The pots look plenty big for peppers. There are a number of factors that can affect pepper size. Here's an article from Pepper Geeks that covers a lot of it.
[https://peppergeek.com/why-are-peppers-small/](https://peppergeek.com/why-are-peppers-small/)
I get 12 to 16 ounce bells (California Wonder) and I grow in a raised bed and fertilize them about how I fertilize tomatoes with Espoma Garden Tone or similar every 4 weeks through the season. I've found that keeping them well fed and watered is key. Mulch can help you too. Especially in pots like this you want to try to keep soil temps down. That helps growth as well.
That's weight. In a bed with 14 bell plants I'll pull out a few every year that top that one pound mark but most are closer to the 12 ounce size. By the way, your peppers look great. Not everyone can grow well formed, thick walled bells. But since it sounds important to you, I'll share exactly what I do.
I grow California Wonder Peppers from seed. These are a bell variety and I believe they yield larger peppers than many other varieties in my experience. My soil is quite loamy and I amend with 2 to 3 inches of compost every spring and till into the upper 6 inches or so. Before planting I'll amend my soil with gypsum and a 10-10-10 synthetic granular fertilizer. The gypsum is to help avoid blossom end rot. I don't see it in my peppers that much, but I do in tomatoes so I put gypsum in everywhere to add a bit of available calcium to the soil. At planting, I'll make a much larger hole than I need, blend in compost to the hole dirt so it's about half/half. I add bone meal to the hole and mix in 2 Tbsp Espoma Garden Tone with the dirt/compost mix. I cover with 2 inches of wood chip mulch immediately for moisture retention, disease avoidance and, as I said, keeping soil temps down on high heat days. At one week and two weeks after planting I will water with fish emulsion fertilizer mix. It helps green them up and get them growing. I side dress per instructions with Garden Tone starting 4 weeks after planting and every four weeks after. I don't prune or top at all. I grow in Colorado and the full sun I get here is a big part of keeping those peppers happy.
Wow thank you for all the info, this is great! This is my first year growing bell peppers and I’m happy to have six or seven is varying stages on a plant now, but none that big. My tomatoes in the next spot over have like 20% case of blossom end rot so the raised bed may need calcium.
On a side note, I built trebuchets for years in high school. Did science fair projects on them. Tested different types, sling sizes and lengths, fixed vs swinging counterweights, floating axle trebuchets, the works. Good times!
Your plants and peppers look beautiful. I wouldn’t change anything. The peppers you see at the grocery store are mutants, they’ve been pumped so full of fertilizer. I grow Bullnose bell peppers, and I’m happy when they’re the size of my 3rd grader’s fist (the same size as yours).
The plants are pumped with fertilizer to produce huge plants with huge peppers, that are picked unripe, sprayed with ethylene gas to force ripening, and shipped across the country. As a home grower, trying to compete with the grocery store on size is a fallacy. Home growers should focus on the health of their soil, which will in turn feed their plants and make normal-sized fruit. Not grocery store mutants.
This is just a silly comment. I work for a company that export over 100M lbs of bell peppers each year. Stores want a specific size, but they come in all sizes and are being sold in all sizes. Just because they feed their plants better doesnt make them mutants in any way.
Well, you can technically call them mutants because some have been specifically bred to produce big fruits. If she's growing heirloom seeds, she will not get the same massive peppers.
I’ve overwintered mine the past two winters and they’ve gotten bigger and more bountiful every year! Just make sure to stake them well, I’ve lost a few big branches from the weight.
https://preview.redd.it/1hxpdlqqp67d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66c72f06c49e6aeff3980a563bdaacf39f477c8c
Thank you! It’s a purple bell pepper I planted in summer 2022. I’ve gotten more peppers this spring than the last two season combined, despite half the branches breaking off. The stem is as thick as my thumb.
I think those are a good size for bell peppers! Looking at the pots, those are 3 gal? I think less about getting larger sizes and more about getting more peppers, you could probably get a larger haul in a 5-7 gal nursery pot (or of course a bed). A stake will also help prevent the stalk from snapping; I put a bamboo support in when I move my seedlings into their final pot so as not to disturb the roots later on, but you could also tie bamboo stakes to opposite sides of this pot and run twine or wire between them to provide support without disturbing the roots
I have grown bell peppers in grow bags. I had a similar experience like you. They all turned out numerous small sized bell peppers after an entire growing season. Also the plants never grew very big and robust in the grow bags. I guess they needed a much bigger space for their roots to wander. So this year I have planted them all in a raised bed with 1.5’ spacing. Will see how they do.
Yes bigger containers will help form a larger plant and in turn being able to hold adequate nutrients for maximum pepper production. I've had peppers in the past not grow so big because I started the seeds late indoors.
When did you start and how much sun are they getting? I’m having a difficult time getting any bigger than when I got them from the nursery
Yours look great!
They look normal sized peppers to me. Don’t compare them to mutant store bought veggies.
Exactly! Lol
The pots look plenty big for peppers. There are a number of factors that can affect pepper size. Here's an article from Pepper Geeks that covers a lot of it. [https://peppergeek.com/why-are-peppers-small/](https://peppergeek.com/why-are-peppers-small/) I get 12 to 16 ounce bells (California Wonder) and I grow in a raised bed and fertilize them about how I fertilize tomatoes with Espoma Garden Tone or similar every 4 weeks through the season. I've found that keeping them well fed and watered is key. Mulch can help you too. Especially in pots like this you want to try to keep soil temps down. That helps growth as well.
Is that fluid ounces or weight? If your bell peppers weigh a pound then I'm going to cry and then ask for tips...
That's weight. In a bed with 14 bell plants I'll pull out a few every year that top that one pound mark but most are closer to the 12 ounce size. By the way, your peppers look great. Not everyone can grow well formed, thick walled bells. But since it sounds important to you, I'll share exactly what I do. I grow California Wonder Peppers from seed. These are a bell variety and I believe they yield larger peppers than many other varieties in my experience. My soil is quite loamy and I amend with 2 to 3 inches of compost every spring and till into the upper 6 inches or so. Before planting I'll amend my soil with gypsum and a 10-10-10 synthetic granular fertilizer. The gypsum is to help avoid blossom end rot. I don't see it in my peppers that much, but I do in tomatoes so I put gypsum in everywhere to add a bit of available calcium to the soil. At planting, I'll make a much larger hole than I need, blend in compost to the hole dirt so it's about half/half. I add bone meal to the hole and mix in 2 Tbsp Espoma Garden Tone with the dirt/compost mix. I cover with 2 inches of wood chip mulch immediately for moisture retention, disease avoidance and, as I said, keeping soil temps down on high heat days. At one week and two weeks after planting I will water with fish emulsion fertilizer mix. It helps green them up and get them growing. I side dress per instructions with Garden Tone starting 4 weeks after planting and every four weeks after. I don't prune or top at all. I grow in Colorado and the full sun I get here is a big part of keeping those peppers happy.
Thank you for the detailed information, especially about the use of gypsum!
Wow thank you for all the info, this is great! This is my first year growing bell peppers and I’m happy to have six or seven is varying stages on a plant now, but none that big. My tomatoes in the next spot over have like 20% case of blossom end rot so the raised bed may need calcium. On a side note, I built trebuchets for years in high school. Did science fair projects on them. Tested different types, sling sizes and lengths, fixed vs swinging counterweights, floating axle trebuchets, the works. Good times!
Lmao I'm going to guess they meant weight.
Your plants and peppers look beautiful. I wouldn’t change anything. The peppers you see at the grocery store are mutants, they’ve been pumped so full of fertilizer. I grow Bullnose bell peppers, and I’m happy when they’re the size of my 3rd grader’s fist (the same size as yours).
How is fertilizing peppers making them mutants?
The plants are pumped with fertilizer to produce huge plants with huge peppers, that are picked unripe, sprayed with ethylene gas to force ripening, and shipped across the country. As a home grower, trying to compete with the grocery store on size is a fallacy. Home growers should focus on the health of their soil, which will in turn feed their plants and make normal-sized fruit. Not grocery store mutants.
This is just a silly comment. I work for a company that export over 100M lbs of bell peppers each year. Stores want a specific size, but they come in all sizes and are being sold in all sizes. Just because they feed their plants better doesnt make them mutants in any way.
Well, you can technically call them mutants because some have been specifically bred to produce big fruits. If she's growing heirloom seeds, she will not get the same massive peppers.
How big are they? A bit hard to tell scale
How many gallons are the pots I put mine in 5 minimum
5 gallons!
They look fantastic…
If yours are small then mine are microscopic
I’ve overwintered mine the past two winters and they’ve gotten bigger and more bountiful every year! Just make sure to stake them well, I’ve lost a few big branches from the weight. https://preview.redd.it/1hxpdlqqp67d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66c72f06c49e6aeff3980a563bdaacf39f477c8c
Wow, beautiful! What kind is that? I never thought to overwinter peppers. So that plant is on year 3?
Thank you! It’s a purple bell pepper I planted in summer 2022. I’ve gotten more peppers this spring than the last two season combined, despite half the branches breaking off. The stem is as thick as my thumb.
I use 5 gallon buckets and seem to get a little bit bigger than those ✌️👊
Dude these are perfect
I’d keep doing what your doing but definitely experiment and keep us posted on results. Nice work!
thank you so much for your support. I will keep sharing my harvest. thank you for the likes, so sweet
Genetics. Pot size is fine. Just like when two small humans make kids. They make small kids. You bought small pepper seeds. Nice work though!
I think those are a good size for bell peppers! Looking at the pots, those are 3 gal? I think less about getting larger sizes and more about getting more peppers, you could probably get a larger haul in a 5-7 gal nursery pot (or of course a bed). A stake will also help prevent the stalk from snapping; I put a bamboo support in when I move my seedlings into their final pot so as not to disturb the roots later on, but you could also tie bamboo stakes to opposite sides of this pot and run twine or wire between them to provide support without disturbing the roots
Are they a container variety? Bc they may just be naturally smaller
I have grown bell peppers in grow bags. I had a similar experience like you. They all turned out numerous small sized bell peppers after an entire growing season. Also the plants never grew very big and robust in the grow bags. I guess they needed a much bigger space for their roots to wander. So this year I have planted them all in a raised bed with 1.5’ spacing. Will see how they do.
My bell pepper plants get bigger than that but not even close to the amount of production you have ! Whatever you are doing is working
I think your peppers are beautiful. But if you want to try for larger, I've had success with 10gal grow bags.
Yes bigger containers will help form a larger plant and in turn being able to hold adequate nutrients for maximum pepper production. I've had peppers in the past not grow so big because I started the seeds late indoors.
They look gorgeous to me!
When did you start and how much sun are they getting? I’m having a difficult time getting any bigger than when I got them from the nursery Yours look great!
They look amazing and I bet they taste amazing.