Caspsicum annuum • F1 • Hybrid

JOY MAX SCALE ✦✦✦✧✧

Bell Peppers are for the patient. This one is extra slow to germinate and the peppers take forever to ripen but trust me, this payoff is worth the wait.

Let’s just get this out of the way: bell peppers drag. They germinate slowly, the seedlings grow slowly, and the harvest comes way late. That’s why I mostly buy large transplants as soon as they are available rather than grow bell peppers from seed. For some peppers, I make an exception. I give them try. This is one such pepper.

✧ Lilac Bell will probably take around 2 weeks to germinate unless conditions are precisely how she likes them. You should start them indoors as soon as you get them. I’m giving you lots of seeds so plant three per pot and then trim the weakest seedlings away when they are an inch tall. If you are going out of town or don’t enjoy waiting on longer germ times, save these seeds for next year or give them to a friend. BUT…

✦ If you grow this incredibly beautiful pepper as an ornamental in your potager, the harvest itself will just be a bonus.

✦ They change color as they grow into true bells with 3-4 lobes and up to 4 inches long. They start off an ivory-green, turn purple with green flesh, then a chocolate brown, finally flaming into maturity red and sweet. The foliage is lush and a dark, cool green. I love how peppers look in the garden. To me, that’s enough to give these a try, knowing the harvest, when it finally comes, will be truly something special.

Basic Growing Information

STARTING INDOORS (recommended): Start indoors under bright light 8-10 weeks before last frost. Sow seeds 1/4” deep. Sow 2-3 seeds per cell or pot and then thin to the healthiest seedling once they are an inch tall. Use a heat mat to speed germination. It’s best to start peppers indoors because unlike tomatoes, you shouldn’t plant them outside until nighttime temps are above 60°F (15°C). You need a soil temp of 65°-80°F for best results.

Harden them off for a long time outside by slowing increasing the amount of sun they are exposed to over 7-10 days. Stake bell peppers as they grow. Their branches are brittle and don’t bend well in wind. Support will be appreciated.

HARVEST: Harvest Lilac Bell when purple for salads or veggie trays when you want the color. Otherwise, wait until they are mature and use as you would a red bell pepper. The texture is crisp. The flavor, so sweet.

Tips for Growing Peppers

• Peppers are not the easiest plants to grow from seed but can be the most rewarding. Once they start producing, smaller peppers just go bonkers with more harvests than you can keep up with. The larger the pepper, the longer the wait. Bell peppers require patience but it’s nice to suddenly have those harvests when everything else is slowing down.

• Peppers grow best in full sun but in Texas, afternoon shade will do just fine.

• Plant them closer together than other plants. You want their leaves to be touching. Bell peppers should be 18” apart, smaller peppers 12”. If you want to save seeds plant different varieties 150 feet apart to avoid cross-pollination.

• It is recommended that you do a soil test prior to any gardening, but peppers can be especially sensitive to deficiencies in the soil. My usual advice would be to prep soil prior to planting with lots of compost. They need good drainage. But there can be such a thing as too much organic material in the soil with peppers. It causes an overabundance of phosphorus which in turn, causes a deficiency in zinc uptake by the pepper. If you notice the pepper seems stunted and the leaves are curled, this could be the issue and compost will just make it worse.

• So just keep an eye on your peppers. Note the colors the leaves turn. Interveinal chlorosis is common with an iron deficiency. Spraying them with seaweed water alternating with fish fertilizer will let them get those vital nutrients directly through the leaves. They even make a seaweed product with iron that is especially good for pepper plants.

• Don’t add too much nitrogen to the soil in your fertilizer products as this will result in more leaves than peppers. Use a formula like 5-10-10 and some bonemeal for calcium when you transplant out and then again halfway through the season.

• Keep the soil evenly moist, not too wet, not too dry. A deep watering once a week will equal about 1 inch of rainfall. The critical time for watering is from flowering through harvest. Water stress can cause buds and blossoms to drop (so can cold temperatures).

• Temps over 90°F may make blossoms drop and slow fruit production. That’s normal. Peppers with afternoon shade will benefit and may not slow at all. You can always use shade cloth as well if you have no shade or plant on the east side of taller plants like okra.

• Peppers can be attacked by flea beetles, leaf miners, aphids, and tomato hornworms. Use applications of homemade soap spray or bt for hornworms.

Companion Planting

Peppers love interplanting with herbs like basil, dill, and chives. They also love other nightshades with similar water habits like eggplant. Beans, peas, corn, and okra can be planted on the west side of peppers to provide a natural screen from wind and the hottest summer sun. Naturtiums, marigolds, pansies, violas, and alyssum are all gorgeous with peppers and also deter pests. Avoid planting near fennel. Peppers will compete with brassicas for nutrients. They do well with tomatoes but you should really rotate them separately to avoid nematodes and other diseases.