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Stunted bell pepper plants #800557

Asked July 11, 2022, 3:44 PM EDT

Hi -- My bell pepper plants have stopped growing. I started about a dozen plants from seed (Touchdown Hybrid) in mid-March. I bought the seeds this year online from Tomato Growers Supply Company. After hardening them off for a week or so I transplanted them to raised beds out in my garden in early May. (The beds drain so well that if it doesn't rain, I end up watering the garden every day.) We've had some very cold nights since then, but no frost. The plants were about four to six inches tall back then, and had started to flower, but they've only grown two or three inches since then. This is my first time using this variety, but in other years I've had pepper plants grow over two feet tall that needed support from cages. And while all my current plants have at least one pepper apiece, the plants themselves have stopped growing any taller. I live in rural northern Union County. The weather out here has been mostly wet with a wide swing in daily highs between the 70s and 90s along with some cool nights. I fertilize the plants with Miracle Gro at the recommended strength about every two or three weeks (which is the same as in years past.) The garden itself gets about eight hours of direct sun and another four hours of filtered shade every day. I've never had the soil tested, but it's a mix of bagged topsoil, peat, and compost from my compost bin. If it helps, tomatoes I grow under the same light/water/soil conditions usually go nuts every year. Do you have any ideas of why my peppers are so stunted this year, or what I could do to kick start them into growing again? Thanks.

Union County Ohio

Expert Response

Bernie, growing peppers and tomatoes in raised beds can be a challenge if the soil isn't deep enough and if the plants aren't adequately watered.  Additionally, if peppers or tomatoes are started in the garden too early while the ground temperature is below 70 degrees, the plants can be stunted and they never completely grow out of it.  If your seed grown plants are placed into the beds too soon before becoming hardy enough they also may be stunted.  Since both tomatoes and peppers prefer soil with a pH around 6.5 and do poorly when the pH is above 7, you may benefit from getting a soil test.  If the soil is too high pH, you can perhaps gain some benefit from the addition of Aluminum sulfate around each plant.  I would suggest mulching around each plant with straw, paper, or grass clippings and installing a soaker hose to assure adequate irrigation of your plants.  They should not be allowed to dry to the point of wilting.  Raised beds require more water than garden grown plants which require around 1 inch of water per week.  
Bill J. Replied July 11, 2022, 8:14 PM EDT

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