Greenhouse sweet bell peppers are grown in red, yellow and orange. It's a long-cycle crop: plants can stay in production for much of the year.
How it grows
- Each plant is grown on several stems trained upwards on strings.
- The work includes training stems, pruning shoots, de-leafing and adjusting the fruit load.
- The fruit starts green and changes to its final colour (red, yellow or orange) as it ripens.
Harvesting
- Peppers are harvested at the colour stage your supervisor specifies.
- Cut the stem with a knife or clippers. Never yank the fruit off: the plant's stem is brittle and can break.
- Leave a short stem on the pepper so it doesn't damage itself or other fruit.
Handling
Although it looks firm, a pepper bruises and marks. Place it in the container — don't throw it. Separate damaged fruit as instructed and keep colours apart when asked.