About Bell Peppers

The hollowed cavity of a bell pepper makes an ideal vessel for baking up individual servings of meat loaf. Flavors from the pepper will season the meatloaf while providing an attractive and tasty covering. The bell pepper can be sliced up for salads, added to stews or soups or pickled. With the wide variety of available colors, the bell pepper can enhance the appearance as well as the flavor of prepared dishes.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Geography

1. Peppers are a perennial plant that is native to North and South America. In regions that experience frost, peppers can be grown as annuals. Bell peppers can be grown most places except in extreme high elevations or extreme northern areas. Peppers can also be grown in containers, requiring approximately ¾ to 1 cubic foot of soil per plant.

Identification

2. The pepper is a fruit, not a vegetable. The pepper, or fruit of the pepper plant, contains seeds within its walls. The pepper plant's pepper (or fruit) is classified by botanists as a berry. The bell pepper, or sweet pepper, is one type of pepper. Milder than one of the hot varieties of peppers, the bell pepper is larger and more oval-shaped, as opposed to the long, narrow shape of a hot pepper.

Types

3. Bell peppers are also referred to as "green peppers." Yet bell peppers come in a variety of colors: orange, red, green, yellow, purple, blue, white and brown. Some of the non-green varieties of the bell pepper tend to have a milder and sweeter flavor. The color of the fruit can depend not just on the type of bell pepper plant, but on when the fruit was harvested. The longer the fruit ripens on the plant, the sweeter the taste.

Features

4. Bell pepper bushes have large leaves and the plant grows to about 16 inches in height. They are rigid and compact plants. The fruit of the plant will mature in 65 to 80 days. Starting from seeds is a slow process, taking about eight weeks before the transplant stage. The plants require frequent feeding, about every 30 to 45 days. Inferior blossoms or growth can be an indication of too much nitrogen. A lack of water can inhibit fruit growth.

Warning

5. Peppers are not highly susceptible to insect infestation. Yet aphids can spread viruses from one plant to another. A plant that has been infected by a virus should be removed to avoid contamination of other plants. Other threats to the pepper plant include the disease anthracnose, often called leaf blight. Common symptoms are blotches or dead areas on the leaves that give the plant a scorched appearance.

Resources

• Growing Bell Peppers
• Healthy Foods, Peppers
• Bell Pepper