Leaves appear crinckled

I'm south of you in Taxachusetts....

I have researched my wrinkled leaves, also. It is a bit of a mystery. Some folks say it is from wet soil. I was afraid it was a result of cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). Not sure. Sometimes it is said they can grow out of it. Keep us posted. PS I re-read your post....it certainly does not sound like you are over-watering!

I think the Bells are just cringing from being so near the super hots.

Thanks for the input guys. I went across the street to snoop on the neighbors garden the other day. They're bell pepper plants are already producing peppers. I'm a little bummed but I'll ride out this container style gardening and see how it ends up. I'll keep you posted.

I'll keep an eye on them. Thanks. I'm sure the neighbors wouldn't like an aphid sabotage. I did have plenty of striped cucumber beetles to share last week though. Those suckers were multiplying like crazy. Neem oil didn't do a thing unless I drowned each one in it. Unfortunately I resorted to Sevin. Hopefully I don't need to go down that road with my bells or jalapeños.

Yah, I am just waiting for the yearly Japanese Beetle infestation to begin around here. Once they start, they come in droves. Why is it that so many of the pest insects we have here are from Asian countries? It must be hell for them over there to have so many nasty pests be native.

I've got them so bad at my house. I think I spend at least $100/yr repairing my lawn. The skunks burrow in the fall then the crows and robins flip it all up come spring. At least we don't have the giant hornet though. I'm scared enough as it is of the paper wasps, yellow jackets and those huge white and black ground hornets. Once you get stung 50+ times in the stomach at one time when you're a kid the damn things haunt you for eternity.

That's insane about the hornet stings you endured as a kid, I could see me wiping all hornets out that I came across if that happened to me. The giant hornets I call them B-52's, seeing them in person in Korea, I kept well away from them and prayed I would never get to feel their wrath.

I've tried growing bell peppers in pots, they never did well for me producing about 3 peppers and of the three only one decent sized pepper. The leaves always curled in a pot and don't grow that broad which caused many peppers to get sun scald. I am growing purple bell peppers this year in ground and still I am not that excited at their performance. Next year I am thinking of growing a higher yield sweet pepper, not sure what variety yet.

Out of 8 plants this is all I've got. Yep just one.

Yeah, I'm really leaning towards pot size. I'm pretty sure I can get away with jalapeños in those small containers but probably not my bells. I'm torn between crowding my small raised bed or potting up.

I'm sure you'll get way more purple bells. I hear they grow way faster when you check on them 20 times a day. Haha. (That's what I do)

Maybe try some mini-bells. Regular bell peppers have never produced well for me either. When you can get them all year long in the grocery store for less than a dollar each, it is hard to justify growing them at home.

If you don't mind crowding your raised bed, which could lead to other problems depending on how crowded, put them there, if not then pot up and see how they do, mine were in pots about that size or smaller, so a larger pot may do well, but I've not heard of many who had good success with bells. I make daily visits to the garden and try to limit it to twice a day max so I need to check more often so I get better production lol!

My bell peppers actually did pretty good last year in a 5 gallon nursery pot (around 3 gal liquid). They did better than my jalapenos.

Yeah, I probably will try potting up. I've also been thinking of switching to ProMix. Not quite sure of I'm ready to try Al's 5-1-1 yet. My first year with my own garden and I never thought growing vegetables would be so complex.

It doesn't have to be. I have been using 5-1-1 for three years and really like it. But like you said, it isn't quite as simple as dumping some potting mix in a bucket. I did do an experiment this year and planted 7 of my Hot Hungarian Wax peppers in my 5-1-1 mix and then I planted one in a good container mix. All in 5 gallon buckets. I see little difference in their progress. This is my third year of reusing my 5-1-1 and it might be getting worn out. Plus I add some fresh container mix with it each year so it is probably closer to 3-1-1. I will probably just go with straight bagged mix in the coming years. Main reason is that the pine bark is too hard to come by and the only source I can find is a mix of large to minute chunks so I have to sift it twice to get the correct sized chunks (1/4 to 1/2 inch).

Good luck potting up and ProMix should be a great medium. You might want to add some extra perlite to keep it free draining. In the future, don't be afraid to try the 5-1-1 if you can source the pine or fir bark fines.

Thanks. Yes, I'll keep an eye out in my area for bark fines. I totally agree with cutting in more perlite. I wish I did that with my miricle grow mix. I'm wondering if some of my problems is due to too much water retention from the peat. The only times I see my plants progress is when my mix is starting to dry out. We had a stretch of 85 degree sunny weather and the soil is still plenty moist only watering every 10-14 days. I'll scrape my mulch off in the morning so the soil can get more airflow and dry out faster. So when I pot up to say a 4 or 5 gallon pot how much perlite should I be adding per container?

10-14 days between waterings is way too long if you haven't gotten rain in between. That does definitely signal that your soil is retaining too much water in that mix.

I would probably cut in a good gallon or so of the Perlite per 5 gallons.

Oh wow. Okay. I thought it was a long time as well. Now you're making me consider yanking my determinate romas and cutting my mix. Hahaha. Those things are getting out of hand. Those are 5 gallon buckets.

Yep, those tomatos are out of control....but in a good way. With the 5-1-1, you would probably be watering every other day in 85 and sunny weather.

I'll probably see if my local nursery has fines this weekend. Living in the 'Pine Tree State' you'd think I wouldn't have to look too hard, but then again, maybe so. I know one thing. I won't be spending $10 on a quart sized bag of bonsai bark fines.

Good luck. Remember though, you need pine or fir bark fines that are in the 1/4 to 1/2 inch range primarily. Some smaller and some bigger is OK, but I would look for something that is about 75% or better in that range. Otherwise, you will need to sift it like I did.