TOMATO AND PEPPER Facts

LIGHT

Full sun

SOIL

Well drained

WATER

Keep moist; water just before the soil becomes dry

SPACING

HARDINESS

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TOMATOES

Set plants at least 24 inches apart; plant very vigorous selections up to 4 feet apart

Very sensitive to frost; warm weather vegetables

Plant both early and midseason varieties to make sure you have a long harvest period.

PEPPERS

Set transplants 24 inches apart

Very sensitive to frost; warm weather vegetables

In addition to bells, try sweet peppers shaped like elongated cones.

TOMATOES

All gardeners take pride in vine-ripened tomatoes. In addition to traditional red tomatoes, you can grow tomatoes that ripen to yellow, orange, and even purple. Small cherry tomatoes are ideal for salads and fleshy paste tomatoes cook into a rich, thick sauce. Tomatoes are not difficult to grow provided they get plenty of sun and warmth.

Tomatoes are not difficult to grow provided they get plenty of sun and warmth.

PEPPERS

Peppers are grown much in the same way as tomatoes. They need plenty of sun and warmth, too. Grow very fast maturing hybrids (60 days or less) if you live where summers are short and cool. In areas with a long growing season, time is less important. You can even leave sweet peppers on a plant to attain a fully ripened yellow or red color; they will taste much sweeter than they do when picked green.

Hot peppers are very tolerant of heat and do not mind even the hottest summer weather. You will probably only use a modest number of hot peppers, so one or two plants should be enough.

Hot peppers are very tolerant of heat and do not mind even the hottest summer weather.

FERTILIZING TOMATOES AND PEPPERS

Most people plant tomatoes and peppers in individually prepared planting holes enriched with at least two spadefuls of compost or other rich form of organic matter. Both vegetables are sensitive to too much nitrogen. Overfed plants grow very large and leafy but may not produce many fruits.

Avoid this problem by using Vigoro® Timed-Release Flower and Vegetable or Tomato & Vegetable Plant Food so that plants are fed gradually. Mix a teaspoon of fertilizer into the deepest part of the planting hole, beneath where the transplant will be planted, and scatter the rest on the soil around the plant.

Tomatoes and peppers develop strong lateral roots that will make use of these nutrients. Where summers are very long, fertilize again lightly in late summer to help support new fall growth. Mulching your tomatoes and peppers will control weeds and help insure that the plants have ample soil moisture.

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