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How to grow Sweet peppers in the UK

Need warmth and patience. Great in a greenhouse or sunny porch.

• DifficultyMore care needed
• WherePots
• Grows to60cm
• Spacing45cm
• Time to first pickabout 20 weeks

When to sow, plant and harvest sweet peppers

Dates are for central England. Sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland, and up to two weeks earlier in the south and south west. Get the dates for your postcode.

Starting it indoors

1. Fill a small pot or tray with seed compost
2. Push the seeds in (0.5cm deep) - a couple per pot
3. Water gently, then put them on a bright windowsill
4. Keep the compost damp but not soggy - check it every day
5. When they have 2 proper leaves, give each seedling its own pot

Planting it out

1. Toughen them up ('hardening off'): put them outside in the day for a week, bring them in at night
2. Dig a hole a bit bigger than the pot
3. Tip the plant out gently, holding the leaves, not the stem
4. Pop it in the hole, firm the soil around it, and water well
5. Space the plants about 45cm apart each way

Top tips for growing sweet peppers

• Keep them in the warmest, sunniest spot you have.

Looking after sweet peppers

• Week 4: Feed with tomato food once a week when flowers appear

Soil and feeding

Rich compost, kept moist, in the warmest spot you have. Plant into good compost, then feed with tomato feed once a week as soon as the first flowers appear.

Pests and problems

• Blackfly & greenfly: tiny bugs that crowd the tips and suck the sap

• Squash greenfly with your fingers, or wash them off with a gentle spray of water

Harvesting and eating sweet peppers

Pick them green, or wait a few more weeks for them to turn red and sweeter.

How to eat them: Slice into sticks with dip, or stuff and roast them.

Storing sweet peppers

Keeps 1-2 weeks.

• Keep in the fridge

Slice and freeze in bags - no need to blanch. Use in cooking.

Good varieties of sweet peppers

• California Wonder: Big, blocky peppers - green, then red.
• Mohawk: A small plant for a pot, orange peppers.
• Sweet Banana: Long, sweet yellow peppers.

Companion planting

Grows well with

• Basil: basil likes the same warm, sunny spot
• French marigolds: the smell keeps whitefly and greenfly away

Saving your own sweet peppers seed

From a fully ripe fruit, in late summer or autumn.

1. Let one fruit ripen right through to its final colour
2. Cut it open and scrape the seeds onto a plate
3. Dry them for 2 weeks somewhere warm (chillies: wash your hands after - and don't touch your eyes!)
4. Seeds from 'F1' varieties (it says on the packet) don't grow the same - save from ordinary ones.

Things to build for sweet peppers

• Tomato stakes and ties:
• Cold frame:

Where to buy sweet peppers seeds

Thompson & Morgan · Suttons · Amazon

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Sweet peppers questions

When should I sow sweet peppers in the UK?

In the UK, sow sweet peppers indoors from mid February to mid April. These dates suit central England; sow about two weeks later in the north and Scotland and up to two weeks earlier in the mild south and south west.

When do I plant out sweet peppers?

Plant sweet peppers out from early June to mid June, once the last frost has passed.

When can I pick sweet peppers?

Sweet peppers is ready from early August to mid October. Pick them green, or wait a few more weeks for them to turn red and sweeter.

How long do sweet peppers take to grow?

Roughly 20 weeks from sowing or planting until the first harvest.

Are sweet peppers easy to grow?

Sweet peppers are rated 'more care needed' for beginners, and can be grown in pots and containers.