The Tribune

By GARDENER JACK

Sweet peppers are quite expensive, especially the red, yellow and orange varieties. It behooves us to dedicate a patch of land to their production so we never run short during the growing year.

Strange to relate, sweet peppers are called Capsicum anuum, the Capsicum part meaning that they contain capsaicin. But they do not. Hot peppers contain capsaicin and that makes them hot. Despite the name, sweet peppers are capsaicin free.

Ideally, we should have sweet peppers under way already. They are warm weather lovers and, with a little care, will survive the brutal sun of September and early October and become productive.

Sweet peppers have their preferences. Daytime temperatures between 75 and 85 degrees F and nighttime temperatures between 60 and 70 allow sweet peppers to be at their prime. This temperature range describes locations on the Caribbean and North Atlantic coast of South America.

Sweet peppers do not need particularly rich soil to grow well. In fact, too rich a soil will promote leaf growth rather than fruits. Peppers do, however, like phosphorus and once a plant is established it will benefit from small side-dressings of superphosphate (0-50-0) every month. If you use a balanced fertilizer such as 6-6-6 then you can add superphosphate to the mix before applying it to the soil, making it 6-8-6 or thereabouts.

Many vegetables have to be replaced during the year but peppers sown in September can survive through and into the summer months. Summer heat tends to disfigure and reduce the size of peppers. I like to grow regular bell peppers through to the close of Easter and then sow Cubanelle or a similar variety. These elongated peppers tend to take summer heat better.

Watering is of critical importance to sweet peppers. Although related to tomatoes, peppers do not have the vigorous root system of tomatoes. For the size of the plants peppers have small root systems, yet they like to have fairly dry soil. The best approach is to water the pepper patch well and then calculate the next watering session before the leaves start to wilt. Twice a week soakings would be an average.

A little compost or peat moss is desirable in sandy soils but regular soil is normally just fine for sweet peppers. Too much compost or water-retaining peat moss will tend to waterlog the soil and cause diminished returns or even root rot.

A healthy pepper plant will have enough leaves to shade the fruits from the sun. Although peppers demand full sun they can suffer from sun scald if the canopy is not large enough. This is more of a problem in spring and summer rather than autumn or winter and can be solved by covering individual plants with a plastic milk crate (on supports if the pepper plant is big.)

If you grow both sweet and hot peppers (and why not?) you must take care to have the plants well away from each other. Cross-pollination may turn your sweet peppers wild and your hot peppers insipid. Keep hot and sweet peppers as far away form each other as possible, at least 60 feet.

If your main use for sweet peppers is potato salad and conch salad, try slicing your peppers into fingers and gently sautéing them in a little half butter, half olive oil. Coloured peppers are sweeter than green and turn even sweeter when cooked gently. You can also roast the peppers over an open flame (barbecue time) on the end of a long fork until the skin is black. Pop the peppers into a brown paper bag and in ten minutes you can easily peel off the burnt skin and have deliciously roasted sweet pepper.

• j.hardy@coralwave.com