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Green Thumbs: Growing Bell Peppers


In keeping with my green thumbs posts, a few weeks ago I mentioned how I got started with gardening and the outcome of my massive garden.

This week I wanted to mention how my bell peppers got started. I didn’t buy seeds and I didn’t buy the plants. I was given a bell pepper to make stir fry. Now I have 15+ bell pepper plants in my garden. See the row of small little green plants in the front of my jalapenos? Yep, that’s them and they are actually doubled in size from when this photo was taken. Let me explain…

You won’t have much luck planting from a vegetable or fruit that has been refrigerated. As a matter of fact, it simply won’t work. I had this one that was given to me, sitting out in my fruit stand. I cut the pepper as usual, shaking off the seeds onto a paper plate.

I then just let the paper plate sit out in my kitchen, out of reach, for about a week. The seeds dried out, which is good. I did this purely to see if it would work… I didn’t follow any instructions.

A week later, I went outside and made a line in the dirt about 1/2 inch deep. I planted the seeds about 1-2 inches apart and covered them up. Of course, right after I planted them, it rained for about 3 days straight. I didn’t think anything of it until 2 weeks later, not only are the plants there… 15 or more of them, but they are in a wavy line.. I assume the rain pushed some of the seeds around.. but they are there, a (curvy) row of bell pepper plants. I’m going to have a lot of peppers I think.

Where I planted them in the garden is sort of shady. It’s underneath a huge tree and this is where I planted most of my peppers. It gets sun but it’s not full sun.

So there you go. Next time you use some peppers in your meal, save the seeds… dry them out and plant them!

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10 COMMENTS

  • Beth via Facebook

    the kids and i learned on bearenstain bears that if you crush up egg shells and put them in your plants they provide great nutrition! hello Easter! :)

  • via Facebook

    Great tip, thank you Beth!

  • Natalie

    I had no idea you could do that…but it does make sense! Thanks for sharing the tip. I am getting ready to plant a bunch of seeds and just happen to have a bell pepper I bought the other day!

    • Jess

      Just tweeted you. Can’t wait to hear how it goes! What else are you planting?

  • Melissa via Facebook

    love bell peppers!! on my list for my garden this year!

  • via Facebook

    They grow really easily and are very forgiving as I’ve found. :)

  • Amanda via Facebook

    I did this because I couldnt find red bell pepper seeds anywhere! Super easy and worked great!

  • via Facebook

    Great to hear! I am up to my ears in pepper plants but I am constantly saving the seeds. You can keep the dried seeds in a baggy or saran wrap in a safe place for up to 6 months. Great if you want to retry again in the fall. – Jess

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