I would get a good fertilizer...I know you see all those commercials on TV about the fabulous garden with miracle grow but I believe a good garden fertilizer for veggies is better...for I usually just use an all purpose but you might want to investigate one with a higher middle number. I was always very snooty about using only organic stuff in my garden but since I have gone to fertilizing with commercial products I have had much better gardens.

Actually, I should say that this is a raised bed and mostly compost, probably 80% or more, with some good garden soil and sand for drainage. Most plants love it, I had zucchini leaves bigger than a dinner plate when I grew it here. I don't use Miracle Grow - that was just the first brand of potting soil that popped into my mind. I can't say I grow organic - but I do prefer not to use artificial fertilizers/pesticides/etc if I can help it.

I guess my real question is (1) why bell peppers do so poorly when everything else grows well. Is there some art to growing bell peppers I don't know? and, (2) if I go with containers this year, is some growing medium better than others for peppers?

alys

I can't make suggestions to improve your crop since I am never satsified with my pepper production either. The link below gives the best tips on growing peppers that I've seen so far, focusing on temperature, water, and fertilization.

I suspect that I haven't fertilized mine enough. Here's a statement from the link:

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Although overfertilization, especially with nitrogen, is often suspected in these cases because the growth is luxuriant, peppers can actually produce fruit quite well under almost ridiculously high fertility programs. Pepper plants that have no developing fruit attached normally maintain a greener, healthier appearance because all the nutrients can go into producing leaves and stems instead of fruit.
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The last sentence implies that this failure to set fruit happens when the plant isn't receiving enough fertilizer, even though the plants themselves are luxurious. I've never liberally fertilized my peppers for fear of giving them too much nitrogen (in fact, NEVER more than a pitiful amount at planting time), but maybe I haven't given them enough fertilizer. I think I'll be more generous this year.

Anyway, good luck at solving the "poor pepper" problem!

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Peppers

Could be as simple as drought stress.

It could be lack of nutrients.

I am curious if you are raising a good variety of peppers adapted to your area?

Your leaves look like they have "bacterial leaf spot". Do your plants look like this?

Bacterial Leaf Spot
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Here is a link that might be useful: Bacterial Leaf Spot Link

Hmm. I guess it does look a bit like bacterial leaf spot, but I grew (tried to grow) them right next to tomatoes, and the tomatoes didn't get it. And really, the plants looked worse than the pictures of leaf spot. They were like forked sticks with maybe a dozen leaves on them. And like I said, the one I dug up from the garden and stuck in a pot got better, although it still didn't do well.

They were just your basic green and red bell peppers they sell at the local garden center. I also tried gypsy peppers, same problems.

Thanks for the thoughts. I think I'll just use containers and give up on the garden for peppers and grow what I know will thrive there.

Does anyone have any suggestions on the container size and soil for bell peppers?

There are different kinds of bacterial leaf spot. Some strains will not affect tomatoes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Win Free Garden Stuff

Sorry Midnight, maybe I'm just thick. I read the stuff on BLS and it looks to me like it's usually something that comes from the seeds or the nursery. I just don't see how I could have the same problem year after year, using what appear to be perfectly healthy plants purchased from different stores. I've this garden for three years, this will be four, and I've had the same problem every year. I pull the old plants out by the roots every year and add more compost, etc. I haven't composted the pepper plants. I didn't see in the reading that BLS can be something in the soil. Can it? Is that the problem? If so, what can I do about that?

Are you rotating your crops?

It's a 4x7 space. Not much room to rotate anything. I doubt they've been in exactly the same spot every year, but I'm sure it's pretty close. They always fit best toward the center of the bed.

Seriously, are your peppers getting enough calcium? I grow a few things with passive hydroponics (coco coir) and calcium problems are always cropping up in peppers because of the lack of anything natural in the solution. I have a similar problem with my peppers in the ground, but to a much lesser extent.

By chance do any of your leafs curl up on the sides, almost if they are rolling up on itself? is new growth deformed and small? black growth tips? If none of this sounds like your issue, could you please try describing the progression of the issue?

if it does happen to be a calcium problem, you can buy any number of solid amendments for your garden, or if you want more control, you can buy a nice calcium fertilizer.

Progression. Let's see if I remember.

I buy and plant perfectly nice healthy plants. They don't grow very fast, never get more than 18" tall or so. They don't leaf out much, they never grow new branches. The leaves, what few they have, look like the photo and others just fall off. They bloom a little, but when they get fruit they don't get big. The largest pepper I've ever gotten was golf ball sized. The leaves don't curl up, they just get the brown edges. In the end, they look a bit like a poinsetta you kept in the house until June - spindly, bare and stick-like with leaves just at the tips.

I'd think they were dying from neglect, but the other vegetables and herbs grow fine in that soil. The soil, as I've said, is mostly compost that I made myself, oak leaves and grass clippings mostly, from my own yard, no chemicals, with good garden soil and some sand for drainage. The only other thing I've ever had problems with besides the peppers was zucchini, but that problem was BER. The leaves on the zukes were literally 18" across, just HUGE, and even with the BER I got a good number of zukes off it. Tomatoes grew fine there although the Roma did get some BER. Maybe it is calcium deficiency?

The first year I did peppers, I thought the tomatoes and turnip greens had shaded them too much. That was the year I dug up one gypsy pepper and potted it and it did do better in a pot, but not good enough. The second year I didn't plant anything tall near them and they were the same. Ditto the 3rd year. I figure it must be something in the soil, but for the life of me can't figure out why peppers are the only thing that fail.

I wonder if I have time to get a soil test done? I will be adding more compost/soil this year to the raised bed because it has settled quite a bit. Any suggestions?

Oh, and the area does get full sun and drains well.

Yes, you should probably get a soil test done.

see if they can test for Magnesium

add a pinch of Epsom Salts in the your pepper and tomato planting holes.

From the link I posted regarding BLS; "The most-important sources for bacterial spot are infested seed and diseased transplants. In addition, the pathogen is soilborne both on dried plant debris and, possibly, in the soil itself for at least 1 year." You either have BLS or some sort of nutrient deficiency . The fact that your peppers do better when you take them out of the garden proves this. Someone else mentioned a calcium deficiency , this is a possibility since your Tomatoes got blossom end rot. You should have your soil tested or just plant your peppers in pots.

Jean001 is correct - drought stress!! One other thing - rotate your plantings year to year. This reduces buildup of soil pathogens.

Thanks for the details Now we're cooking, but of course i'm going to ask for more.
You stated what has had issues (peppers, zukes, one type of tomato) What are the plants that had NO issues (related to BER or lack of growth)
I ask this because i still think it is a calcium issue, though now I don't think it is because of a lack of Calcium in your soil, but poor translocation (the roots of certain plants aren't taking it up just right).

If this is the problem then we are talking about PH, that's why i would like to know what has worked.

another question, have you specifically tried other squash?
what about a PH test of the soil? I'm going to hold firm that your issue is physiological not pathological.

The only way you can be certain what's going on with your peppers is to grow them again and if the problem shows up, take a sample to somebody that can give you a diagnosis, such as your local extension office or a good nursery. That and an accurate lab soil test to see if you have nutrient or pH problems is the only way you will know for sure. Trying to ID this kind of problem from pictures and descriptions can be very difficult and as you can see from the differences of opinion here, often not very accurate. I would love to be able to look at a picture and diagnose a plant problem, but it just doesn't happen very often.

Sandy

I can't thank you all enough for the input! You guys are the best!

Midnight, like I said, thickÂI missed the soil sentence completely.

damonb  In veggies, I've grown turnips, lettuce, spinach, carrots and pole beans with no problems at all. I've grown rosemary, oregano and basil and marigolds too. I've tried onions without success, but the turnips and marigolds took over and shaded them out. I did try to run a cantaloupe up the trellis with the beans, but only got one tiny melon, the tomatoes were right behind the trellis that year and kind of took over and I think that might have been a lack of space and sun.

I haven't tried any other type of squash (like I said  4x7 space here), but I did grow both Early Girl and some kind of yellow tomatoes too and they did not get the BER like the Roma did. I think that's all I've tried in the gardenÂthat and the peppers, of course.

I had problems with yields in my organic garden with peppers. I now put almost all of my peppers in containers of 5-14 gallon. Total of 33 plants last year that I kept, and I gave away over 120 gallons of chili peppers of various types. You can "push" almost all of the chilipepper varieties with organics, and don't believe what folks tell you, organics can and do work in containers. I also used both black, green and white containers with no apparent problems due to heat absorbtion in the black containers. The secret is to start your mix a couple weeks to a few months before you plant so the microlife gets a head start. You can find my mix in the pepper site, organic site. The mix is only good for one season in a container, but man oh man how the garden rocks when your leftover soil and rootballs are mixed into the garden!! Have fun. Experiment! Don't believe everything you hear from everyone. Everyone grows different and finds what works best for them!!
TiMoTeO

While the plants in the garden had a few more issues than the ones in the containers, I never had any viral or other growth peoblems in the 3 years I have done the container planting. Sometimes you get a virus in the soil, and it takes a few years to go away If you don't plant the affected plants at all for that time. Atleast that is what my county EA told me concerning my tomato problems.

TiMo