Orange Pepper Seeds 5 Seeds

This orange sweet pepper is a colour selection of the classic bell pepper, prized for fruit that ripens from green to a bright, glossy orange. Left on the plant to colour up fully, the thick-walled, blocky fruits turn notably sweeter and more fruity than peppers picked green, with a crisp, juicy crunch. Their warm orange tone makes them a standout in fresh salads, on a crudite platter, in colourful stir-fries, or roasted and stuffed where the vivid colour holds up well on the plate.

Planting

Sweet peppers are a warm-season crop, so start the seeds indoors about 8 weeks before you plan to move plants outside. Sow about 0.6 cm deep in a sterile, soilless seed-starting mix. Warmth is the key to good germination: keep the mix at roughly 27-32 C and seedlings should emerge in about 7-10 days, since seeds germinate very slowly in cooler soil. Once true leaves form, thin or prick out the seedlings to about 5-7.5 cm apart. Only transplant outdoors after all frost has passed, when nighttime lows stay above 10 C and the soil has warmed to around 18 C. Choose a full-sun spot and space plants about 30-46 cm apart in rows roughly 61-91 cm apart.

Fertilizing

Go easy on nitrogen, since too much produces bushy, leafy plants that set little fruit. At transplanting, water the plants in with a high-phosphorus starter solution to get roots established. After the first flush of peppers has set, give a supplemental side-dressing, applying phosphorus and potassium according to a soil test. If you are growing in containers, feed weekly with a high-potassium liquid fertiliser once flowering begins.

Care

Peppers grow best in full sun and above 15 C; temperatures over 30 C reduce fruit set, and nights below 10-13 C slow the plants down. Aim for steady, even moisture, about 2.5 cm of water or rain per week when natural rainfall is short. Drip irrigation is ideal and overhead watering is best avoided, because inconsistent moisture leads to flower and bud drop and to blossom-end rot. Watch for pests such as aphids, cutworms, hornworms, tarnished plant bugs and flea beetles, along with diseases like bacterial spot and mosaic viruses; sunscald and blossom-end rot are physiological problems linked to exposure and calcium. For orange fruit, leave the peppers on the plant past the firm, glossy green stage and let them ripen to full orange colour, which gives the sweetest flavour; picking the first fruits promptly with shears encourages more to set. Plants are usually ready roughly 60-90 days after transplanting depending on the season.