It's being featured on the covers and front pages of many catalogues. Peppers like heat and warm soil even more than their cousin, the tomato. Set out too early in cool soil, they're susceptible to root rot and stem problems that stunt them. Even sweet peppers can develop a bit of a hot taste if you forget to water them regularly after fruit set. And after blossoms set, scratch a tablespoon of Epsom salts into the ground around each plant for bigger fruit.
Peppers are also more fragile when they're fully ripe.
That means red ones have to be handled more carefully and more are lost to spoilage during shipping. Two weeks ago, my plant was 3 feet wide and 30 inches tall. Now it's five stumps, each about 8 inches tall. Since I have seen that it can grow 2 feet a year, I cut it to allow for that much of a rebound. Also, I wanted to reshape it to look more like a forest grove and less like a bush.