Green Pepper

Green Pepper is the familiar blocky, thick-walled sweet bell harvested while still green and firm, before it turns red, yellow or orange. Picked at this young stage it has a clean, crisp bite and a fresh, mildly grassy flavour that is less sweet and more savoury than fully ripe peppers — exactly what gives Egyptian mahshi, salads, fried dishes and stir-fries their backbone. Its glossy skin, hollow shape and sturdy walls make it ideal for stuffing and slicing, and it holds its shape beautifully when cooked. Left longer on the plant the same fruit would ripen and sweeten, but as a green pepper it is prized for that bright, savoury freshness.

Planting

This is a warm-season, frost-sensitive crop. Start it indoors from seed about 8 weeks before you plan to transplant outdoors, sowing the seeds roughly 0.6 cm deep in a sterile seed-starting mix. Warmth is everything for germination: aim for a soil temperature of 27-32°C, where seeds sprout in about 7-10 days; in cooler soil they come up very slowly, and around 18-21°C is the minimum needed to germinate at all. Once true leaves appear, thin or prick out the seedlings to about 5-7.5 cm apart. Move plants outdoors only after all frost has passed, once nighttime lows stay above 10°C and the soil has warmed to about 18°C. Give them a spot in full sun and space the plants about 30-46 cm apart in rows 61-91 cm apart; compact types can go closer, around 30 cm. In Egypt, raise seedlings in a nursery or greenhouse in January-February and transplant the 45-60 day-old plants in March-April once frost risk is gone — this gives a main spring crop that finishes before peak heat. For a fall ("Nili") crop, sow in July-August and transplant in late August-September for harvest in the cooler autumn. In the North Delta, simple low tunnels or greenhouses allow protected production right through the mild winter. In hotter Upper Egypt, shift spring planting earlier (transplant February-March) and favour the autumn and winter slots, since mid-summer temperatures often exceed 35-40°C and cause flowers to drop.

Fertilizing

Go easy on nitrogen — too much produces bushy, leafy plants that set little fruit. At transplanting, water the plants in with a high-phosphorus starter solution to help them establish. Once the first flush of peppers has set, side-dress with supplemental fertilizer, applying phosphorus and potassium according to a soil test. If you are growing in containers, switch to feeding weekly with a high-potassium liquid fertiliser as soon as flowering begins.

Care

Peppers thrive in full sun and grow best above 15°C; temperatures above 30°C reduce fruit set, while night temperatures below 10-13°C slow them down. Keep the soil evenly moist, supplying about 2.5 cm of water per week when rain is lacking. Drip irrigation is best — avoid overhead watering — and steady, consistent moisture is key, since uneven watering causes flower and bud drop and blossom-end rot. Watch for common pests such as aphids, cutworms, tomato hornworms, tarnished plant bugs and flea beetles, along with diseases like bacterial spot, Phytophthora and mosaic viruses; blossom-end rot (a calcium issue) and sunscald are physiological disorders to guard against. Harvest your green bell peppers when they are about 8-10 cm long, firm, glossy and full-sized; pick the first fruits promptly with shears to encourage more to set. Leaving fruit on the plant longer lets it ripen to red, yellow or orange and turn sweeter. Maturity runs roughly 60-90 days from transplant, depending on the season.