I tried some new varieties this year of peppers. I do not like really hot peppers, so up until now, I have only planted sweet peppers. This year, however, I discovered “Fooled You” jalapeno peppers and, of course, I love banana peppers so I decided to give them a try. What a success.

I am having a great harvest and we are going to use some for salads and salsas, but mostly we will store them by pickling them together and using for nachos or other dishes.

Here are a few keys to success with peppers that you might consider for next year if you struggled this year:

• Good complete fertilizer before you plant (16-16-8 with ironite) is what I used. You should check your soil and figure out what is best for you.
• Additional feedings 4 and 8 weeks after transplanting with, at least, ammonium sulfate (Nitrogen 20-0-0).
• Black plastic mulch to retain moisture and prevent weeds
• Water once a week deeply, but infrequently.

We started ours from seed indoors before transplanting them out into the garden allowing us to get the varieties we wanted and saved a bunch of money by not having to buy starts.

For the proper dates on when to plant peppers or for a customized planting guide for your area go to VegeNag.com and sign up for a free account.

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