My 5 Least Favorite Edible Garden Plants for Newbies

#1 Jalapeño’s

Sadly, my experience with jalapeño’s was not super positive. My plants were located in full sun and watered about every other day (I made sure soil did not dry out more than a couple inches down). My plants would constantly wilt and then come back. I was worries about drainage, so I drilled a couple more holes at the bottom, but that didn’t help.

I did get a few jalapeños, but they were tiny – less than two inches before they started to turn black. I love all things spicy and was really looking forward to making homemade salsa with ingredients straight from my garden, but that just didn’t work out this year. I think I may try again this spring since I plan to scale back my garden so then I can give a little more attention to these babies.

#2 Bell Peppers

I think peppers were my overall down fall. I had transplanted two green bell peppers that I purchased from Lowes and one red bell pepper that was purchased from Green Acres. Both of my green bell pepper plants never fruited, but I did get about 4 red bell peppers. The red bell peppers were small, so I waited to harvest but they never really grew past 3 inches tall. Sigh. My peppers were located in full sun (6+ hours) and watered about every other day.

#3 Cilantro

My cilantro was planted in full sun and received water every day. We did get some harvest from it, but not enough and the leaves began turning yellow. I also struggled with wilting on and off like the jalapeños. Towards the middle of summer, it began to flower and turn to seed. Fresh cilantro from our garden was delicious, but I think it needed more attention than I could give it. Would absolutely plant again, but with a smaller garden.

#4 Strawberries

Okay, let me explain… Whenever I search for easy garden plants to start with, strawberries are always there! I planted my babes in full sun and watered about every other day… but they would wilt, and I lost 3 plants by the middle of summer.

No matter what I did – drill more holes for drainage, more watering, less watering, move to more shade, move to a different sunny spot, etc., etc. – they just didn’t flourish…. UNTIL I started ignoring them. Like seriously?! (lol) These babies are on my least favorite list because of how much effort I put into them and all the grief they caused. I MAY try them again, but next time I’ll plant them, install a drip line, and forget them until it’s time to harvest.

#5 Cucumbers

Cucumbers are at the bottom of this list because I did have success with them, they were fairly easy to grow and maintain, but cucumbers are susceptible to a powdery, white mildew which is a type of fungal disease. The most commons of these diseases are Podosphaera fuliginea and Erysiphe cichoracearum. I had this issue, and it took over my plants before I could even begin to take action. The spores of these fungi can spread quickly which can overtake an entire plant in a blink of an eye. Next year I will plant cucumbers again, but be prepared to treat them at the first indication of a fungal disease.

There you have it! My least favorite edible plants for the new gardener. I don’t absolutely loathe any of them, but I did have a better experience with others. Check out my post for My Top 5 Favorite Edible Plants for Newbies!

Let me know if you had a similar experience with peppers, strawberries, cucumbers, or cilantro or if you have any tips that could help remedy the problems I ran into.