Salsa dilema

Why is it that my sweet peppers and tomatoes are never ready at the same time? I have been bringing in loads of tomatoes and canning salsa, but have to buy the green and yellow peppers needed for my recipe. My jalapenos are producing just enough to get by, but it seems like this repeats itself year after year. I will have many beautiful green and yellow peppers going into the fall when the tomatoes are slackening off. Is it the growing time or the weather? We've had a cooler summer than usual so I hoped they would produce earlier. I usually start them and put them out right along with my tomatoes. Do I need to do the peppers earlier or is there something nutrient-wise I could supplement to get the fruit setting on sooner? I would really appreciate any advice as I would love to get all the salsa ingredients from my garden at about the same time.

Kathy

Blame it on nature, some plants once they start to fruit, they just get on and do it, others need that bit longer to reach maturity, but then maybe it is the weather playing a larger part that would be for say someone in a zone with higher temps earlier on, is there no way you could pick some tomato's before they go red, then store them somewhere to slow down the ripening processes to give the peppers time to catch them up, worth a try next year, to speed up ripening any fruit you can place a banana beside them and the gas the banana releases causes the other fruits to ripen faster, worth a try also. hope you get the problem solved soon. Good luck. WeeNel.

I seed my peppers 3 weeks earlier than tomatoes, so it might be worth a try next year. My sister peels, chops, and then freezes her tomatoes until she has time to do with them what she wants.

definitely having this dilemma as well. thanks for starting this thread. there are so many things going on with us beginner veggie gardeners it's hard to pinpoint issues.

i definitely need to grow limes as well to go with the pico de gallo, and start cilantro earlier.

I think it has to do with our area's climate and the growing habits of the two plants. I have the same problem with sweet peppers. For some reason it hardly ever fails here that by the time they start blooming it has gotten too hot for them to set on. They hang on over the summer and then I get a crop in fall. The tomatoes seem to usually start blooming earlier than the peppers and get a first crop set on before the weather gets too hot. This year was *really* weird though. First it was too cool for them to grow quick and then we got that hot spell which limited the fruit that set on. shrugs

Thanks to all for your ideas and thoughts, and thanks to you Vashur for helping me feel like I'm not alone. This has been an odd year, though I've actually loved the cooler temps. Next year I think I'll try starting my peppers 2-3 weeks earlier than my tomatoes to see if I have any better luck. Vashur, mine have followed the exact pattern you describe.

Kathy

The problem isn't in how early you start the plants in the house but how early you can put them in to the garden. I set them out in the garden at the same time as the tomatoes. I already start them earlier in the house because they germinate and grow slower. They *also* grow and develop slower in the garden and I can't set them out in the garden earlier.