Bell peppers, native to Central and North America, have always been a popular homegrown vegetables. There are various types of bell peppers; though they come in different shapes, sizes and colors (green, yellow and red), they share one same thing: rich in vitamin C. They can be used as ingredient in many dishes.

Growing bell peppers in a garden is really easy. Here are some simple tips you can use:

First, sow the seeds indoor eight weeks before the last frost. Put them in pots at least 2 inches in diameter.

Prepare the soil in your garden by putting plenty of compost and manure. Bell peppers just love a well-balanced soil. Do not plant the seedlings outside before the last frost. Bell peppers do not like too cold climate. Instead, they enjoy warmth. Thus, before you plant them outside, make sure that the soil temperature reaches at least 65^OF. If it is still quite cool, it is okay to delay the planting for several days.

Leave gaps between seedlings at 18 to 24 inches each, and between rows at 24 to 36 inches each. This gap measurement varies according to the bell pepper variety.

Bell peppers love sunshine, but not too much for few varieties. Plant them in spots of your garden that receive at least 8 hours of direct sunshine.

Keep the soil well-drained, water your bell peppers well every day. Water them more in the hot, dry summer months. Otherwise you will obtain bell peppers with a bitter taste.

Cover the peppers with mulch to keep weeds out and to retain moisture. Use organic insecticides if ever needed.

Avoid putting too much nitrogen fertilizers into the soil since it will cause your bell peppers produce less fruits and more leaves. Keep the soil moist, never too sodden.

When it is time to harvest your bell peppers, cut the ripe ones about 1 centimeter just above the lids. Leave alone the remaining part of the plants, they will continue grow. The more you harvest, the more they bear fruits. So pick them as soon as possible!

If you find some unripe ones when the first frost is due, cut them, and then bring them inside to allow them continue the maturity process. Most bell peppers are green when they are not ripe yet. Mature ones may be orange, red, yellow, green or purple, depending on the variety.

Peppers are an important vegetable in that they contain high calorie value, Vitamin C and plentiful mineral substances. Pepper cultivation covers a 15% area of total greenhouse vegetable cultivation. Protected pepper cultivation is generally done in a single crop during the spring seasons. As tomatoes suffer from a higher percentage of viruses during the fall season, spring is the preferred season to grow peppers. In greenhouses, registered varieties or varieties with production permits (as well as hybrid seeds) are used. The first requirement for success in pepper cultivation is to choose the variety most appropriate for the season and then set out to grow healthy and robust seedlings.

Sowing compost and seedling compost should be well prepared. Both should be rich in nutrients and free of bacterial diseases as much as possible. After pepper seeds are germinated, the cotyledon leaves should be transplanted into compost sacks, pots or other seedling growing environments without causing any harm to the plants. Before planting the seedlings in their final place in the greenhouse, the necessary soil preparation should be made.

Ripe seedlings must be planted in the greenhouse during the daytime except from when the weather is hot. Depending on the water requirements of the plant, necessary watering should be done. In order to protect the pepper plants from succumbing to crown root disease, they must not come in contact with irrigation water. The ripening of peppers during harvest time depends on the variety and environmental conditions. Peppers should be harvested when their size is appropriate. If they are harvested too early, their tolerance to road conditions will be reduced. On the other hand, harvesting peppers too late will result in diminished quality.