This is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.
🐝🦋 Popular pollinator attractor
▷ IDENTIFICATION🔍
Common Name: Bell Pepper
Botanical Name: Nightshade family (Capsicum annum)
Family: Solanaceae
Tropical herbaceous annual for Zones 9 to 10
PRECAUTION: May interact with blood clotting, asthma, and diabetes medications. Not appropriate for all, consider consulting a doctor first. See section “ADDITIONAL INFORMATION > Animal Toxicity and Medicine Interactions”.
❗People having allergies is uncommon.
▷ OTHER NAMES & LOOKALIKES 🏷️
Other Names 🏷️
◦ Sweet Pepper
Lookalikes 🔎
◦ Pimiento Pepper (Capsicum annuum ‘Pimiento’): Also known as “Cherry Pepper”, this plant produces a similar pepper available in several colors. Usually sweet, some varieties are hot.
◦ Poblano Pepper (Capsicum annuum ‘Poblano’): Also known as “Ancho” (the Spanish word for “wide”), this pepper has a mild flavor and may sometimes be hot. Red, ripe poblano is much hotter than the mild and green, unripe green poblano.
▷ APPEARANCE 🪞
Plant Description🌿🗒️
Branching shrub with many branching green stems. Leaves are oval in shape, dark green, alternately arranged, and pointed at the tip. Flowers are shaped like stars, white or light yellow, occurring singly on in clusters. The ripe fruits have a tender and mildly sweet exterior with a hollow interior, 1½” to 4″ diameter, filled with 100 to 300 seeds inside each fruit.
Dimensions, Root Depth, and Spacing 📏↔️
Height: 1′ to 4′
Width: 1′ to 2′
Root Depth: 12″ to 18″ deep; Ideal minimum container size 7 gallon or 8 gallons. Larger containers allow plants to grow taller and wider!
Spacing: 18″ to 24″ apart for each plant in rows 3′ to 4′ apart
Flower Season and Fruit or Seed 🌻🍎🫘
Flower: White to light yellow in the Summer
Seed: Round, flat, light yellow, 1 mm to 2 mm diameter
Fruit: Red, orange, yellow, green, or purple, 1½” to 4″ diameter. Once harvested, they are good for 1 to 2 weeks in the fridge or for 5 days at room temperature.
▷ REPRODUCTION🌱
Sexuality: Hermaphroditic
Pollination: Bees, butterflies, other beneficial insects, wind dispersal, and water droplets.
Growth Rate: Moderate
Propagation:
◦ Roots: Not applicable
◦ Cuttings: Plant cuttings, ⅜” to ½” diameter (the wider the stem, the higher percentage of success) and 4″ to 6″ tall. Propagate by planting in the Spring. Keep in a part sun location, avoiding direct sunlight, and constantly water every day to stimulate root growth. Protect the new plant by placing it in partial sun or under a grow light until it has matured, avoiding direct sun.
Seed Germination: Soil pH 6.0 to 6.8 at preferably 75°F to 85°F, kept moist, however not wet or dry. Plant ¼” deep, emerges 7 to 14 days after being sown. Federally required minimum germination rate of 55% for purchased seeds, germination rate depends on the producer.
Indoor Planting: Seedlings should be planted in seed starter trays 6 weeks after to the last frost date, planting the grown seedlings outdoors 12 to 14 weeks after the last frost date. Bell pepper plants grown indoors in pots at least 7 gallons or more require a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight or with a grow light.
Outdoor Planting: Plant seed 12 to 14 weeks after to last frost date.
▷ REQUIREMENTS❤️
Sunlight, Water, Fertilizer, and Pruning ☀️💧✂️
Sunlight: Prefers 6 to 8 hours full sun
Note: Avoid aerial watering, which encourages fungal growth and disease.
Outdoor Watering: Water regularly during Summer (every 1 to 3 days) and less frequently in the Winter (once a week). Tiny pots and K-cup seed starters need water every day during Summer and every 2 days during Winter. Small pots require watering more often, especially if exposed to full sun, while large pots and shaded pots need less water.
Indoor Watering: Deep and infrequent, allowing for soil to dry on the top layer prior to more water.
Drought Resistance: Drought intolerant
Fertilizer: At the start of the growing season, apply fertilizer every 4 weeks to 6 weeks. Scatter evenly at the base of plants, avoiding clumps of fertilizer and preventing contact with main stalk and leaves. Large clumps of fertilizer won’t evenly supplement nutrients into the entire soil surface after it mixes with water from rain or irrigation. Fertilizer clumps around the base of plants may cause the main stalk to rot or have contact burns, which could damage or kill the plant. Do not throw fertilizer over plant tops, as the clumps of fertilizer caught in between leaf nodes and on foliage may either burn or rot the foliage.
Pruning: Avoid pruning during Winter as it may kill the plant. This same rule applies for the Fall in northern climates. Remove withered flowers, dead leaves, and leggy stems to enhance plant’s appearance. This also promotes new stems to appear with more leaves and flowers.
Mulching: Adding organic mulch, such as bark mulch, pine straw, hay, or wood chips helps to retain water and reduce evaporation.
Soil, Planting, and Environment 🌄🏞️🏜️
Soil: Well drained, rich loam; Tolerates sandy soils, supplement with fertilizer
pH: 6.0 to 7.5
Planting: When planting a potted plant, dig a hole that’s as deep as the pot and have each side of the plant at least as wide as the root base, providing enough space on the soil’s surface for the plant that’s at least as wide as the pot. For plants with wide roots, dig a hole that is twice the width of the pot and gently space out the root system and then cover with soil to promote healthy growth. Burying tangled roots could cause health issues or stunted growth.
Habitat: Originates from Central and South America
Temperature Preference and Temperature Tolerance🌡️
Temperature: Prefers 70° F to 80° F; Mulch roots to retain water and prevent evaporation.
Heat Tolerance: 90° F and higher may cause flowers to drop and deformed fruits to develop; Drought tolerance
Cold Tolerance: 65°F and below may cause fruit set failure; 50°F to 55°F may cause flowers to drop and deformed fruits to develop.
Salt, Wind, and Pollution Tolerance 🧂💨 ☣️
Salt Tolerance: Low tolerance; Some varieties tolerate
Wind Tolerance: Low tolerance; Tie stems to a standing branch to strengthen
Pollution Tolerance: Low tolerance
▷ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION📚
Description 📝
Bell pepper plants are a tropical, branching shrub with lush, green foliage, delicate white blossoms, and vibrant, juicy, mild fruits full of a high amount of vitamin C with other micronutrients. One full sized bell pepper contains 133% suggested day’s value of vitamin C, while the common misconception “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” has one full sized apple at only 4% suggested day’s value of vitamin C. I eat half a bell pepper for breakfast and lunch, the red ones are the sweetest.
Attract and Repel Wildlife🐝🦋🐦🐌🪰🐇🦌
Moderately Deer and Rodent Resistant, they might eat young plants🦌🐇🐁
Attracts: Bees, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators
Repels: Not applicable
Diseases and Pests🐜🦠
Note: Proper care keeps plants resilient and healthy, preventing diseases and pests. This list details the potential threats, specific diseases and pests vary depending on environmental climate.
Diseases:
◦ Anthracnose
◦ Bacterial Spot: Small, dark colored spots on leaves that could develop on the stems and fruits.
◦ Blossom End Rot: Spots, brown or black, form on the ends of flowers, usually caused by calcium deficiency.
◦ Powdery Mildew: Disease caused by a fungus due to overwatering or overcrowding, making the plant vulnerable to other pests.
◦ Verticillium Wilt: A disease that clogs a plant’s vascular system with fungal cells, which then spread and cause the plant to die slowly. An early symptom is sudden wilting on one side of the plant, followed by leaves turning brown.
Pests:
◦ Aphids: Small, soft-bodied sucking insects which pierce plant tissues and draw out the juices.
◦ Flea Beetles: Flea beetles may overwinter in the soil, plant debris, or nearby weeds, and may go through multiple generations in a year.
◦ Pepper Maggot: Small, soft-bodies insect larvae that feed on developing bell pepper fruits.
◦ Spider mites: hey feed by bruising plant cells with their small, whiplike mouthparts and ingesting the sap. Spider mites produce a fine silk webbing, often found at leaf nodes or the undersides of leaves, which may kill plants or cause serious stress to them.
◦ Thrips: May spread plant viruses called tospoviruses, which cause diseases such as tomato spotted wilt, impatiens necrotic spot, and iris yellow spot virus. Thrips feed on plants by puncturing the plant’s surface with their mouthparts and sucking the juices.
◦ Whiteflies: Flying insects that suck the sap from plants.
Animal Toxicity and Medicine Interactions ☠️❤️🩹
Animal Toxicity: Safe for dogs, cats, and horses.
Medicine Interactions:
Individuals may have a sensitivity or allergies to bell pepper, consult a healthcare professional first and proceed at own risk.
Use and Harvest⚕️🌾
❗Never ingest essential oils, instead use organic fresh or dried herbs.
Use:
◦ Fruit: Excellent source of vitamin C, copper, manganese, potassium, vitamin B1(Thiamin), vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine), and vitamin K. Excellent in sauces, marinades, stir-fry, soups, salads, dressings, wraps, garnishes, desserts, and beverages.
◦ Seeds: Edible, contains micronutrients.
Essential Oil: Click Here for Precautions, Instructions, and Dilution Ratios
Benefits: Antioxidant (protects cells), strengthens immunity, improves eyes, skin, and hair, and regulates blood pressure and weight loss.
Dosing: 1 whole bell pepper each day for adults provides the suggested day value for vitamin C
Click Here for How To Harvest, Dry, and Properly Store Herbs and Seeds
Harvest: Never harvest more than 20% of a plant’s leaves or roots!
◦ Fruits: Harvest at any time, either while small and green or when fully sized with developed color. Keeps fresh for 1 week to 2 weeks at room temperature, 3 weeks if refrigerated. From Summer to Fall. Extract, dry, and properly store the seeds. Bell peppers are ready for harvest 60 to 90 days after planting seed.
Personal Experience: If any.
Aroma, Flavor, and Culinary Combinations🧼🍴
Aroma: Flowers and plant have no aroma; Cooked bell peppers smell sweetly savory
Flavor: Raw bell peppers are crisp, juicy, and mildly sweet; Cooked bell peppers are soft and mildly sweet, excellent source of vitamin C
Culinary Combinations: Bell pepper compliments herbs and spices (thyme, rosemary, oregano, cilantro, parsley, sage, cardamom, coriander, chives, ginger), quinoa, whole wheat enriched pasta, wild rice, beans (sugar snap peas, green beans, chickpeas [garbanzos], black, pinto), legumes (lentils, mung beans), tofu, tempeh, mushrooms, nuts (roasted cashews, almonds, walnuts, pecans, and pine nuts), vegetables (arugula, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, Winter squash [pumpkin, butternut squash, acorn squash], Summer squash [zucchini, straightneck, and crookneck], sweet potato, red potato, white potato, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, lemongrass, carrot, beet, asparagus, brussels sprouts, radish, tomato, and cucumber), and fruits (avocado, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, cranberries, apricot, mango, citrus [lemon and lime], and figs)
Click Here to explore a comprehensive list of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients with function explanations, deficiency or excess symptoms, and vegan food source rankings (high, medium, low)
History 📜
Bell peppers have been cultivated in Central and South for 9,000 years for their mild and sweet juicy flavor, beautiful colors, and nutritional content.
Lifespan⏳
4 to 6 years longevity for life expectancy in warm weather, tropical climates.
Vegan Botany 