Planting And Care:

Soil should be well-drained, but maintain adequate moisture either with mulch or plastic covering

Water one to two inches per week, but remember peppers are extremely heated sensitive

If you live in a warm or desert climate, watering every day may be necessary

Fertilize after the first fruit set

Weed carefully around plants

If necessary, support plants with cages or stakes to prevent bending

Try commercially available cone-shaped wire tomato cages

They may not be ideal for tomatoes, but they are just the thing for peppers

For larger fruit, spray the plants with a solution of one tablespoon of Epsom salts in a gallon of water, once when it begins to bloom, and once ten days later

Capsicum Red Imported Care:

Start seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before last spring's frost date

The temperature must be at least 70 degrees F for seed germination, so keep them in a warm area for the best and fastest results

Start pepper seeds three to a pot, and thin out the weakest seedling

Let the remaining two pepper plants spend their entire lives together as one plant

The leaves of two plants help protect peppers against sunscald, and the yield is often twice as good as two segregated plants

Begin to harden off plants about 10 days before transplanting

A week before transplanting, introduce fertilizer or aged compost to your garden soil

After the danger of frost has passed, transplant seedlings outdoors, 18 to 24 inches apart (but keep paired plants close to touching) Soil should be at least 65 degrees F, peppers will not survive transplanting at temps any colder