Sweet Red Pepper Seeds 5 Seeds

This sweet red bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) is prized for the moment it turns. Picked early it is firm, glossy and green; left on the plant it colours up to a deep, glowing red and grows distinctly sweeter and milder, losing the grassy edge of green fruit. The walls are thick, crisp and juicy, which makes it equally at home eaten raw in salads, roasted until soft, stuffed, or tossed into a quick stir-fry. Its bold colour also makes it an attractive plant on a sunny balcony or in the garden.

Planting

Peppers are a warm-season crop, so start them indoors from seed about eight weeks before you plan to transplant outdoors. Sow about 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 usually sprout in about 7-10 days; in cooler soil they germinate very slowly, and roughly 18-21°C is the minimum needed to germinate at all. Once true leaves appear, thin or transplant 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 around 18°C. Set plants about 30-46 cm apart in rows 61-91 cm apart (compact types can go closer, near 30 cm). Give them full sun; peppers perform best above 15°C, while temperatures above 30°C reduce fruit set and night temperatures below 10-13°C slow growth.

In Egypt this maps onto the mild shoulder seasons. For the main spring/summer crop in the Nile Delta and Lower Egypt, start seed in a nursery or greenhouse in January-February and transplant 45-60 day-old seedlings in March-April once frost risk is gone and the soil has warmed, for harvest from late spring into early summer before peak heat. For a fall ("Nili") crop, sow in July-August and transplant in late August-September to harvest in the cooler autumn months. In the North Delta, simple low tunnels or greenhouses allow winter protected production, transplanting in autumn and cropping through the mild winter. In warmer Upper Egypt (Assiut, Sohag, Aswan), shift spring planting slightly earlier (transplant February-March) so flowering finishes before the very hot months, and favour the autumn and winter slots, since mid-summer temperatures routinely exceed 35-40°C and will abort blossoms.

Fertilizing

Go easy on nitrogen: too much produces bushy, leafy plants with poor fruit set. At transplant, water the young plants in with a high-phosphorus starter solution to settle the roots. After the first flush of peppers has set, apply a supplemental side-dress feed, adding phosphorus and potassium according to a soil test. For peppers grown in containers, feed weekly with a high-potassium liquid fertiliser once flowering begins.

Care

Keep the soil evenly moist. Provide about 2.5 cm of water per week when rain is lacking, ideally through drip irrigation rather than overhead watering. Inconsistent moisture is the main cause of flower and bud drop and of blossom-end rot, so steady watering pays off. Watch for common pests such as aphids, cutworms, tomato hornworms, tarnished plant bugs and flea beetles, and for diseases including bacterial spot, Phytophthora and tobacco or cucumber mosaic virus; blossom-end rot (calcium-related) and sunscald are physiological disorders to guard against. Harvest green bell peppers when they are about 8-10 cm long, firm, glossy and full-sized, or leave them on the plant longer to ripen to red for a sweeter flavour. Pick the first fruits promptly with shears to encourage further fruit set. Maturity is roughly 60-90 days from transplant, depending on conditions.