Go pepper potty! They’re sweet, really good for you and right back in vogue, so get your seeds going now
FLICK through an old vegetable gardening book and the only peppers likely to be mentioned are sweet ones. That all changed in the Noughties when there was an explosion of interest in chilli peppers. As a result, large sections of growing guides and even entire books were dedicated to this cult vegetable.
For many years, sweet peppers have had to live in the shadow of their fiery relatives, but these days they are most definitely back on the menu. They tend to share equal billing with chilli peppers, while seed catalogues contain a massive range of varieties in many colours, shapes and sizes.
One reason for the sweet pepper’s upturn in fortunes is their nutritional value, which has seen them labelled as a superfood. They are low in calories and high in antioxidants, and are a good source of Vitamins A, B and K. Remarkably, peppers contain more Vitamin C than oranges.
Small potted plants, along with fully grown specimens laden with ripening fruit, are available from garden centres and DIY stores later in the season. However, your choice will be limited to a few popular lines. For a greater range, it’s best to grow your own from scratch by starting off from seeds in early spring.
Close to 100 varieties are available in Britain, with fruit that is long and tapering, spherical, conical, blocky or bell-shaped. Ranging in length from 1in to 10in, they usually start off green before ripening to shades of white, yellow, orange, red, brown or dark purple.
All originate from Capsicum annuum, a plant indigenous to Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Unlike chilli peppers, which derive from the same plant, sweet peppers have a recessive gene that means they don’t produce capsaicin, the compound that gives hot peppers their heat. Cultivated for thousands of years on their native continent, sweet peppers arrived in Europe courtesy of Christopher Columbus in 1493. Crops were first raised in Spain before seeds were transported to other parts of the world. Records indicate that t hey were grown in Britain by 1548. Raising plants from seeds is easy. Fill a 4in pot with seed compost, level and lightly firm with the bottom of another pot. Scatter a few seeds thinly on top – most will germinate, so sow only a few more than you need in case of losses. Cover with a fine layer of vermiculite, water and pop inside a heated propagator.
If you don’t have a propagator, cover the pot with a small, clear plastic bag ( freezer bags are ideal). Keep it firmly in place with an elastic band before setting down on a sunny windowsill. Remember to add a label to help with identification if you’re sowing more than one variety.
After germination, place the pot on a light windowsill or bench in a heated greenhouse.
When the seedlings are 1in tall, transplant each of them to a 3in pot filled with multi-purpose compost. Continue to move them into larger pots whenever roots start to poke through the drainage holes in the base.
Plants will be ready to go outside in early June. Either place individually into 9in pots or arrange three, side by side, in a growing bag.
Another option is to plant directly into the ground, spacing them 18in apart in a very sunny spot. Stake the stems of these top-heavy plants with stout garden canes.
Water peppers regularly, especially in hot weather, and feed every two weeks with a high-potash fertiliser, such as Chempak No 4 or liquid tomato feed. It’s best to start feeding when the first flowers appear on young plants in spring and continue until the last pepper has been picked.
The first fruits will usually be ready for harvesting from July and can be removed from plants with a sharp knife or secateurs.
Picking t hem regularly will encourage plants t o put t heir energy into producing more fruit – expect large fruited varieties to provide anywhere from two to eight peppers per plant.