| I was wondering: a) are bell peppers (of the popular green variety) perennial? It doesn't seem that they would be, yet they are being sold that way around town. b) what is a good general organic fertilizer for a vegetable/flower garden plot? Soil contains much clay and conditions are windy. |
| In their native tropics, Capsicum annum can be perennial plants, but here in the States they are generally grown as annuals. If you were to grow your bell pepper plants in a greenhouse, it would be possible to keep them growing and productive, but in the veggie garden the plants would die at the first sign of frost. You can mix your own organic fertilizer by choosing one element from each of the categories below and mixing them together to produce a general fertilizer. Doing so will give you a balanced product containing Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium: (N) 2 parts blood meal or 3 parts fish meal (P) 3 parts bonemeal or 6 parts rock phosphate (K) 1 part kelp meal or 6 parts greensand To help loosen your clay soil, grow a green manure crop this fall or work in plenty of aged-compost before planting next spring. |
