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Bell peppers are much more tricky than skinny peppers, absolutely. But it can be done!

I’ve never heard of anyone who had any luck growing bells upside down. Not sure why that is.

Your bell pepper plant looks green and healthy, just stunted. Bell peppers are really susceptible to being stunted from being allowed to bear fruit when they are too small. The plant puts all its energy into making that fruit and has none left for growing. Even if you take off the fruit now, the plant will probably never reach its optimal size. (Been there, done that.)

Also, bell peppers that suffer any kind of stress or setback as seedlings will undergo a hormonal change that shifts the plant’s efforts from growth to reproduction. It’s a reaction to the plant’s life being in danger - the plant instintively tries to make seeds before it dies. This leads to the stunting problem.

So...

1. If you grow from seeds, keep your seedlings happy (deep green leaves) and growing strongly at all times. If you can’t do this, you might be better off buying healthy transplants.

2. Ideally, transplants should be planted when the first flower buds are small. If you’re buying plants, try to avoid plants that have open blooms or peppers. Sometimes you don’t have a choice; if so, see #4 below.

3. You need to avoid transplant shock. Be careful in transplanting so as to not damage the root ball. Make sure the seedlings are hardened off to the sun and wind before planting, and that temperatures are warm enough (nighttimes never below 50F, 55F is better). Keep them watered.

4. Don’t let the plant fruit too early. Unless you are in a really short growing season area, DON’T let the plant make peppers until it is 18”-24” tall. Pick off the blooms or baby peppers. The plant needs to be that size, with lots of large, deep green leaves, to support a crop. I know it’s HARD to make yourself pick off those blooms and baby pepeprs, but if you can keep the plant growing for a few more weeks you’ll be rewarded with more and bigger peppers over the course of the season.

5. Peppers love heat and sun...to a point. Bell pepper plants are more susceptible to stress from heat and sun than hot peppers, and the fruit gets sunscalded easily. If you are in the Southern part of the country where the summer sun is intense, a 40% shade cloth or planting the peppers where they will some get afternoon shade will help. But don’t give too much shade, or they won’t grow/bloom/fruit as well.

6. Try to maintain steady growth, especially in those critical early weeks before fruiting. Keep a regular fertilizer regimen. Bell peppers are kind of like teenagers...heavy feeders. My soil is nematode-infested sand, so I grow bell peppers in Earthboxes and homemade fake EBs. But if you have good garden soil, there is no reason you can’t grow them in the ground. But do feed and water them regularly.

7. Support! When the peppers get big, those heavy fruit can cause whole branches to snap off in the wind. Supporting peppers is one of the few good uses for those wimpy tomato cages they sell at big box nurseries. You can also use stakes and soft ties, whatever is handy. But you need to support all the branches with fruit, not just the main stem.
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Good luck!