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By Bobbie Whitehead
Jalapeños, fresh from the garden, make a spicy addition to any salad or chip dip as well as a popular item at farmers markets.
Gardeners wanting to add jalapeños still have a little bit of time left to do so.
Planting time for jalapeños in most regions continues until the end of May. As the end of the month nears, though, gardeners can still find jalapeño plants available and on sale at some garden centers.
Easy to grow, some horticulture experts suggest starting jalapeños indoors and transplanting them after frost danger has ended.
Joseph Masabni, Texas A&M University assistant professor and extension horticulturist, in the article “Easy Gardening: Peppers,” suggests planting no more than two hot pepper plants for a family of four.
Jalapeños like sweet peppers prefer growing in a sunny area with loose, loamy soil.
Jalapeños, fresh from the garden, make a spicy addition to any salad or chip dip as well as a popular item at farmers markets.
Gardeners wanting to add jalapeños still have a little bit of time left to do so.
Planting time for jalapeños in most regions continues until the end of May. As the end of the month nears, though, gardeners can still find jalapeño plants available and on sale at some garden centers.
Easy to grow, some horticulture experts suggest starting jalapeños indoors and transplanting them after frost danger has ended.
Joseph Masabni, Texas A&M University assistant professor and extension horticulturist, in the article “Easy Gardening: Peppers,” suggests planting no more than two hot pepper plants for a family of four.
Jalapeños like sweet peppers prefer growing in a sunny area with loose, loamy soil.
Two jalapeno pepper plants are all a family of four needs to grow, according to one expert.
In early May, gardeners still have time to plant peppers
To start from seed, the seeds should be planted about ¼ of an inch into containers or the ground, if starting outdoors, and water thoroughly.
The seeds typically germinate in 10-12 days. Once the plants emerge, gardeners can thin the pepper plants to about 12-15 inches between each plant.
For transplants, gardeners should space them about 15 inches apart, according to Larry Bass, North Carolina State University extension horticultural specialist in the “Vegetable Gardening – Quick Reference” guide.
If the plants come in peat pots, gardeners can remove the bottom of the pot, dig a hole deep enough to accommodate the plant, cover with soil, assuring soil covers the top of the peat pot, and water.
Peppers are considered a ”light to medium feeder,” meaning they don’t use up significant amounts of nutrients from the soil, according to Diane Relf and Alan McDaniel, horticulture extension specialists with Virginia Tech, in the article “Potatoes, Peppers and Eggplant.”
But for fertilizer, Relf and McDaniel suggest using a “starter solution for transplants” and “sidedress cautiously after first fruit sets with 3 tablespoons 33-0-0 per 10-foot row; too much fertilizer may cause excessive vegetative growth.”
Pepper plants are ready for harvest in 75-80 days, Bass writes. For seeds, harvest time runs about 100-120 days, write Relf and McDaniel.
Jalapeños, unlike some other hot peppers, are harvested when they’re green, not red. Masabni writes that “jalapeños are mature when they reach good size and develop a deep, dark green sheen.”
The seeds typically germinate in 10-12 days. Once the plants emerge, gardeners can thin the pepper plants to about 12-15 inches between each plant.
For transplants, gardeners should space them about 15 inches apart, according to Larry Bass, North Carolina State University extension horticultural specialist in the “Vegetable Gardening – Quick Reference” guide.
If the plants come in peat pots, gardeners can remove the bottom of the pot, dig a hole deep enough to accommodate the plant, cover with soil, assuring soil covers the top of the peat pot, and water.
Peppers are considered a ”light to medium feeder,” meaning they don’t use up significant amounts of nutrients from the soil, according to Diane Relf and Alan McDaniel, horticulture extension specialists with Virginia Tech, in the article “Potatoes, Peppers and Eggplant.”
But for fertilizer, Relf and McDaniel suggest using a “starter solution for transplants” and “sidedress cautiously after first fruit sets with 3 tablespoons 33-0-0 per 10-foot row; too much fertilizer may cause excessive vegetative growth.”
Pepper plants are ready for harvest in 75-80 days, Bass writes. For seeds, harvest time runs about 100-120 days, write Relf and McDaniel.
Jalapeños, unlike some other hot peppers, are harvested when they’re green, not red. Masabni writes that “jalapeños are mature when they reach good size and develop a deep, dark green sheen.”
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