How to Grow Peppers on a Trellis

Pick a long rectangular plot of ground, since the support struts will be installed at both ends of the rectangle. Dig out weeds with a mattock and turn over the ground with a hand rake to look for stones. Dig furrows 1 foot deep with a hoe and sow the ground with fertilizer rich in phosphorus and potassium, such as a fertilizer with an NPK ratio of 5-10-10. Fill in the furrows.

Cover the pepper plot with black plastic until planting, so as to strangle any weeds still lurking in the soil. Anchor the plastic with rocks or bricks.

Fill biodegradable seed pots with potting soil, and plant pepper seeds in early spring. Keep them moist by sprinkling them with water, and store the seed pots in a warm (between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit), partly sunny environment. The seeds should sprout and be ready for transplanting about eight weeks later, so plan on preparing your seed pots two months before average daytime temperatures are reliably above 70 degrees. If you intend to buy sprouts from a garden store, skip to the next step.

Plant the sprouts once the daytime temperature is reliably above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut two rows of circular holes, each about 4 or 5 inches wide, in the black plastic covering. The rows must be 1 foot apart, and the individual holes in each row separated by 18 inches. Dig up the soil and plant the sprouts in the holes.

Cut the bottom of a pair of 5-foot long pieces of 2 x 4 timber with a saw or axe into a point, creating stakes. Saw four 14-inch long crossbars from 2 x 4 timber. Fasten two crossbars to each stake, one at 30 inches from the point and the other at 42 inches from the point. Drive two nails for each crossbar. Draw a line across the stakes, marking a spot 2 feet from the point.

Drive the stakes into the ground with a sledge hammer at both ends of the pepper plot, burying 2 feet of the stake into the ground. This places the crossbars at 6 inches and 18 inches above ground level.

Tie two lines of twine between the crossbars, placing the lines directly above the rows of pepper sprouts. Tie another line between the two upper lines, zig-zagging back and forth across the gap. Tie this zig-zag line loosely, so as to avoid pulling the lines inward and away from the rows of sprouts.

Water the peppers so they receive the equivalent of 1.5 to 2 inches of rain every week. As they grow, the pepper plants will use the twine lines for support.