Orange capsicum’s journey began on September 27 2015 with seeds from fresh supermarket capsicums.
This is the second time I grew capsicums after culling my first crop due to fruit flies larvae infestation in the pot.
Rather than applying pesticides, we culled the above plants.
The larvae’s problems were too serious.
They affected our fruits as well as the general health of the whole plant.
My pot became the children’s favorite horror house to gross their friends out!
It was full of creepy soft white worms and the capsicums rot before they ripened.
Lesson learned.
Raw green waste must be covered well to avoid flies or trapped them with these sticky yellow traps.
This is the way I used them in indoor rack’s plants.
Nightshades like tomatoes, chili, or capsicums seem to attract more flying pests.
These sticky papers can be cut to desired sizes or rolled to insert into outdoor pots.
After the infested capsicum plants were removed, I killed the larvae in the soil with hot water and then sun-baked it for months in our tropical heat.
When the soil seems “recovered” I began composting in it again.
This time I learned my lesson!
My compost was topped with soil and then thick layers of leaves or tarp to ward off rotting greens smell which attracted the fruit flies in the first place.
On September 20, 2015, we began growing capsicums again with seeds from FairPrice supermarket’s orange capsicum.
As capsicum seeds are large and easier to handle, I germinated them on moist paper towels rather than soil.
The trick is to keep the seed’s environment constantly moist without turning moldy.
The seeds are covered in damp paper and then ziplock in a plastic bag.
This would prevent evaporation so that the seeds could be kept moist longer.
Paper towels were checked daily and dampened as needed to keep seeds moist.
Germination took placed in 7 days.
Due to limited sunny space to grow my edibles at home, PET bottles became my favorite “pots” to transplant seedlings to.
They save soil and space as well as teaching kids how to recycle plastic bottles for better use in our daily life.
Drainage holes were cut on the side of the PET bottles instead of at the bottom.
We do not like soil to leak everywhere during watering.
Although capsicum seedlings looked deceptively small, they are huge plants.
New gardeners may be tempted to squeeze more plants per pot to save space and soil, as I did in my first attempt.
However, they do not grow well when their roots are compromised in a small pot.
Ideally, they should be individually potted to grow better.
However, due to lack of spare big pot, I transplanted 2 orange capsicum seedlings to this 60 Liters compost pot.
The rest of the seedlings were moved to a friend’s farm.
We grew our outdoor edibles with homemade compost or kelp fertilizer.
Plants in the natural environment set their own time table, we believed edibles taste sweeter when we don’t rush them.
When the weather gets too warm (above 31 degrees Celsius), capsicum’s flowers had a tendency to drop.
We learned to ice and mulched our topsoil with cocopeat to keep their roots cool.
Plants that thrived in Genting Highlands generally need this treatment to do well here.
We recycle NTUC FairPrice in outdoor pots to chill soil and watering.
Six months to see our first fruit forming.
Capsicums grown in natural compost is 3 “S” – Slower , Sweeter, and Smaller than store-bought ones.
In this pot, our harvest was modest.
Only 2 fruit per time but they keep fruiting for many months.
Homegrown capsicums were enjoyed like fruit snacks than vegetables.
They are sweet, juicy, and crunchy.
Capsicums/Bell Peppers Growing Tips –
- Best individually potted, minimum pot size diameter and depth about 20 inches
- Well drained soil aided with perlite or sand
- Shady sunny spot or morning sun in the tropics
- Heavy feeder, recommended fortnightly feeding of manure ( goat, chicken, rabbit), compost, kelp fertiliser and/or fish emulsion. I also buried banana skins and ground coffee, soya bean pulp on the side of the pot when flowers dropped.
- Mulch top soil with coco peat to retain moisture and ice soil to keep roots cool when temperature rises above 31C
Hello, I am growing poblano peppers from seed in a well drained multi layer [stone, mulch, chicken poop].
The plants keep growing higher and are already 3 feet high.
Lots of flowers but they fall off almost immediately…
Plants no longer in full sun and now get about 3 hours of full sun per day.
I saw you used ice to cool the roots. You did that every day and constantly or once per day? Thanks for your help and kind feedback.
Edgard
I iced the soil once a day when its very hot, during heat waves in Singapore. Capsicum love the sun and needed sun to fruit well, but can’t tolerate heat beyond 32C. Their roots are massive, thus one plant per pot is best or in the ground. First flowers tend to drop, but become hardier and fruiting non stop once all conditions are met for them – cooler roots, sunny top, heavy feeding (I use my own compost – recycled green waste).
Hi Vic i m trying to grow capsicums so came across ur blog. I notice u used seeds from a yellow capsicum but the fruit u harvested were all green. How come? Cos I sowed yellow capsicum seeds but I do not want green capsicums.
Capsicum has a scent that attract certain bugs like white flies to the plant . Thus I harvested them early before they turned yellow.