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gdnh

should I compost these peppers and plant lettuce?

gdnh
10 years ago

I had a new plot cleared this year and bought some compost which I spread fairly thickly. It was obviously way too N rich as both brocolli and peppers very leafy no fruit. Peppers just flowering now (frost date Sept 16 here) Should I compost the peppers and put in lettuce at this point?

Comments (10)

  • Donna
    10 years ago

    I probably would. A month is very little time for peppers, especially if your temperatures are going to be diminishing throughout that time. You'll get more food from the lettuce at this point.

  • ltilton
    10 years ago

    You wouldn't have time to get red peppers, but a month is enough for green. I'd keep them and sow the lettuce elsewhere. Unless you really want lettuce and have no other space for it.

  • chervil2
    10 years ago

    Often I have had a bumper of peppers in mid-October. I would keep the plants and find another spot for the lettuce.

  • springtogarden
    10 years ago

    I would try for peppers if it were me. I have a similar situation. But mine is because we had a cold, wet June and then an extra hot, no warm-up, the rest of the time. They are just now flowering. I am in zone 6 and our freeze time is between Sept. 29th-Oct 4th.

  • tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM
    10 years ago

    You could try for both. Around here, I can get a frost in early to mid-October for a few nights and then it warms up to nicer temps for a little while. For those nights, I would have some black nursery pots set aside for covering the pepper plants with. In the mean time though, you can start sowing the lettuce seeds under and around the peppers.

  • seysonn
    10 years ago

    Peppers just flowering now (frost date Sept 16 here)

    ********************
    Nothing substantial can take place in ~~ one month from FLOWER to FRUIT. You might end up getting some tiny green peppers, which you can eat regardless of size.

    Go for lettuce, turnips, ....

  • laceyvail 6A, WV
    10 years ago

    How can you be in a zone 7 with a frost date of mid Sept?

  • planatus
    10 years ago

    My first frost comes in early Oct, followed by six weeks of nice weather. I have to cover peppers to keep them ripening. However, I consider any fruits set after Aug. 15 to be no-goes and usually clip them off. Green peppers are not worth waiting for.

  • ltilton
    10 years ago

    Weather doesn't read the calendar. Frost dates are just an average, and it's always possible to have a longer growing season.

    Since peppers are edible at any stage, the OP has plenty of time to get some green peppers to a useful size, particularly if the weather turns warm. I personally have little use for green peppers, and if the OP only wants red ones, it's too late for that. But a lot of people do like green peppers, and if the OP is one of them, I'd say to leave the plants and not write them off just when they might start producing.

    But obviously, this is a personal decision, not a right-or-wrong thing.

    This post was edited by ltilton on Thu, Aug 15, 13 at 15:18

  • gdnh
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi I am OP I have not yet decided. I am in zone 5 not 7 and the frost dates as some have mentioned are not set in stone. I have a cuke plant that looks like its about to give up producing so may pull that up and plant my lettuce there instead.

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