Underdeveloping Green Bell Peppers

[Utah gardener]

For the last three years my wife an I have been planting green bell peppers. The problem is they just get to the size of a lage eggs and stop growing in size and turn red. A freind of mine also gave me starts last year that he grows. His harvests extremely large and we got golf balls. He checked my watering and fertilizer type and we are very simular. the only difference we can tell is he has more natual sand and i have more clay. Would this create the problem?

 

[lesa]

Peppers like it really sunny and hot- is your garden more shaded than your friends? And by the way--Welcome! Welcome!

 

[hoodat]

For the last three years my wife an I have been planting green bell peppers. The problem is they just get to the size of a lage eggs and stop growing in size and turn red. A freind of mine also gave me starts last year that he grows. His harvests extremely large and we got golf balls. He checked my watering and fertilizer type and we are very simular. the only difference we can tell is he has more natual sand and i have more clay. Would this create the problem?

Be sure you have plenty of calcium in the soil. Peppers need a lot of it. be sure it's there BEFORE you plant. It acts too slowly to add if the peppers are already growing.

 

[ducks4you]

, emilosevich!
I agree with hoodat. Enjoy your small ones--when I grew scads of sweet peppers (from seed) a couple of years ago, they were small, too, BUT tasty!
This fall, you really need to compost heavily and add egg shells or buy a couple of bags of oyster shell (for backyard fowl), and I mean lots of it piled up even up to your knees. Over the winter it will compress as it ages. Till it in next spring. You won't have to fertilize at all. I haven't. I can see when my plant's roots hit the compost--they are in raised beds, so they don't touch the compost until they grow into it.
IN FACT, you can throw you vegetable kitchen waste into your garden, all this winter. I did last winter.