What it is
Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum) is in the Solanaceae (Nightshade) family. Sweet, crunchy, and endlessly useful — the gateway pepper that handles Texas heat better than tomatoes do.
How to grow it
It wants full sun, 6–8 hr, water it even, 1–1.5 in/week, and give it rich, well-drained soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–6.8. Space plants about 18 in apart. Expect roughly 60–90 from transplant. Warm-season annual.
How it's used
Bell Pepper is used: raw, roasted, stuffed, frozen.
🔎 How to identify it
- Glossy lobed fruit hanging downward
- White star flowers at leaf joints
- Smooth non-spiny stems, bushy habit
Edibility
PartsRipe fruit (green through red)
UsesRaw, roasted, stuffed, frozen
CautionNone of note; all colors are the same plant at different ripeness.
🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.