If your pepper plants are growing tons of leaves but barely producing any peppers, there’s usually a reason. In this video, I’ll walk you through the most common pepper growing mistakes I see every year — from spacing and sunlight to watering, pruning, fertilizing, and more.
MENTIONED PRODUCTS:
Neptune’s Harvest: https://shop.nextlevelgardening.tv/collections/organic-fertilizer
My Book — Companion Planting for Beginners: https://amzn.to/3PvChui
Thanks for watching and supporting Next Level Gardening!
CHAPTERS
0:00 Why Your Pepper Plants Aren’t Producing
0:42 Sun Exposure Matters More Than You Think
1:29 Pepper Spacing Mistakes
2:11 Planting Two Peppers Together
3:19 When to Plant Peppers
3:59 The Best Soil for Peppers
4:26 What I Add at Planting Time
5:05 Don’t Plant Peppers Too Deep
5:36 Should You Pinch Pepper Flowers?
6:13 Topping Pepper Plants for More Production
6:47 Why Pepper Flowers Fall Off
7:46 Supporting Heavy Pepper Plants
8:56 The Biggest Watering Mistake
10:33 Why Healthy Pepper Plants Don’t Produce
11:26 Switching Fertilizers for More Peppers
12:25 Common Pepper Pests & Problems
14:49 The Secret to Getting More Peppers
20 Comments
One of the biggest mistakes with peppers is accidentally pushing too much leafy growth instead of fruit production. Healthy-looking plants don’t always mean productive plants.
Also — for those asking in the video, the Neptune’s Harvest products I mentioned are linked here: https://shop.nextlevelgardening.tv/collections/organic-fertilizer
I’ve used their Crab & Lobster Shell, Kelp Meal, and Tomato & Veg fertilizer in my garden for years.
And if you’ve discovered any weird pepper-growing tricks that actually worked for you, leave them below. I always love hearing what other gardeners are seeing in different climates.
Looking forward to watching this! I thought you had a big black bug on your chest at first😂. Obviously, I need a second cup of coffee this morning 🤪. Always appreciate your videos ❤
I plant 2 tomatoes in one like you’re suggesting. Call me crazy but in a month or 6 weeks I’ll be swimming in 🍅🍅🍅 It’s time for me to transfer to the ground so I’ll do the 2 in one
Did companion pepper 🫑🌶️ plants last year. They held each other up.
Need oil is not good for the bees
They need extra potassium more than most fruiting plants. Tomatoes needs a good amount of potassium too but peppers need it even more to make and hold their fruits. I will grow tomatoes and peppers together but I make sure to put them in a zigzag pattern and they get enough sun but not to much sun so they don’t blister from sun scald. I use the organic coop grow that has the macro and micro nutrients and it provides calcium as well.
I have the most ladybugs in my garden this year and I haven’t seen any aphids so far , I wonder if they are starving . Do they eat leaf miners? I have leaf miners on my satsuma and I see loads of ladybugs on the tree.
My Turnpike F1 bell peppers are spaced 12" apart and are making bumper crops of huge peppers. I always prune them after they grow 6 inches past their first split. I remove all leaves/buds/branches below the point where the stem divides, then I just let em rip.
I use grow bags for my peppers. We had some nights in the 40s here in Georgia so I bring the peppers inside my garage on nights below 50. So far I still have blossoms and some baby fruit. Yea!
This is why I love this channel. I was just standing in front of my pepper seedlings and wondering “how can I improve pepper yields this year ?” BOOM
Does the planting two in one space go for a 10 gallon grow bag?
Can you plant 2 different types of peppers this way?
I'll buy established plants that have already started to bud. Pick off all the buds and peppers after transplant. Then just let them go😊. I have to give them away because I can't use all of them😂
If Neptune's Harvest is out of budget, what do you suggest? ❤
Pinch those leaf miners!!!!!😂
Great timing… I'm about to plant 2 pablano peppers! Thanks, brother! Blessings to you and your family! 🙏💜
I'm in CT where it's still too cold to plant my veggies yet, but last summer my peppers were amazing! My plants were healthy and I ended up with more peppers than I could count (several hundred). Luckily I have a freezer and friends. 🤣
I only grew two types: poblano and a tiny hot pepper. I used two 7 gal grow bags (one bag for each variety) and each bag had 2 plants in it. I never empty my grow bags and I do leave them outside throughout the winter, but before planting I amend my soil. My go-to for all plants is a nice heavy addition of worm castings. I also use blood meal, bone meal, a hummus and compost mixture, plus well broken down cow manure. I do fertilize throughout the growing season, but only every 2-3 weeks, and I water daily (morning and late afternoon on those scorching days we get). I saturate the fabric on the bags as well as watering the base of my plants, and keep a water tray under each grow bag to catch the runoff. As the bags dry throughout the day they reabsorb that water which keeps the soil damp (but not wet). My plants are well hydrated but not soggy. When then get too heavy with developing fruit I use a ring style support. They had full sun until about 2 pm, then shade. I had no pest problems, fungus, or mold issues. I have a lot of marigolds, basil, green onions, as well as colorful flowers to attract pollinators and don't need to use much else – on any of my plants. It's taken me years to figure this out but what a difference!!
This is one of your best videos. Thank you.
We have many chicken eggshells and we ground them up very fine putting them at the bottom of each pepper plant when we plant them. Is that advisable?
I just use Jack's veggie feed on everything, and always had success.
Great info! Thanks! I’ve put them too close together before. Will try this spacing rule.
I love fish emulsion. But I love that it stinks up the neighborhood 😅