Growing Peppers in Containers

About as good as a Bell Pepper gets on my balcony, which isn't all that bad considering the length of my growing season and the amount of sunlight received

Peppers, like tomatoes, are a popular garden center vegetable in my part of the world. Like tomatoes, they are nightshades and have somewhat similar growing requirements. They produce best when the weather is hot. They enjoy all the sun you can give them. They taste better when provided with a deep and constant supply of moisture although I find the are nowhere near as thirsty as tomatoes. They are heavy feeders. And they are also able to produce fruit from perfect flowers: flowers that self pollinate.

These little hot cherry peppers were spicy and didn't require much attention. The aphids were out in full force on these plants but it didn't seem to matter much that season. The plant just kept growing and flowering.

The thing with peppers is that they're a little more fussy about their heat and sunlight. Because they grow into somewhat stocky and compact plants, they are not able to climb and collect sunlight like a vine-forming plant such as tomatoes. You have to be a little more selective when it comes to placing them on your balcony. I've found that without enough light, my pepper plants don't produce. Because they are heat loving, you want them to grow fast during the warmer part of your season. If they grow to slowly, you'll miss the "warm" window and they'll remain small into the cooler months of fall. So keep them well fertilized. Give them lots of light and heat and don't cheap out on the water.

I find Jalapeño Peppers to be very easy to grow in containers on the balcony.

For some varieties, the best you can provide just won't be enough. Forget about growing anything even close to those big plump thick-fleshed monsters you can purchase at the grocery stores. However, you should be able to grow some decent tasting peppers with the right conditions. When I've grown bell-type peppers in the past, such as California Wonder for example, they usually ended up tasting very bitter and this was due to a lack of consistent moisture. Providing enough sunlight and heat are two other problems I have on the balcony. But the truth is, I tend to abuse my peppers. I don't water them enough and they are a favorite target of the aphid colonies. It's a wonder they produce peppers at all.

In fact, aphids are a common pest on my balcony and my peppers always seem to be their favorite food item. I recycle all of my potting soil from the previous season and never clean my containers. So every year, the aphid eggs left from last season hatch in the spring and find a host to suck on. That's my theory. I've also found aphids on peppers brought home from my local garden center on several occasions. If the plants are healthy and given everything they need to remain that way, they can usually manage with a few aphids. A full blown infestation is a little different.

Another garden center purchase. I didn't expect much from these Cubanelles and for a time, got lazy and rarely watered them. And still, the plants produced decent looking peppers.

If you're like me and have problems with larger, sweet pepper varieties, there is still room for hope on the balcony. Hot pepper plants desire similar growing conditions but unlike sweet peppers, a little bitterness and toughness can usually be overlooked. My hot peppers end up sliced on a pizza, simmered down into a sauce or blended into a chutney. And sometimes dried and crushed for storage and eventually used in sauces. So unlike the sweet peppers that we like to eat fresh and raw, we can somewhat neglect and abuse the hot peppers and still end up with an enjoyable crop.

These are Klari Baby Cheese Peppers - a small, almost white squarish pepper with a not so sweet, not so bitter taste to them. These were started from seed.

I've tried numerous pepper varieties over the years. Some started from seed indoors and others purchased as seedlings at a garden center. Generally, they all form compact plants that grow well in containers with limited space. They don't sprawl all over the place and you don't need a massive container the size of a bath tub to make them happy. I give my pepper plants minimal support against blowing winds and for fruit support. A tomato cage works great. Some of the smaller hot pepper varieties like jalapeños are our favorites. California Wonder is a popular bell variety that will do well in a container if you can provide ideal growing conditions. Same with Cubanelle.

Something to watch out for, and this goes for all plants you bring back from a garden center, is that first pepper that springs up not long after you transplant it. Perhaps if started with a flower that was already on the plant when you brought it home. As tempting as it is to nurture this early pepper, thinking that you'll have an early crop, your best chance for success is to remove it. In fact, don't bother buying any seedlings if they already have flowers on them. Once you transplant your new pepper plant, it needs time to establish a good root system, grow a thick stem and produce a good number of healthy leaves. These are all things necessary to produce a good crop of peppers. It will have a harder time doing this if it is spending its energy on seed production (creating flowers and peppers). The plants need infrastructure first before they should be allowed to set fruit.