Fed up with thin walled, small bell peppers that never get to grocery store sizes? In this article we will share all of our secret bell pepper growing tips and the organic natural inputs that will make your bell pepper plants EXPLODE with production! The best part is these are all very easy, even for the beginner gardener! Here is how to grow big, beautiful bell peppers:
How to Grow Big Bell Peppers
Bell Peppers are members of the nightshade family, the same as tomatoes. While common garden fertilizers will work just fine for your bell peppers, you can maximize growth using some organic gardening inputs. These include some surprising nutrients that cause pepper plants to absolutely flourish and produce big, blocky fruits.
The Pepper Plant Variety Does Matter
The tips below will work for any bell or sweet pepper plant but if you are growing minis or snack size peppers, you aren’t magically going to get full size peppers from a dwarf variety plant. I have found that hybrid bell peppers tend to produce just a little bit better than some heirlooms but I grow an assortment of hybrids and heirlooms in my garden every year and enjoy good output from both.
Full Sun Required to Grow Big Bell Peppers
Bell Peppers need 6-8 hours of sun and are fine with 10-12 hours. Plant them in a large pot that you can move if you cannot give them full sun garden space. Planting in a spot that gets 8 hours of good sun is step number one to getting big bell peppers! They can handle a little dappled afternoon shade. Bell Peppers in USDA grow zone 9 and higher can be at risk of sun scald but this is remedied by using shade cloth. For the rest of the U.S. in zones 4-8, our peppers need lots of sunshine!
Bell Pepper Plants Are Hungry
Hungry peppers need nutrients from above and below. It is my experience that providing soil amendments and a nutrient rich foliar feed is the trick to wildly productive bell peppers.
While there are a number of synthetic fertilizers you can purchase to grow bell peppers, I prefer to use organic sources with naturally occurring, bio-available minerals. Small amounts of organic inputs do not harm organisms living in the soil that come into contact with the additives I am using. Since my garden is No Dig, I opt for organic and natural as much as possible!
Easy Soil Amendments: Feeding Phosphorus (P) From Below
Bell Peppers need phosphorus (P – the second number in NPK ratios). Adding 1/4 cup of rock phosphate and 1 Tablespoon bone meal into the pepper’s planting hole is one of the best kept secrets to boosting bell pepper growth. Both of these add phosphorus and you could use one or the other but the mix of both is the “secret trick” professional growers use. You should also top dress the raised bed or pot all around your peppers with organic compost. (Affiliate links)
Optional Boost: Add Organic Fertilizer to the Soil
It is not required that you add an organic fertilizer to the soil but it is yet another way to guarantee your peppers have everything they need for strong growth. Big Ass Peppers is a dry powder you add into the pepper planting hole and/or mix into the top 2-3 inches of soil around your bell peppers. It works incredibly well and is often sold out on Amazon so you may need to order it directly from the supplier. This fertilizer can also have a 1 Tablespoon scoop dissolved into a watering can of water and be used as a foliar feed. (Affiliate link.)
Foliar Feeding: The Secret to Monster Size Peppers
Bell Pepper growers are keeping a secret. They are using TWO DIFFERENT feeding formulas for their bell peppers. One, with higher nitrogen, is used to get pepper plants off to a strong start. (This is also how I get peppers a month sooner than other backyard gardeners.)
Once the plant is producing multiple flowers, a foliar feed low in nitrogen (N) but much higher in phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) is used to encourage blooming, fruit set and larger fruit size. You should continue using this one throughout the growing season.
The Nitrogen Rich Foliar Feed Recipe I use for *Young* Bell Pepper Plants:
In a 2 to 2.5 gallon watering can (I use Behrens) combine 1 Tablespoon Trident’s Pride Fish Foliar Feed, 1 Tablespoon Organic Liquid Kelp and 1 teaspoon Cal-Mag. Exact measurements are not needed – just eyeball it as your pour it into the bottom of an empty watering can and then fill with water to mix the solutions. Use this as a foliar feed by deliberately watering the leaves of your plants in the morning. Plants will absorb the nutrients within 15 minutes and an improvement in growth can be seen in 24-48 hours. It is truly an incredible combination! Works beautifully on all vegetable plants as well as onions, herbs, flowers, flowering shrubs and vines.
If you would like to qualify as 100% certified organic, opt for this organic Cal-Mag product. (Afflinks)
The Foliar Feed I Use for *Flowering* Bell Pepper Plants:
This foliar feed recipe requires making a “tea” from the Dr. Earth Bloom Booster. To do this, mix 4 Tablespoons Bloom Booster in 1 quart mason jar of water. The bag suggests letting the mix sit for 24 hours to make a “tea” but filling and shaking the jar for 60 seconds still produces a usable foliar feed liquid so the 24 hour wait is optional. (Afflinks)
Strain and use the liquid only in your watering can. The Bloom Booster fertilizer has too much organic matter to pass through the holes in your watering can nozzle so a tea must be made and strained. You only need the liquid, which will be about 3 cups.
The soggy leftover Bloom Booster fertilizer in the bottom of the mason jar can be used to make another batch of foliar feed tea or dumped around the base of your bell pepper plants and watered in. (If you don’t want to have to make a tea, you can buy the liquid concentrate version but it is not organic.)
To the Bloom Booster strained liquid in the watering can I add 3 more quarts of water to make almost a full gallon, plus 1/2 teaspoon of organic langbeinite and 1/2 teaspoon of Cal-Mag. This fills my Behrens watering can about halfway and will foliar feed 8-12 young bell pepper plants around two feet tall or 6-8 full size bell pepper plants three or more feet tall.
Surprise! This foliar feed recipe, rich in the phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) bell peppers are hungry for, can also be used on any flowering landscape plants and annuals. Now you know the secret to big, beautiful bells and how to have a stunning flower bed at the same time!
Calcium, Magnesium & Sulfur Supplementation = Best Growth
Bell Peppers can be prone to blossom end rot, which is a calcium uptake issue. It is caused by not enough calcium being taken up by the roots, usually because there has not been enough water in the root zone so the plant can take up the calcium which is already plentiful in the soil around it. This can very easily be remedied by regularly using a foliar feed containing calcium. Cal-Mag is the easiest way I have found to do this for my bell peppers and tomatoes.
Bell Pepper Growers Swear by Sulfur
Bell peppers also need magnesium and sulfur, which are part of the trace elements found in Cal-Mag solutions and present in the organic langbeinite used in the foliar feed recipe above. There is a very visible difference between short pepper plants who do not get a calcium + magnesium + sulfur supplement and the wide-leafed, vibrant, massive green plants with healthy fruit who do. Epsom salt, dissolved in the foliar feed water, will provide magnesium and trace sulfur but not calcium; the plants will still need a calcium boost. (Egg shells don’t work, they cannot be taken up by the plant roots.)
Troubleshooting Common Bell Pepper Issues in the Garden
Pepper plants that are suddenly setting small or funky-shaped fruit can have a couple things going wrong:
No Fruit:
Bell Peppers that look lush but are not producing hardly any flowers probably have been given too much nitrogen and not enough phosphorus (P- the second number in NPK ratios).
Droopy or Curled Leaves and Wilty Peppers:
Exceptionally high summer temperatures may be causing the plant some stress. Water and nutrients are not making it to the fruit as efficiently, even if you are watering every day or every other day. This is very common in southern US gardens around August. Regular watering, every day if you must, plus a fresh top dressing of 2-4 quarts of compost around the base of the pepper plant (which will also act like a mulch to retain water) can help the next round of flowers set better quality fruit.
Soft Spots on Fruit that are Brownish:
This is likely sun scald. If you are using a foliar feed, it is probably not blossom end rot. If it occurs on the top or center of the pepper where it was facing the sun or where the pepper flesh was touching a wire tomato cage that heated up in the sun, it is sun scald. Pluck the pepper, cut away the bad spot and use it. Your pepper plant may need shade cloth draped over it if the summer sun is particularly intense.
Peppers Suddenly Smaller:
Did you cut back on the flowering foliar feeding as the summer temperatures began to climb? The plants probably did okay for a month but now the peppers are disappointing little thin-walled things. Your pepper plant is just as hungry as before and needs at least once weekly foliar feeds to continue producing nice sized peppers. If it is hot and droughty, I strongly suggest foliar feeding in the evening where the plant has time to absorb the nutrients before the water evaporates. Also, peppers that grow on lateral branches, as opposed to the main branch, tend to be a bit smaller.
Squat & Funky Looking Bell Peppers:
Bell peppers are more sensitive to heat and humidity than their spicy pepper cousins. As summer blazes on, you may notice your plants setting and growing short, pumpkin-looking bells, especially on lateral branches. This can be caused by heat stress and not much can be done about it. Shade cloth may help. Luckily the ugly peppers are still edible and will ripen normally.
Flowers Falling Off:
If night time temperatures are dipping below 60°F, your bell pepper plants are going to drop their blooms. It is simply too cool for them. If it is early spring, waiting for temperatures to warm up will remedy this naturally. If it is fall, the growing season is winding down.
To get just a few more peppers, drape the plant in garden cover material or bags and place a strand of C9 incandescent Christmas string lights around the base of the plant, under the garden cover. The light bulbs will give off heat which the garden cover will trap, keeping the plant warmer so flowers will set fruit instead of falling off in the cooler night time temps. This works best if you are combating a cool front where night time temps are still near 60°F and daytime temps will still be warm enough for another month to ripen the fruit. You will have to remove the cover every morning and replace it every night for this technique to work.
Short Growing Season Tip:
If you live in a place with a short pepper growing season (USDA grow zone 4), you may have better luck planting multiple miniature varieties that are well fertilized and produce lots of little peppers instead of trying to get a few large bell peppers to ripen. Since they prefer warm temps, planting in pots that can be moved into a heated greenhouse or garage may be your best option.
My Bell Pepper Plant is NOT Growing Bell Peppers:
In late 2022/early 2023 a major seed supplier had a huge pepper seed mix-up. Gardeners who planted jalapeno or bell peppers found they were actually growing yellow wax, banana pepper or other hot varieties. (We ended up with spicy Cajun Belle and little Pimmento peppers on our homestead instead of bell peppers when we bought starts from a local nursery!) Seeds purchased from grocery & home improvement stores or online in bulk had the most issues. Growing from old seed packets with 2022 and early 2023 dates will continue to cause these issues for years to come. It is okay to toss old seeds and purchase fresh new bell pepper seeds from trusted suppliers.
Growing Giant Bell Peppers
I really want to grow these Yellow Monster bell peppers and have them turn out GIANT! Here is what I’m planning to do in my own garden:
1. Top dress my raised beds with compost in early spring.
2. Add 1/4 cup rock phosphate and 1 Tablespoon organic bone meal to the planting hole when I’m planting my young Yellow Monster start.
3. Use a higher Nitrogen Foliar feed with 1 Tablespoon Trident’s Pride Fish Foliar Feed, 1 Tablespoon Organic Liquid Kelp and 1 teaspoon Cal-Mag on the young start until it is producing multiple flowers.
4. Once flowering, use the Blooming Foliar Feed with 4 Tablespoons Bloom Booster in 1 quart of water to make a tea that I then strain, with 3 quarts of water plus 1/2 teaspoon of organic langbeinite and 1/2 teaspoon of Cal-Mag.
5. Keep the plant watered and remove fruit as it ripens to encourage more flowering and fruiting.
Hopefully I will have pictures to share this summer of my Yellow Monster bell peppers. I hope this article has given you some great ideas on how to grow big, beautiful bell peppers this season!
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