowl. Taste is beyond anything in the supermarket! That's my experience, hope it helps. Oh last thing - use good soil to start up, I was filling raised beds so I bought new soil. Next year I will rake in my first year of compost when re-doing the used beds. If you have good soil and it drains, you don't need to do anything else like sand. I used raised beds because I am sitting on clay-type soils with lots of shale under the surface = no good for veggies.

- Tom

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