It’s easy to get antsy waiting for your poblano peppers to grow. Generally speaking, the faster your plants grow, the better – but can you help them grow faster?
You can help poblano peppers grow faster by: planting them where they get enough sun, watering them correctly, fertilizing regularly, planting them far enough apart, harvesting and pruning them to encourage new growth, using the right kind of soil, and utilizing a grow light during germination.
If you want to know everything there is to know about speeding up the growth of your poblano peppers, read on!
7 ways to get your poblano peppers to grow faster
Of course, you want your poblano peppers to grow faster. Why wouldn’t you? Luckily, we have some answers.
Here are 7 ways to get your poblano peppers to grow faster:
- Plant them where they get enough sun.
- Water your pepper plants correctly.
- Fertilize regularly.
- Don’t overcrowd your pepper plants.
- Harvesting and pruning your peppers encourages new growth.
- Use the right kind of soil.
- Utilize a grow light during germination.
Now let’s talk about each tip in more detail!
Plant them where they get enough sun
Sun is the basis of photosynthesis – aka what makes plants grow!
To make your poblano peppers grow faster, plant them where they get enough sun. Poblano peppers need full sun to grow fastest. Measure how much sun different parts of your yard get and plant your peppers where there’s the most sunlight throughout the day.
Before planting, keep track of where the sun lands in your yard and where your trees (if any) cast shadows.
Choose the spot in your yard that gets the most sun to plant your poblanos! If you don’t have anywhere that gets full sun, choose the next best spot.
Water your pepper plants correctly
Water is another key component to plant growth.
To make your poblano peppers grow faster, water them correctly. Poblano peppers need 1-2 inches of water every week. The soil should be damp within an inch or two of the surface. You can use mulch to keep in moisture. Water early in the day so the water dries off before the sun scorches the leaves.
Watering your poblano pepper plants isn’t as simple as just grabbing a watering can, but once you learn how it’s a breeze!
It’s vital for peppers to receive consistent watering. Peppers need 1-2 inches of water each week. If the soil is dry within an inch or two of the surface, it’s time to water again.
Consider using mulch to keep the soil moist. That being said, avoid standing water.
Water early in the day so your poblano pepper leaves have time to dry before being in the sun to avoid scorching. You can also use drip irrigation or a soaker hose to avoid leaf wetness altogether.
On the other hand, overwatering your poblano plants can cause just as much harm – if not more – than underwatering!
If your soil is consistently soggy, if the leaves are wilted, and especially if the stem is wilted, you’re likely overwatering.
Fertilize regularly
In addition to sun and water, your poblano pepper plants need the correct amount of nutrients.
To make your poblano peppers grow faster, fertilize them regularly. Poblano peppers do well with fertilizers that have a 1-2-2 ratio. You don’t need as much fertilizer if there’s a lot of compost or organic material in your soil. Using both liquid fertilizer and a slow-release granular fertilizer will yield the best results.
Fertilizers with a 1-2-2 ratio are good for peppers, such as 5-10-10. If there’s a lot of compost or organic material in your soil, you won’t need as much fertilizer.
Timing is also important. If you fertilize too soon, it may lead to excessive foliage at the cost of your yield.
Don’t fertilize when you first transplant your peppers outside. After about a week, apply a half-strength liquid fertilizer.
After a month, fertilize again at full strength. An addition of a slow-release, granular fertilizer is perfect.
Keep fertilizing once a month with liquid fertilizer. The mix of slow-release and liquid fertilizer will keep nutrient levels up!
Don’t overcrowd your pepper plants
You may be tempted to plant as many pepper plants as possible, but think twice! Overcrowding your pepper plants can drastically decrease the speed of their growth.
To make your poblano peppers grow faster, don’t overcrowd them. Overcrowded pepper plants need to compete for nutrients, sun, water, and space. Likewise, pests and diseases can spread more easily between them if they’re overcrowded.
When you overcrowd your pepper plants, they have to compete for nutrients, sun, water, and space.
This stresses your plants out! They won’t be able to grow as quickly if they’re putting all their energy into competition.
In addition, it’s easier for pests and diseases to pass between pepper plants if they’re planted too closely together.
Along with slower growth, you’ll have lower yields if your pepper plants are overcrowded.
Harvesting and pruning encourage new growth
While it may seem counterintuitive to trim your pepper plant for it to grow faster, growing in response to damage is an evolutionary tactic that plants have developed in order to recover from being eaten by bugs and animals.
To make your poblano peppers grow faster, harvest and prune them to encourage new growth. Harvesting your poblano peppers while they’re still in their “immature” green stage will speed up the growth of new peppers. In addition, prune all the branches back besides those with peppers on them at the end of the growing season for one final, large yield!
Pruning has many purposes. Sometimes plants are pruned to direct growth in a certain direction or to maintain a specific shape once they’ve matured.
But pruning has another trick up its sleeve – it encourages your pepper plants to put all of their energy into the fruit rather than foliage.
Although it may seem drastic, prune all the branches besides those with fruit about a month before the first frost. This will create one strong push for a big final yield!
On top of this, harvesting your poblano peppers while they’re still green and “immature” will allow your plant to produce more fruit more quickly.
Use the right kind of soil
Obviously, having the right soil is key to prolific pepper growth.
Use the right kind of soil to make your poblano peppers grow faster. Peppers like a soil pH of roughly 6.5. You can amend your soil to increase or decrease the pH in order to reach this goal. Poblano peppers also like well-draining soil.
Peppers do best with a soil pH of roughly 6.5. If your soil doesn’t naturally fall around 6.5, that’s okay. You can amend your soil to increase or decrease the pH to the desired acidity.
It’s also important to have well-draining soil. Keeping the soil moist is important, but soggy soil is a no-no. Consider adding perlite to your soil or using a sandier base in order to increase drainage.
Utilize a grow light during germination
Germination can take what feels like ages. Let’s speed it up a bit so your pepper plants can get to the fun stuff!
To make your poblano peppers grow faster, utilize a grow light during germination. This will let your seedlings get a headstart so you can transplant them into the ground sooner!
Using a grow light during germination will ensure that your seeds get enough light to sprout. Obviously, getting a headstart on growing will help your poblano peppers grow faster!