Dig In® Answers Your Garden Questions
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i just wanna thank you for sharing your this info on your blog
My husband and I are in our fourth year of serious gardening and composting. We are trying to grow potatoes and sweet peppers for the second year. We ask many more experienced gardeners and look up info on the internet, but we still don’t seem to get plants that thrive. They’re pretty measly looking again. Is Colorado just not one of those places that grows these very well?
Oddly enough, potatoes and peppers are in the same plant family, but are nothing alike when it comes to growing them.
Potatoes must be planted early, mid March to early April, in well prepared, well drained soil and full sun all day. The seed potato pieces should be planted about 3-4″ deep and watered only enough to keep the soil from drying out. If they are planted late, they will be weak and spindley. A soil that stays too wet will also produce the same results.
Peppers, on the other hand, hate the cold. I typically wait until after Memorial Day weekend to plant mine and I purchase large, lush plants from a reputable garden center. They like warm soil and warm nights(above 60 degrees F).
Planting out too early during cool temps can set peppers back to the point of never recovering even after hot weather sets in. Care of the plants even before purchase can effect their performance.
I’ve talked to a number of people who have had trouble with peppers in the past and have switched to growing them in pots or earth boxes with great success. Since the soil is above ground in the pot or container, it warms more quickly and can be moved indoors if cool/cold weather sets in.
Hope that helps.
Keith Funk