2025 Bedding Plants Forum

[Rojo]

I don't know how many members grow Tomatoes, Peppers, & Eggplant. I'm going to blog the progress & process as I grow ours for anyone interested.

On the left is Bonnie Green Bell Peppers that I bought 6 weeks ago as little cell pack with 3in plants inside. On the right is 4 week old Creole Tomatoes purchased the same size as the peppers. Both are potted up with recycled bag potting mix. I just add extra Pearlite & Vermiculite for improved drainage. At this stage I keep the plants a little on the dry side to prevent dampening off but feed with a 50% mixture of Miracle Grow. Full strength is too hot for these young plants.

Self Watering pots are next when I up pot so I don't water the plants from the top greatly reducing the spread of disease. The remarkable thing with the Bell Pepper plants is I only grow new ones every 2-3 years. Harvest slows with cold weather but the plants live and produce for years. I have kept a single Tomato plant alive for 4 years by constantly rooting suckers. I had a volunteer cherry tomato that came up and was so superior to any offered in stores I just kept it going. I finally lost it.