Peppers are members of the Solanaceae or Nightshade family. It is a tropical perennial, but is grown here as an annual plant and is generally planted in late April or early May. The plant is native to Brazil and Bolivia in South America. The genus “Capsicum” comes from the Greek word Kapto, which means “to bite.” The chemical capsaicin in peppers varies and is dependent on genetics. The gene is sweet peppers is recessive, so they do not contain capsaicin. The fruit is actually classified as a berry and can range in color from green, yellow, orange, red, purple, black and white.

Peppers prefer full sun and loamy soils with a pH between 5.8 and 6.2. Applying fertilizer at planting and then again at first flower encourages healthy growth and fruit production. Fruits begin to form 2-6 days after the flower drops. The fruit can be round, elongated or block shaped and start green and then mature to their ripe color depending on the type of pepper.

The main pests for peppers include whiteflies, thrips, spider mites, aphids, flea beetles, and tomato fruit worms. Blossom end rot can also develop just like tomatoes when there is a lack of calcium uptake in the plant. Disease issues that peppers may suffer from include stem and fruit rot, gray mold, and powdery mildew.

Green sweet peppers are not as sweet as orange or red peppers because they are removed from the plant before all the natural sugars are produced. Yellow sweet peppers have a higher nutritional content and a sweet taste.

Hot peppers require the same growing requirements, but range in how hot they are based on the Scoville Units (SU). Examples of Scoville Units include: pepperoncini (100-500 SU), jalapeno (2,500-5,000 SU), cayenne (30,000-50,000 SU), habanero (100,000-350,000 SU), ghost (850,000-1,050,000 SU) and Carolina reaper (1,500,000-2,200,000 SU).

For more information about peppers, or if you have other gardening questions, feel free to contact the Franklin County Cooperative Extension Office at 919-496-3344.