What you need to know to help improve your chili pepper harvest. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Chilis bring the heat to your culinary dishes, and they’re a fantastic option for new gardeners. These plants tend to produce well even if you don’t pay much attention to them.
Here’s what you can do for them to give you the best harvest, ever:
- Start seeds indoor and keep them warm, about 80-85 degrees, while keeping soil moist but not soggy.
- Don’t plant seeds outdoors too early. Frost or cold temperatures could be a killer. When you do get them outdoors, make sure they see as much sun and heat as possible.
- Load them up with compost and keep soil slightly acidic. Give them plenty of space between other plants to prevent overcrowding and diseases.
- Only plant them next to favorable companions, such as lettuce, beets, carrots, or radishes.
- Fertilize regularly.
- Watch for problems. Pepper plants are prone to different pests and diseases, so if you want a decent chili pepper harvest, make sure you keep an eye out for powdery mildew, aphids, or spiders.
Listen to Cathy Isom’s This Land of Ours program here.