2020 Pepper Season: Week 1 Update

May 24, 2020 | Article Topics:

It’s been just over a week since all of the plants officially went outside for the rest of the season. In that time, the conditions have been less than ideal. The weather has been unseasonably cold and overcast with only a few days of bright sun – and even then, inconsistent sun.

As a result, I’m seeing mixed results in the plants after transplanting. As you can see below, some are doing well and some not so much. The plant on the right is the White Bhut Jolokia that struggled the last couple of weeks inside, but is absolutely crushing it now that it’s in dirt. The other plant on the left is a Chocolate Reaper and it’s a bit slow to get going.

pepper plant comparison photo

A good majority of the plants in the raised beds are doing well enough. They are slow in developing at this point in the season, but small hints of new growth are finally starting to show. The jalapeno and hatch varieties surprisingly seem to be enjoying the cooler temps and have grown the most thus far. They are in the far bed in the photo below.

pepper plant comparison photo

Most of the self-watering buckets, much like this time last year, appear to be fairing the best. In 2019, the bucket plants were the quickest to start developing further growth and seemed to have a head start before the raised bed plants started to catch up. I’m assuming that’s going to be the case again this year.

pepper plant comparison photo

And finally, a couple of weeks ago, my daughter up-potted one of her indoor plants (an aloe of some sort, I believe) using reconditioned starter mix that I had cast aside after a couple of failed germination attempts in February. Well, as fate would have it, a week after she repotted her plant, a mystery pepper sprouted. I’m not at all positive what variety it could be at this point, but it was carefully transplanted to its own pot and after becoming established in that, is now outside to see if we can get it going.

pepper plant comparison photo

I don’t have super high hopes for it, but you never know what Mother Nature has in store this year. We’ll just keep an eye on the little fella and do the best we can to promote its development.