Peppers are vegetables grown on upright plants all producing in a variety of shapes, colors and flavors. Sweet peppers, botanically called Capsicum annuum, grow into shapes able to be stuffed, flavors for grilling and colors that brighten a fresh salad. All sweet peppers are appropriate for kitchen gardens and will provide food for home cooking.
Sweet peppers, with multiple lobes at the base of the fruit, grow on tall plants. In describing pepper plants, the number indicating days to maturity is one factor in choosing plant varieties fit for vegetable container gardens. All types of pepper plants are classified as warm season crops, best planted after outside soil is warm.
Best Sweet Peppers for Garden Pots
The best sweet pepper plants to grow in garden pots prove the most reliable in a variety of garden environments. Especially for inexperienced gardeners, a good list to start with is plant winners tested. Here is a sampling of All-America Selection winners that are Capsicum annuum; these will fit in garden planters:
- AAS 2010 winner – C. ‘Cajun Belle’ is a compact 2’ tall plant producing small four-lobed bell peppers. The peppers grow approximately 2” tall to 3” wide in 60 days after transplanting. The sweet peppers mature to red coloring.
- AAS 2006 winner – C. ‘Carmen’ is a sweet pepper with an elongated shape; the plant grows to 30” tall. However, the peppers mature within 75 days and ripen red early.
- AAS 2001 winner – C. ‘Giant Marconi’ is a sweet pepper however, the smoky taste makes it ideal for grilling. The 30” plant is resistant to potato virus and tobacco mosaic virus.
- AAS 2000 winner – C. ‘Blushing Beauty’ is an 18” tall plant. The pepper is four-lobed and has a thick wall. Plants have a variety of color, harvested as ivory, pink or red. The peppers mature between 72 – 75 days.
When looking for bell pepper seeds to start and will grow well in container gardens, especially northern gardeners should know number of days before setting outside required and growing days before harvest needed. Ideas for more pepper plant varieties that fit in container gardens include:
- C. ‘King of the North’ is considered an excellent red bell pepper for northern gardeners. From transplant, harvesting begins after 70 days.
- C. ‘Miniature Yellow Bell’ is 2 – 3 lobed bell pepper on a very compact 16” tall plant. The small fruit are 2” diameter but take 90 days to mature.
- C. ‘Wisconsin Lakes’ is an early maturing bell pepper with thick walls. These peppers mature in 75 – 85 days.
Growing Sweet Peppers from Seed
Sweet Pepper seeds should be started 6 – 8 weeks before the last frost date. Indoors a soilless mix should be used in the tray or peat pots. After sprinkling seeds on top of the soil, lightly cover with additional soil. Seeds germinate in 5 – 10 days.
Gardeners wanting to start seeds outside must wait until the soil has warmed and all danger of late spring frosts have passed. Especially northern gardeners with shorter growing seasons, who start seeds outside, will want pepper varieties that grow quickly.
Sweet pepper plants are reliable vegetables to grow in a container garden. There are a wide variety of Capsicum annuum plants to choose from and grow. Sweet pepper plants with lobed forms are grown for cooking, as well as eating fresh.
Vegetable growers creating a kitchen garden in pots may be interested in melon varieties for garden planters. Like peppers, melon plants are a warm season crop.
Permission received for all photos used in this article.
Chris Eirschele - Chris writes on plants grown and gardens explored; she is a member of the Garden Writers Association.
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