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Peppers vs Tomatoes

Kikaida

Kikaida

This season is going to me my first real effort at growing peppers. Last year was tomatoes and although good, I found the plants can get crazy big as the varieties I like are all indeterminate. Not only that, they look beat to death at the end of the season which makes my patio look like crap. But one thing I did notice is they are very needy. Very susceptible to disease, easily damaged by bugs and very 'goldy locks' like when it came to watering. Now I preface that with the fact that I used fabric pots which was a very bad idea considering how hot it gets where I'm at and its impossible to keep the soil evenly moist...the core would be fine but the perimeter dry...when the perimeter was moist, the core was soaked, lose-lose.
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So, how are peppers in comparison? Are they pretty hardy and disease resistant in comparison?
 
peppers stay smaller, don't have sucker branches taking up space. every node can fruit. peppers do have diseases and pests but are pretty easy to take care of. if you smoke i would advise washing yourself before touching the plants.
Peppers are easier to water than tomatoes, you can be kinda neglectful watering only once or twice a week.
yes
 
Yeah, peppers have a bigger goldylocks zone. They can take higher temps (usually) and are more forgiving on the watering. I've found that aphids like peppers better than tomatoes but could be an anomaly. Also, they look much less ragged at the end of the season.

What you're describing with tomatoes is just what they do--they get diseases and look sad. They aren't ornamental at all.
 
Oooh a growing question!!! Thought this was a battle to the death between peppers and tomatoes!! :)
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Guess I'll tell these guy's to go home!!
 
Growing peppers has been far easier than tomatoes in my experience.  They are less prone to blights/disease, more understanding of inconsistent watering and hardier in most other aspects.  Make sure the ground is warm enough before you put them out, and stake them if their crop is heavy or thick walled to prevent breakage.  Otherwise they're pretty 'set and forget' or have been for me in zone 5a the last three years.
 
Thanks for the replies all! Only doing 3-4 tomatoes next year and around a dozen peppers so it should be much more mellow around the garden. Those Old German's are just too good to pass up!
 
Kikaida said:
Thanks for the replies all! Only doing 3-4 tomatoes next year and around a dozen peppers so it should be much more mellow around the garden. Those Old German's are just too good to pass up!
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What area of Cali are you living at ?
 
both plants are in the nightshade family so their needs are almost identical.  You see less susceptiblity to disease in peppers especially in anything that attacks the fruit, peppers being smaller and having less water content.  This is also why you see less problems in cherry type tomatoes. Hornworms dont seem to like the leaves either.  You can always cut back your indeterminate tomatoes when they get too big. Both plants prefer steady moisture, no plant enjoys draught.  Peppers do seem to perform better in containers however.  So long story short peppers are slightly less work but how will you make a BLT?
 
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