Square Foot Gardening Peppers [How to Plant & Maintain]

One of the most popular and productive methods, square-foot gardening, makes the most out of small spaces for large yields. In particular, this garden plan works well for peppers since each plant needs approximately one foot of space. Square foot gardening peppers are a practical choice, no matter the type of peppers.

What Is Square Foot Gardening?

Square foot gardening uses raised beds divided into one-foot squares containing different plants. This type of gardening saves more space than traditional-style gardening.

Most people garden using these more traditional methods, such as sowing their gardens in rows, because that’s the way most seed packets suggest.

Growing this way works well for large-scale farming but is a poor use of space in home gardens.

Square foot gardening creates synergy in the garden. Tall plants on one side of the garden help shade plants in the middle. Multiple root systems close together help retain moisture longer.

The benefits of companion planting are more significant with this method because of the close proximity of the garden.

But proximity is only one of many reasons to try out square-foot gardening.

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Advantages of Square Foot Gardening

Compared to a traditional row garden, square-foot gardens have many benefits that make them easier to maintain. These are some of the most valuable perks of the method:

• Accessibility: From sowing to harvesting, gardening in a square-foot garden is more manageable because everything will be within reaching distance.
• Cost: For those without existing garden beds, setting up a garden in this style costs less than tilling and amending soil.
• High Yield: Square foot gardens leave plants less room to sprawl, resulting in increased production.
• Prevents Soil Compaction: Walking in traditional gardens causes soil to compact. Raised beds prevent this, leaving the ground aerated.
• Structures: Setting up chicken wire to deter pests or shade from the sun takes less time with a square-foot garden. Trellises are also easily incorporated into this setup.
• Soil Quality: Even in parts of the United States with low-quality soil, these gardens provide an option to use already rich potting soil, allowing for fruitful plants.
• Temperature: Warm weather-loving plants, like peppers, benefit from the higher temperatures that raised beds to provide.
• Water: Raised bed drain well; this compact gardening method saves water by placing everything together.

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Creating a Square Foot Garden

Making a Square Foot Garden is relatively easy and can be used yearly once constructed. Pick a spot for the garden with room for a 4’ by 4’ square, level ground, and ample sun.

Make a Plan

You must plan what you will be planting after picking out the best spot for the raised bed. A standard-size square foot garden has 16 one-foot plots.

Each space can grow one pepper plant, meaning you can grow sixteen peppers in a square-foot garden.

However, for the garden’s longevity, there are multiple reasons to consider planting a healthy variety of different vegetables or plants.

Diversity in the small space cuts down on the spread of disease. Flowers are a great option since they attract pollinators to the garden. Marigolds are a great choice since they deter pests.

Another reason to add more than just peppers to the garden is soil quality.

Peppers deplete soil’s nutrients, and crop rotation combats this, but multiple plants need to be grown for it to work.

Gardeners should consider the synergy of the plants grown together, and making notes of what is growing will be beneficial next season when switching up the placement of what’s growing.

Build the Box

When building a box, it’s essential to start with suitable materials. You’ll also want to use untreated or synthetic wood to craft your garden boxes.

Treated wood can leak unwanted chemicals into the garden’s soil.

Most gardeners use planks four feet long and six inches wide. Drill holes into the ends of the boards and screw them together into a square.

While some people incorporate plastic liners in their raised beds, experts typically don’t suggest using them because they don’t allow water drainage. Instead, consider these options for a liner:

• Newspaper
• Corrugated Cardboard
• Weed-block Fabric

These options allow for drainage and stop weeds and grass from growing up into beds. Once the box is constructed and placed in the correct spot, it’s time to add the soil.

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Soil

Besides the design, one of the essential factors of square-foot gardening is the soil used to fill the box. Eight cubic feet of dirt are needed to fill the bed for a 4’ by 4’ with a six-inch depth.

Part of what makes square-foot gardening successful is the addition of soil, rather than spending time and resources amending what’s already there.

The soil is richer and less susceptible to diseases and other problems.

Mel Bartholomew popularized this method with a book and PBS series in the 80s. His special blend of dirt is a favorite of gardeners decades later.

The soil mix he used was a mix of peat moss, vermiculite, and compost in equal parts. This blend is called Mel’s Mix. It is one of the most effective choices for square-foot gardening.

Divide the Box

Once the soil has been added, divide the box into sixteen squares using the standard 4’ by 4’ size. There are multiple ways to establish a grid in the garden.

Some gardeners use wooden slats or similar materials to designate spaces. Others use strings to create their grid. Any method should work as long as the one-square-foot spaces are marked.

Read: Square-Foot Gardening Radish [How to Grow]

Plant and Maintain

Unlike some of the species planted in the garden, pepper plants need to be placed one per square foot. Seed packets should indicate how many plants fit in a square foot.

For example, herbs can share a space with around four per square, while smaller plants like radishes can fit nine in a section.

If starting seeds outdoors, use a sheet of black plastic to trap heat and encourage germination. Once you further develop the plants, add mulch to help retain moisture.

After harvesting from a plot, add new compost to the square. Turn over the soil to plant something new for the current season or prepare for the next year.

Growing Peppers in a Square-Foot Garden

In warmer parts of the United States, you can start growing peppers from their seed form in a square-foot garden.

The raised beds help keep the soil temperature high, but most people start peppers indoors before transplanting.

Peppers need temperatures between 70° to 95° to germinate successfully but can sprout in slightly cooler conditions. However, peppers will not sprout if the soil temperature is under 55°.

Once soils are warm enough and you pass the threat of frost, start peppers in the square-foot garden. Create a small hole in the earth and place the seed inside.

Cover the seeds, but do not pack dirt on top of it. Packing dirt on top can stop the seed from sprouting. A tiny seedling should emerge in around a week. 

Direct sowing won’t work in all conditions, but there is an alternative method.

Starting Pepper Seeds Indoors

Square-foot gardening peppers will probably require indoor seeding. Start seeds in a warm sunny location for around eight to ten weeks before transplanting them outside in peat pots.

Two to three weeks after the last frost, conditions should be ideal for a transplant. Add a single pepper plant to the plots. Once established, add mulch to help the soil retain warmth.

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Peppers as Perennials

Certain areas, especially in California or Florida, may be able to overwinter their peppers and grow them as perennials.

Those able to grow peppers as perennials should add a gentle fertilizer during the fall for greater success.

While you can implement this method in a square-foot garden, perennial pepper growing is more accessible when you keep the plants in portable containers.

This way, you can relocate them inside during cold weather.

Pepper Varieties for a Square Foot Garden

One of the reasons peppers are so popular is the fruit’s versatility. Peppers range from sweet to hot and create everything from salads to sauces.

You can measure the heat of peppers in Scoville Heat Units. All varieties can easily be grown in square-foot gardens, but not all areas of the United States are ideal for growing all peppers.

These are some of the most popular backyard peppers, their heat index, and their hardiness zone:

Name	Scoville Heat Units	Origin	Hardiness Zones
Anaheim Pepper	1,000 – 2,000	New Mexico, United States	5-12
Bell Pepper	0	Mexico, Central America, South America	9-11
Bhut Jolokia	1,000,000+	Assam, India	8-11
Cachucha Pepper	500 – 1,500	Caribbean	9-11
Cayenne Pepper	25,000 – 50,000	French Guiana	9-11
Cubanelle Pepper	1,000	Cuba, Puerto Rico	10-11
Datil Pepper	100,000 – 350,000	Florida	9-11
Habanero Pepper	100,000 – 350,000	Peru	9-11
Jalapeno Pepper	2,000 – 8,000	Mexico	9-11
Poblano Pepper	1,000 – 2,000	Puebla, Mexico	9-12
Scotch Bonnet Pepper	100,000 – 350,000	Caribbean, Guyana, the Maldives	9-11
Serrano Pepper	10,000 – 25,000	Puebla, Hidalgo, Mexico	9-12
Thai Pepper	50,000 – 100,000	Mexico, Central America	9-11
Tabasco Pepper	30,000 – 50,000	Tabasco, Mexico	9-11

Check: Square Foot Gardening Cucumbers [Helpful Tips]

Harvesting Peppers

Once you establish your pepper plants, they are relatively low maintenance, especially in a square-foot garden.

Watering and mulching during warm weather periods should be all that’s necessary.

Peppers should appear on the plant after flowering. Certain pepper varieties take longer to produce.

Some sweet peppers appear within 60 days, while hotter varieties can take longer, up to 150 days.

A pepper is ripe once it has reached the color and size specified on the seed packet or plant tag. Ripeness varies by species, so keep a record of the peppers you plant.

Once the pepper is ripe, remove them from the plant with shears. Peppers have brittle branches, so pulling breaks them easily.

Let an inch of the stem remain after cutting. Doing helps the pepper last longer.

Maintaining a Square Foot Garden

For a successful garden year after year, some maintenance is required. Square foot gardens require the same care as other gardens, like fertilizing, mulching, and crop rotation.

Like more extensive gardens, you want to fertilize your growing area in the fall after harvest. Early-producing crop squares can be turned over and reused if it’s early enough in the season.

For more extended care, an essential aspect to consider is crop rotation. When soil becomes depleted of nutrients, plants don’t thrive.

Plants of the same family strip the same resources, so soil degrades over time.

Read: Square Foot Gardening Bush Beans [Best Methods to Grow]

Switch Up the Squares

When using the square foot method for multiple years, switch up the placement of the crops. This practice is known as crop rotation and helps the soil stay balanced and nutritious.

One of the perks of square-foot gardening peppers and other plants is that soil stays separated using the raised bed method.

This setup makes crop rotation more manageable than in most gardens.

Rotating Crops: Three-Year Rotation

Contrary to the name, a three-year rotation switches crop placement each year. The name references when the plants return to their original spot.

A three-year rotation is most common for peppers, but a four-year process also works. Keep notes of the placement of the plants to make switching plots in the square-foot garden easier.

Rotating Crops: What To Plant

Just as crucial as when you rotate crops is what you rotate in its place. Rotate the pepper crop with unrelated plants, which deplete different nutrients and replace others.

Since peppers are solanaceous, tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplant, members of the same family, should not be used.

Consider these options and other options from the cucurbits and brassicas families:

• Cucumbers
• Melons
• Squash
• Brussel Sprouts
• Cabbage
• Broccoli

Additionally, you may like some more Gardening articles:

• Square Foot Gardening Sweet Potatoes
• Beets Square-Foot Gardening [All about Beets]
• Square Foot Gardening Parsley [How & Where to Grow]
• Square Foot Gardening Garlic [Methods To Grow]
• Square Foot Gardening Peas [Techniques to Grow]
• Square Foot Gardening Kale
• What You Need To Know About Square Foot Gardening Spacing
• Square-Foot Gardening Soil Mix [Best Tips & Tricks]
• Okra square foot gardening
• Square Foot Gardening Broccoli: the best way to grow

Final Thoughts

Square-foot gardening peppers are a great way to get a high production yield in a small space. Peppers, in particular, are an easy crop to grow with this method.

Not only do peppers thrive in a square-foot garden, but they also provide shade for other plants once they reach their full height.

Any pepper variety makes a great addition to a square-foot garden.