Question
I am growing red bell peppers in  window boxes on my porch.  They seem to be doing great at first and and I have of ton of blossoms but the peppers only seem to be getting about 2" long before they start turning red.  I planted them in fresh organic potting soil and water them every other day checking the soil daily.  I have four plants in a 3' long window box and 2 plants in an 18" long box.  They are about 7" wide and 6" deep.  Would box size have anything to do with the small peppers or maybe lack of nutrients?  Because of the house eaves they don't get any real rain.

Answer
Hi Sara, it sounds like they are stunted, given the premature ripening; the containers you have them in are not nearly large enough for the root system to expand in a healthy manner and peppers require an abundance of water, and should not be allowed to dry out completely or they will wilt, causing more problems with development. Avoid fertilizers that have a high nitrogen content, these are fine during initial growth, but as flowers appear, you need to back off and apply a lower Nitrogen, slow release,  granular that is specifically for veggies. Nick