Linda, (Gym girl), commented on my pepper seeds for paprika peppers and I'll be honest, I thought that was just their name, it never occurred to me that they were actually paprika! So now I'm even more excited about them. Thanks!

My peppers got a slow start this year, and the jalapeño sprouts died so I had to start new ones so they got an even slower start. I've got some little peppers emerging though.

What are you growing?

Half of my jalapeño plants got some kind of disease and are on their way to dead. My cayenne is growing amazingly though, and the Colossal and Yummy are doing well too. Lost a few Summer Sweet Bell to the leaf disease though. The farm down the street has some Cherry Bombs I thought about buying but it may be too late for them now. They are only 6" tall and they have peppers on them so I don't know if I can save them....

As much as I like growing peppers, they seem to give me fits. My favorites are mostly sweet peppers. I have begun to start them almost a month before tomatoes so that there are some peppers on the plants before frost hits. It seems like peppers need a longer growing season than we have in Nebraska.

For one of the first times I can remember there are lots of fruits, some have been picked and eaten. Rarely do we get anything but green peppers but maybe this year the Orange Bells will turn color and the reds ripen. May be the best year ever....unless this doomed it all.

PaulF said:As much as I like growing peppers, they seem to give me fits. My favorites are mostly sweet peppers. I have begun to start them almost a month before tomatoes so that there are some peppers on the plants before frost hits. It seems like peppers need a longer growing season than we have in Nebraska.

For one of the first times I can remember there are lots of fruits, some have been picked and eaten. Rarely do we get anything but green peppers but maybe this year the Orange Bells will turn color and the reds ripen. May be the best year ever....unless this doomed it all.

Haha, I hope it didn't! I started the seeds at the same time as the tomatoes too, and clearly that isn't enough time.

Mizshelli said:Half of my jalapeño plants got some kind of disease and are on their way to dead. My cayenne is growing amazingly though, and the Colossal and Yummy are doing well too. Lost a few Summer Sweet Bell to the leaf disease though. The farm down the street has some Cherry Bombs I thought about buying but it may be too late for them now. They are only 6" tall and they have peppers on them so I don't know if I can save them....

Well, you're in Michigan, so that gives me some hope that I can get some peppers! Maybe they'll give them away for free now so it doesn't hurt to try to save them?

New for this year Hot Sunset
and Coolapeno
Hot Sunset really cranks out the mild banana type fruits. Coolapeno not so much, novelty only in my case.
Old standbys doing well. Aladin
Colima Giant Marconi Jamaican Yellow

farmerdill said:New for this year Hot Sunset
and Coolapeno

• Pepper (Capsicum annuum 'Coolapeno')
• Uploaded by farmerdill

Hot Sunset really cranks out the mild banana type fruits. Coolapeno not so much, novelty only in my case.
Old standbys doing well. Aladin

• Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum 'Aladdin')
• Uploaded by farmerdill

Colima

• Hot Pepper-Jalapeno (Capsicum annuum 'Colima')
• Uploaded by farmerdill

Giant Marconi Jamaican Yellow

Oh my gosh those saucer shaped yellow peppers look divine!! Love the looks of that one.

On the Hot Sunset, I very well might just try growing the sister type Sweet Sunset because as you all know I don't like peppers with any heat. Only grow mild ones.

My peppers this year are going extra great. I have Shisuto, which is just wonderfully productive. And I have Lady Bell which makes nice green bell peppers for me. I pick them green.

robynanne said:

Haha, I hope it didn't! I started the seeds at the same time as the tomatoes too, and clearly that isn't enough time.

I am not sure how much earlier but I have always read that you need to start them much sooner that tomatoes.

I want to do peppers next winter so I will have to find out.

farmerdill said:New for this year Hot Sunset
and Coolapeno

• Pepper (Capsicum annuum 'Coolapeno')
• Uploaded by farmerdill

Hot Sunset really cranks out the mild banana type fruits. Coolapeno not so much, novelty only in my case.
Old standbys doing well. Aladin

• Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum 'Aladdin')
• Uploaded by farmerdill

Colima

• Hot Pepper-Jalapeno (Capsicum annuum 'Colima')
• Uploaded by farmerdill

Giant Marconi Jamaican Yellow

Beautiful! Are the cool ones actually cool? I love the peppers that look like pattipans!

Coolapeno is a heatless jalapeno. My interpretation tasteless. Jamaican is close to habernero hot. Not superhot buthot enough for most folks. There are a number of varieties of Mushroom/ squash types which have a similar appearance.. Hot Sunset is really good Rita, just a bit of bite

Richard's Terrible, Horrible, Absolutely Awful Pepper Plants 2016

My Carmen plants are close to 4 feet tall right now. That's because they haven't set a single pepper yet. Blooms all falling off.
My Big Bertha plants are maybe 6 to 10 inches tall. They haven't set any peppers either. Blooms all falling off.
Neither have Golden Star, Big Red, or Ace. Blooms all falling off.
Fooled You (heatless jalapeno, probably similar to Coolapeno) looks like it's been whacked with a stick, but there are peppers (nearly full size).
Zavory (very mild Habanero type, citrusy) was growing wonderful up to 2 days ago. Over the past 2 nights, *something* has eaten most of the leaves off one, right at where they join the stem. The other plant is still leafy. All the peppers now are dusted with DE.
Gypsy and a mystery bell (likely King Arthur) planted in a pot are doing well and have each born 1-2 pickable green peppers so far. A repeat of Fooled you and Zavory in another pot growing but not blooming or bearing yet, because they were beheaded by hail and I threw them in the pot when I saw them put out new growth.
Sweet Banana planted in another area of the garden have given me the biggest harvest of over a dozen.
I'm beginning to hope I can stretch my 2015 frozen harvest until 2017.

@Newyorkrita - I usually start peppers 8-10 weeks before last frost (tomatoes 4-6 weeks), and a heating pad (or a spot that can give them consistently warm bottom heat) is a MUST to get them to sprout.

Cy, I lol'd for real at the whacked with a stick comment. Ugh, sounds like a tough year! But you've harvested some, that's good!

cybrczch said:Richard's Terrible, Horrible, Absolutely Awful Pepper Plants 2016

My Carmen plants are close to 4 feet tall right now. That's because they haven't set a single pepper yet. Blooms all falling off.
My Big Bertha plants are maybe 6 to 10 inches tall. They haven't set any peppers either. Blooms all falling off.
Neither have Golden Star, Big Red, or Ace. Blooms all falling off.
Fooled You (heatless jalapeno, probably similar to Coolapeno) looks like it's been whacked with a stick, but there are peppers (nearly full size).
Zavory (very mild Habanero type, citrusy) was growing wonderful up to 2 days ago. Over the past 2 nights, *something* has eaten most of the leaves off one, right at where they join the stem. The other plant is still leafy. All the peppers now are dusted with DE.
Gypsy and a mystery bell (likely King Arthur) planted in a pot are doing well and have each born 1-2 pickable green peppers so far. A repeat of Fooled you and Zavory in another pot growing but not blooming or bearing yet, because they were beheaded by hail and I threw them in the pot when I saw them put out new growth.
Sweet Banana planted in another area of the garden have given me the biggest harvest of over a dozen.
I'm beginning to hope I can stretch my 2015 frozen harvest until 2017.

Newyorkrita - I usually start peppers 8-10 weeks before last frost (tomatoes 4-6 weeks), and a heating pad (or a spot that can give them consistently warm bottom heat) is a MUST to get them to sprout.

Oh my. So very sorry about your troubles in the pepper patch. How can they (mostly) all be doing so poorly?

Thank you, now I know when to start up my pepper seeds. I have the bottom heat covered so hopefully all will go well.

Newyorkrita said:

Oh my. So very sorry about your troubles in the pepper patch. How can they (mostly) all be doing so poorly?

Thank you, now I know when to start up my pepper seeds. I have the bottom heat covered so hopefully all will go well.

I forgot to add, I put the peppers in the garden at least 1-2 weeks after the tomatoes, it just gives my heavy soil that much more time to warm up.

I'm wondering if I got a virus of some sort in the soil, or just poor soil placed there from when I had my basement worked on. It's not affecting the tomatoes behind them. And I've talked with other gardening friends, nobody around here is having consistent good luck with peppers.
As far as the leaves on the habanero plants, I'm thinking I've got the revenge of the slugs - I had problems 2-3 years ago with slugs, last year I didn't and credited DE for helping. This year we've had enough summer rain to wash off the DE every couple of days, and I don't always get it replaced right away.

Pests are so bothersome.

cybrczch said:

I forgot to add, I put the peppers in the garden at least 1-2 weeks after the tomatoes, it just gives my heavy soil that much more time to warm up.

I'm wondering if I got a virus of some sort in the soil, or just poor soil placed there from when I had my basement worked on. It's not affecting the tomatoes behind them. And I've talked with other gardening friends, nobody around here is having consistent good luck with peppers.
As far as the leaves on the habanero plants, I'm thinking I've got the revenge of the slugs - I had problems 2-3 years ago with slugs, last year I didn't and credited DE for helping. This year we've had enough summer rain to wash off the DE every couple of days, and I don't always get it replaced right away.

Maybe bring in lots of compost to add to the soil early next spring. Or even in the Fall.

Rita, I brought in compost in that bed this spring. I have a 3 year slow compost system - year 1 all the grass and leaves and garden stuff goes into bin 1. Year 2 the bin 1 contents are dug out and put in bin 2 in early spring - year 3 the bin 2 contents are dug out and put in bin 3 in early spring, then sifted and placed into the garden when i prepare the beds. That bed got most of the compost this year because of all the clay dug up when the basement work was done.
I went out and looked at the plants today, I've got lots of pepper flowers blooming, now just hoping for some to set on the bells.

cybrczch said:Rita, I brought in compost in that bed this spring. I have a 3 year slow compost system - year 1 all the grass and leaves and garden stuff goes into bin 1. Year 2 the bin 1 contents are dug out and put in bin 2 in early spring - year 3 the bin 2 contents are dug out and put in bin 3 in early spring, then sifted and placed into the garden when i prepare the beds. That bed got most of the compost this year because of all the clay dug up when the basement work was done.
I went out and looked at the plants today, I've got lots of pepper flowers blooming, now just hoping for some to set on the bells.

Maybe they were just slow this year for whatever reason.

cybrczch said:Rita, I brought in compost in that bed this spring. I have a 3 year slow compost system - year 1 all the grass and leaves and garden stuff goes into bin 1. Year 2 the bin 1 contents are dug out and put in bin 2 in early spring - year 3 the bin 2 contents are dug out and put in bin 3 in early spring, then sifted and placed into the garden when i prepare the beds. That bed got most of the compost this year because of all the clay dug up when the basement work was done.
I went out and looked at the plants today, I've got lots of pepper flowers blooming, now just hoping for some to set on the bells.

Hmm, I have only the one compost bin but this system makes sense. I've been wondering how I'd deal with the fact that I'm adding new stuff to the bin all the time.

I just pile stuff directly in the garden, no formal compost making here. It all works out.