Pepper Donation Tracker

Quick Links: How & Where to Grow | Temperature | How to Care For | Harvest Signs | Harvesting | Pruning | Pests | Companions | Varieties | Preservation | Michigan Tips | Fun Facts

🌱 How & Where to Grow Peppers:

• Start 8-10 weeks before frost – peppers need the longest indoor start time!
• Transplant when soil reaches 65°F (early June in SE Michigan).
• Space plants 18-24 inches apart in rows 24-36 inches apart.
• Sunlight: Full sun (8+ hours) essential for fruit production.
• Soil Type: Well-drained, fertile soil with pH 6.0-6.8.
• Soil Amendment: Add compost and calcium to prevent blossom end rot

Pro tip: Peppers are even more cold-sensitive than tomatoes – patience with transplanting pays off!

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Minimum 65°F soil. Nights above 55°F. Very cold-sensitive.

• Transplanting: Wait for consistent 65°F soil and 60°F nights.
• Growing: Optimal growth at 70-80°F days.
• Growth stops below 55°F – stunting can be permanent.
• Flowers drop if nights are below 60°F or days above 90°F.

Michigan’s cool springs mean June transplanting is safer than rushing in May!

💧 How to Care for:

• Consistent Moisture: Critical during flowering and fruiting.
• Watering: 1-2 inches weekly – consistent moisture prevents blossom drop.
• Mulch: Black plastic mulch warms soil and conserves moisture.
• Fertilizer: Feed every 2 weeks once fruiting begins.
• Support: Stake or cage all plants – heavy fruit can break branches.

📏 Harvest Signs:

Full color development. Firm, glossy skin. 60-90 days from transplant.

• All peppers start green and develop their final color when ripe.
• Can harvest green or wait for full color (red, yellow, orange, etc.).
• Ripe peppers are sweeter and more nutritious than green.
• Slight give when gently squeezed indicates ripeness.

Frequent harvesting encourages more fruit production – pick often!

🧺 Harvesting:

Cut stem with knife. Harvest regularly for production.

• Always cut, don’t pull – pulling can damage the plant.
• Leave short stem attached to pepper for better storage.
• Harvest before frost – even mature green peppers are useful.
• Morning harvest when peppers are crisp and cool.
• Handle hot peppers with gloves to avoid burning skin.

✂️ Pruning:

Remove first flowers. Top late in season. Minimal pruning needed.

• Pinch first flowers until plants are 8-10 inches tall for stronger plants.
• Remove suckers below first fork for better airflow.
• Top plants 4-6 weeks before frost to ripen existing fruit.
• Remove damaged or diseased leaves promptly.
• Otherwise minimal – peppers don’t need heavy pruning like tomatoes.

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Bacterial spot, aphids, cutworms, blossom end rot.

• Bacterial spot – major issue in humid weather. Choose resistant varieties.
• Aphids – check undersides of leaves, blast off with water.
• Cutworms – use collar barriers around transplants.
• Blossom end rot – maintain consistent watering and add calcium.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Companions:

Tomatoes, basil, oregano, carrots. Marigolds beneficial.

• Tomatoes share similar growing needs and care.
• Basil and oregano may improve pepper flavor.
• Carrots grow well between pepper rows.
• Marigolds deter aphids and other pests.
• Avoid fennel and members of the brassica family.

🌶️ Varieties:

Sweet: ‘King Arthur’, ‘Carmen’. Hot: ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’, ‘Jalapeño’.

• Sweet bells: ‘King Arthur’, ‘Carmen’ – early and disease resistant.
• Small sweet: ‘Lunchbox’, ‘Jimmy Nardello’ – earlier maturing.
• Hot: ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’, ‘Early Jalapeño’ – reliable in short seasons.
• Very hot: ‘Cayenne’, ‘Thai Dragon’ – prolific producers.
• Michigan reliable: Choose early varieties (65-75 days).

🫙 Preservation:

Freeze without blanching. Dry whole or sliced. Pickle. Ferment.

• Freezing: Easiest method – wash, dry, freeze whole or chopped.
• Drying: String whole small peppers or use dehydrator for slices.
• Pickling: Hot or sweet peppers pickle beautifully.
• Fermenting: Make hot sauce or fermented pepper mash.
• Roasting and freezing: Char, peel, and freeze for amazing flavor.
• Pepper jelly: Sweet-hot condiment using any pepper type.

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Black plastic mulch is helpful.
• South-facing walls are best.
• Early varieties are essential.
• Start seeds by March 1 for strong transplants.
• Use Wall O’ Water or row covers for early transplanting.
• Sweet peppers are more reliable than hot in cool summers.
• Container growing allows moving to warmest spots.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• Capsaicin in seeds/membranes.
• Michigan’s perfect for sweet peppers.
• Bell peppers have the most vitamin C of all peppers when red.
• Hot pepper heat measured in Scoville units – bell peppers are 0!
• Birds can’t taste capsaicin – they spread wild pepper seeds.
• Pepper spray is literally made from hot peppers.
• Columbus misnamed them “peppers” thinking they were related to black pepper.
• The hottest pepper changes yearly – currently Carolina Reaper at 2.2 million Scoville!