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Gardening in Alberta is highly rewarding however facing a short growing season presents some challenges. Growing things like hot and sweet peppers is something you can do up here. That said I highly recommend either purchasing the larges grafted plant at the beginning of the growing season or follow these easy steps to start them from seed and follow along. Unlike tomatoes you can start peppers any time. Peppers will grow and produce fruit as long as they have favorable conditions.
In the below video I will focus on the start of this process and will follow up in a few weeks to continue the process. What I have done this year is started a few peppers in September of 2013 and have been working to make them pepper bushes. My goal is to produce a plant that will give me two or three crops of hot peppers in my short Season.
Pruning peppers will keep the plant shorter and bushier. The pepper should be able to resist wind damage while holding a heavy yield.
This first pruning for me is usually triggered when the plant has well established height 15 cm or 6 in tall or when the plant tries to flower. When you prune the pepper you want to cut it back to the last few nodes where leafs come out. The new stems will come from those nodes. I know it looks brutal but it will pay off!!
Feeding is important for the plants. they are going to go through stress and need easy to access food. liquid organic fertilizer is easy to access and gives the plant a shot of goodness. it is harder to over fertilize with Organic fertilizers like the liquid kelp based mix I use but it can still happen so watch for the signs.