The 6 months care and attention needed to look after the Sweet Peppers is finally paying off and they are rewarding plants by giving a fantastic colour change display from yellow to orange to deep red.
The Sweet Peppers I’m growing this year were started off in a seed tray indoors sown in February.
Sweet Peppers and Chilli peppers are slow grower’s and they always seem like nothing is happening or their growth have slowed to a crawl.
Is it worth growing Sweet Peppers?
There’s something about being a vegetable grower that says it’s always worth the wait. You do have to wait until June before the flower appear and then keep caring for them until they turn colour in August.
Timeline of A Sweet Pepper – Variety: Semorah
February – Sow seeds indoors or in a heated greenhouse
Sweet Pepper Seeds were sowed in an old mushroom tray with compost and put on the windowsill of the downstairs loo.
Top Tip: Don’t water too often when indoors as they don’t like to sit in wet soil.
April – Seedlings in an un-heated greenhouse
It’s warm enough in the early spring April sunshine to put in an unheated greenhouse. Seedlings were potted on into 9cm pots at this point to give them fresh compost to continue growing strong.
May – seedlings in pots in un-heated greenhouse
The sweet pepper seedlings have 4 leaves now and are still growing very slowly.
June – Potted on & Flowering
The plants have been in the greenhouse since April and potted on twice. They are now in 14cm diameter pots and flowering.
Top Tip: Make sure your greenhouse door is open during the day so the pollinators which are usually insects and small bees to get in and pollinate the flowers.
July – Sweet Peppers start growing
Sweet peppers grow quickly from the pollinated flowers and take on their rams horn form although some do grow straight as well.
August – Sweet pepper colour change
All the peppers have had is heat, sun and lots of water and the sweet peppers have started changing colour from light yellow to tones of orange red and then a deep red colour. Many of the leaves have dropped off.
Early September – Harvest
Harvest the red peppers and cook one of my favourite recipes Mary Berry – Red Pepper, Mushroom and Leek Lasagna.
sowgrowharvest.co.uk 
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