The demand for organic vegetables from your own garden continues to rise. Particularly when it comes to Mediterranean vegetables, questions arise as to whether and how you can grow and grow your own peppers, for example. If you don't want to buy young plants, simply remove the seeds from fully ripe, red pods.
How can you grow and grow peppers yourself?
To grow peppers yourself, you need ripe, red pods from which you remove the seeds and dry them. In March, sow the seeds in moist potting soil and place them in a warm, bright place, such as a south-facing windowsill or under plant light. After germination and transplanting, the plants thrive best in a greenhouse or in the wind-protected outdoor area.
Prepare the pepper seeds to pull yourself
If you want to grow peppers yourself and germinate them, you should pay attention to the typical characteristics of the plant. Because they are not native plants, the climate can cause problems for them. Peppers need more time, warmth and light than other fruit vegetables.
The colored supermarket peppers are not different varieties, but rather different levels of ripeness. Therefore, make sure that the seeds you pull and sow yourself come from a fully ripe, red pod. After being removed from the fruit, the seeds must be cleaned, dried and stored until spring. From March you can prepare the stored seeds for sowing.
Pull your own peppers – everything you need
The ideal location for sowing peppers is a windowsill on the south side or you can support the seeds with plant light during the germination period. In addition to patience you need:
- Seeds
- Mini greenhouse (€12.00 at Amazon) or foil
- Peat or yogurt cups
- Germination substrate or growing soil
- Sowing soil
- Bamboo sticks
- Fertilizer
This is how seedlings sprout from seeds
If you garden according to the moon, use the waxing moon phase until the full moon at the beginning of March. This time should be dedicated to sowing fruit plants such as tomatoes or peppers that develop above ground. From seed to seedling in just a few steps:
- water dried pepper seeds for 1 day
- Always only insert one seed per cup into moist soil about 1 centimeter deep, cover and press down lightly.
- Place the pots in the mini greenhouse (€12.00 on Amazon) or under foil on a bench.
- Important: Ventilate daily to prevent mold growth.
- At a constant, warm, humid temperature of 25° degrees, the first seedlings sprout after 2 to 3 weeks.
From seedling to many colored pods
From a height of 10 centimeters it is time to prick out the young plants. To do this, carefully plant the peppers with the entire root ball in pots or in the bed. In addition to warmth, it now requires a little more care, lukewarm watering and fertilizer.
Growing your own peppers in a greenhouse is quicker and more reliable than outdoors. The plants are protected from wind and weather under glass. This will make the peppers bloom faster. The first fruits in the greenhouse are harvested from July. Outdoor peppers in the garden or on the balcony can be harvested from August to the end of October.
Tips & Tricks
Paprika not only enriches the menu, but thanks to its wonderful flowers it is also suitable as an ornamental plant for the garden or balcony.
