After teaching gardening for over 20 years, I can confidently say that many gardeners in colder climates like mine have difficulty growing peppers. The problems often begin in late winter when gardeners are starting peppers indoors and continue into the summer when they wonder why are their pepper plants not growing.

I used to struggle with growing peppers as well, until I figured out the various factors that can negatively affect peppers. Once you can identify and solve for these issues, you’ll be well on your way to abundant and colorful pepper harvests every summer.

Let’s get started exploring the reasons why your pepper plants might not be growing as well as you’d like.

First, let’s start with the bad news – there’s not actually such a thing as a weed free garden. Sorry. Some weeds will always be a part of your garden reality.

But, I also have some good news…you can definitely have a weed less garden.

Dealing with lots of weeds in the vegetable garden, especially in summer, is a common complaint I hear from many gardeners.

A few months ago a fellow gardener said to me, “I hate going away in the summer for a week vacation because when I come back my garden is taken over by weeds.”

I was taken aback when they said this.

Why? Because this should absolutely not happen in your garden.

Let me repeat, you should be able to go away for a week at any time during the season and not come home to a garden mess. There are several points during the season where I go on vacation and when I return, my garden looks pretty much the same, except for surprisingly bigger plants.

In this article, you’ll learn how to incorporate some strategic techniques so you’ll spend less time weeding your garden and more time enjoying it.

Growing peppers can be tricky for many gardeners, and if you do succeed, when exactly to pick peppers can be confusing.

Here’s my first recommendation – you should not pick the majority of peppers when they’re green.

Green peppers are the tasteless cousins of red, orange and yellow peppers. In reality, they’re just an unripe pepper, similar to a green tomato. I don’t waste my time with them. If possible, I wait for every single one of my peppers to ripen before I harvest it. 

In the book Ripe, Cheryl Sternman Rule, perfectly expresses my opinion of the difference between red and green peppers:

“If a green pepper rang my doorbell, I might look through the peep hole and then pretend I’m not home, easing back from the door so it doesn’t see my shadow. But, a red bell pepper? That’s a different situation…

If a red pepper came to the door? I’d let it in, pull out a chair, and invite it to stay. Then I’d tackle it from behind and eat it. 

You ring my bell, you take your chances.” 

You can eat peppers when they’re still green, but the flavor and vitamin content increases as they ripen to yellow, orange and red. I try to practice patience and wait until the entire pepper has turned its intended ripe color. 

During the height of the late summer harvest season, I can often be found out in my garden harvesting bowls and bowls full of red, orange and yellow peppers. 

Join me and learn how to know when to pick peppers in your garden.

Whether you’re a rural dweller with a huge vegetable garden or an urbanite who practices small space gardening, you’ve probably tried your hand at growing tomatoes. Everyone loves the savory taste of homegrown tomatoes, and growing them can be fun.

While growing tomatoes has its rewards, it also has its challenges. Because tomato plants grow rapidly, they need to be caged or the tomato stems can bend or even break, spilling all of that beautiful fruit on the ground.

So what do you do? You’ve probably heard that many gardeners use tomato cages. But you may be unsure of how to buy and use them. In this article, I’ll share some tips on how to use tomato cages to assure that you have plenty of ripe, juicy tomatoes all season.