This is my first attempt germinating and growing red bell peppers, and jalepinos. Some are in pots, some in the ground. They have been going for 80 days now, and no fruit yet. Some have flowered, but they have been dropping those.
Do I keep waiting? Am I just wasting time and water here?
I've grown green bells in the past, but this is my first year trying red and yellow bells. I have lots of peppers, but they're all green - so far. My problem is that I didn't label them and don't remember which are which. So, I don't know which I can pick now and which should sit on the plant waiting to turn color. There is *no* hint of color (other than green, of course) on any of them.
I'm so ignorant (obviously) of gardening that I can't help you, but I'm sure someone here can. Sue
I think you're fighting a number of different issues. First, you're new at this (we all were, once--don't despair), so it seems doubly confusing. At its simplest, "Bells" and "Jalapenos", if possibly alike in color, are different in shape. So you should be able to distinguish them on that alone. The 'jalapenos' are usually sort of banana shaped; and tend to be narrow and around 2-inches long.
As for the difference between red & yellow bells, while they begin life green, they should begin to 'color up' as they reach maturity. Remember, it's always possible that you got a miss-marked set of seeds or seedlings. In any event, both are good eating, so just enjoy what you get...(:-o)!
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No, you're not ignorant at all! It just takes some time to learn all of the minutia. Persevere and I'm certain that you'll get to your goals. In any event, as I'd mentioned previously, both taste great...so enjoy whatcha get...besides, a pepper doesn't have to be mature to be eaten...
Oh yeah, one other point, for "johnoceanusacr": Beware when picking and eating Jalapenos from plants that are side-by-side. I've seen the "flavor" vary from 'bell-pepper like' to 4-alarm! So pay attention!
Dusty
According to one of the books I have the best air temperature for growing are Day, 65°F to 85°F; night, 60°F to 75°F. If your temperatures are substantially above or below those temperatures they probably will not set well.
Green bell peppers are just unripe red, yellow, orange, etc peppers. If you had left the peppers you grew in the past on the plant, they would have ripened up just like the ones you're growing right now.
Ripe (red, yellow, etc.) bell peppers in grocery stores are more expensive than the greens because it takes longer to grown them, more things can go wrong during the ripening process, and their shelf life is shorter than unripe bell peppers.
The uncivilized nature of eating unripe peppers when one has a choice of letting them ripen is a rant...er discussion for another time.
Penelope
Most of my peppers are doing well despite temps higher than 85. However, two of them (no idea which colors those might be, but they're the same) are having the same trouble as John's. Thanks for giving me a possibility as to why.
and 50 percent envy."
Similar to H. G. Wells - "Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo." Sue
Two things can affect the heat of a chili pepper. One is variety, there are numerous varieties of jalapenos. There is one, False Alarm Hybrid, I think, that has no heat. They can vary from mild all the way up to Craig's Triple Hot, which is supposed to be the hottest jalapeno. ( I haven't grown it, so I really don't know)
If all the jalapeno plants are of one variety, temperature or water fluctuations can affect the heat of the fruit. Generally speaking, if you stress a chili, it will produce hotter fruit. Hotter temperatures or letting the plant almost wilt before watering will heat the fruit right up.
Penelope
Are you saying that they are the same plant? Why do they sell them as separate plants?
I've never had this happen with the greens I've grown in the past. If I didn't pick them, they didn't change color, they just went bad.
That makes sense.
Sue
What do you mean by "going"? Were they seeded 80 days ago, or transplanted? The number of days given on a seed package is usually an ripe fruit can be expected under optimal growing conditions.
What is your zone, and what have the temperatures been like there? Are you fertilizing, how much and how often? How often are you watering? All these things can have an impact on how soon your plants will fruit.
My garden is running about a month behind what it was this time last year, and when I was chatting with the folks at my favorite organic gardening store, they said their's were about a month behind, too. Spring was just too cool around here. The ag extension agent said he was getting a lot of reports of early blight, too. It's not shaping up to be a very good gardening year.
Patience is a virtue. Peppers can keep producing right up to the first hard frost; unless you're in an area with a very short season, there's still time.
Penelope
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Now *that* I didn't know. Thanks for the tip, Penelope!
Dusty ...
By "going" I meant they sprouted 80 days ago (actually 85 days now).
I'm in zone 7b, and yes it was a cold spring here. I think I'm watering enough. I have fertilized once with some stuff I had left over from tomatoes.
All the seeds are from last year store-bought produce.
I have read this is a common problem with peppers (the fruit not setting because of weather conditions). My question is whether the plants will ever recover and eventually start producing. Besides the fruit problem, the plants are robust.
Thanks John
The Ferry Morse pepper package says 75 to 80 days to harvest. That is from the plant out date. So you set out the plants about 60 days ago? Just be patient. That is the hardest part of gardening.
I think I'd fertilize with a tomato or pepper fertilizer again. As a matter of fact, I just put out Tomato Tone on all my peppers and tomatoes this week. I do it about every two weeks during the growing season. They'd produce without it, but the production is heavier with a little help.
You know about seeds from hybrids, right?
Sure. Your first frost isn't until, what? November? That's plenty of time, and most peppers go crazy putting out peppers in late summer/early fall.
Penelope
Where do they sell them as separate plants? I rarely buy pepper plants locally, I like more exotic varieties, so I don't know how they're pitching peppers now.
They were bell peppers, correct? Unless there is a variety that I am unaware of, and with the vast number of varieties available these days that's entirely possible, all green bell peppers are unripe colored bells. How did yours go bad?
Penelope
Wal*Mart. In the little individual plastic containers. Some are labeled green, some red, some yellow with pictures on the plastic info thingy. I found one thingy that didn't make it into the trash. It says, 'Yellow Bell' Pepper. The maturity is 60-70 days, but I don't remember when I planted them and have no idea which ones of the plants are this kind. (Live and learn.)
Yep.
Possibly from sunburn. IIRC (but I'm old and memory impaired) sections turned whitish and then soft and brown. I have a total of 6 plants - 2 red, 2 yellow and 2 green. Four are producing quite well, but the other two aren't. They are both much taller than the other four. Rangy rather than bushy. Sue
No, I don't know about seeds from hybrids.
My apologies if I'm telling you something you already know, but I thought it would be easier to try and explain all at once.
Most commonly, hybrid plants are crosses from two or more parent plants of different varieties. Seeds from hybrids can be like either of the parent plants, or they can be like the hybrid. Remember in biology class when you did the Punnett square?
If one jalapeno had genes for heat HH, and the one they crossed it with had genes for mild hh, the hybrid would have Hh. If you crossed the Hh plants with another Hh plant, the seeds would be
25% HH, 25% hh, and 50% HH. *If*, and please note that's an if, not a "fer sure", the peppers you saved seeds from were hybrids, the seeds you planted may not produce peppers just like the ones in the store., they may produce plants like a parent. That's not necessarily bad, you'll still have jalapenos, they might be hotter or milder, or have larger or smaller pods than what you remember the ones from the grocery store being.Good luck,
Penelope
Thank you for taking the time to type all that. I do remember the Punnett square (thanks to your link).
I'll just ride this great adventure to it's conclusion and see what happens. (I am dying for some good peppers!) d:^)
John
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