Growing Peppers From Seeds To Harvest For Beginners

Growing peppers from seeds is easy and rewarding. Use this guide to start hot and sweet peppers indoors, transplant, care, and harvest.

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I looove growing peppers!! If you are a fan of sweet or hot peppers, and you’d like to grow your own, I’ve got you covered. Here is a guide to growing peppers starting from seeds, with tips on care and harvesting and some ideas for using your peppers. Let’s get growing!

All About Peppers And Why You Should Grow Them

Why You’ll Love growing Your Own Peppers

It Is Fun

Peppers are so much fun to grow. I love having them in my garden, not only for their fruit, but because I think they are so pretty. And Cayennes or Thai peppers look spectacular when they are ripe and loaded with little fiery red peppers. 

Economical

Growing your own peppers can save you a lot of money. Produce isn’t cheap anymore and peppers are not normally a budget item. I like to grow a lot of extra peppers and load up the food dryer and freezer with the abundance. And they are awesome for fermenting.

Grow Organic

Peppers have been on the EWG’s Dirty Dozen list for many years. And they got on it again in 2024. This means that peppers contain high concentrations of pesticides, which can be harmful for your health. When you grow your own, you can choose to grow clean food for your family that is nutritionally far superior and free of harmful substances.

Variety

Few plants produce so many varieties and shapes of fruit as the peppers.

There are so many varieties available if you’re planting from seeds, unlike the handful that a grocery store carries. Peppers can be very fleshy, small globes that are awesome as sweet and sour pickles, or the very thin skinned cayennes that are perfect for dried ristras.

Then you have the many varieties of bell peppers in all the colors of the rainbow, that are perfect for stuffed peppers. And my favorite sweet peppers are those bull-horn shaped roasting or frying peppers.

Hot peppers have a bit of a cult following and are very popular by many daring pepper connoisseurs who put on ‘who can eat this hottest pepper’ contests. From thick skinned moderately hot jalapenos to fiery Thai peppers to fruity hot habaneros and on to the deadly hot ghost and reaper peppers. No matter your fancy, you’ll find a pepper to match it.

Perennial

Peppers are perennial. However, they do not overwinter if you get heavy frost. In milder climates they can be left in the garden and overwinter with a bit of protection, in cooler climates they can be pruned, dug up, and overwintered in pots near a window indoors, where it stays above freezing. Then in the spring they can be planted back outside after the danger of frost has passed.

High in Vitamins and Medicinal

Peppers are incredibly high in vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B6, and antioxidants. And in the case of hot peppers, they contain capsaicin, which is of high medicinal value. It is used for pain relief and its anti-inflammatory actions. Capsaicin can provide immune system support, and promote cardiovascular health and digestive health. Learn more about it in Benefits and Uses of Peppers.

Tasty and Versatile

Peppers are one of the most versatile vegetables you can grow. Seasonings such as paprika, hot pepper flakes, and cayenne powder are a popular flavoring for many dishes.

Chopped sweet peppers or hot peppers make a great vegetable to enhance your stews, and many ethnic dishes. And finally, they can be roasted or stuffed with ingredients to become the centerpiece of a meal. Jalapeno poppers or stuffed peppers come to mind.

I’ll be posting my favorite vegetable gravy, based on my grandma’s recipe here sometime later this year which features peppers and is super delicious. And I have many more of my grandma’s German and Bessarabian pepper recipes to share once it’s pepper harvest season. Stay tuned!

When To Start Peppers from Seeds

Peppers need a long growing season and they like it hot. So you will want to wait to plant peppers outside until night temperatures are above 50. Otherwise they will just not thrive and might never gain momentum. For this reason they are best started very early indoors, up-potted, and kept indoors until after your last frost. 

Find your average last frost date and count back 8-12 weeks from there. My area, in zone 6b shows April 19th, so my best time to start pepper seeds is from about January 19th to February 19th. And this year I’m a little late, it’s been too cold outside to do any planting this past week, but it will still turn out fine. 

Here is a very helpful, super-cool calculator for your seed starting dates that was created by Brian Lowell.

Use this tool to find your average last frost date and then plug that into the calculator above. Now you’ll have your ideal seed starting or planting dates for your growing zone.

Key is to get your peppers to start off strong and it will set them up for strong, healthy growth later. So let’s start by picking some varieties!

Choose your Varieties

It is always best to start with fresh seed, but I’ve used pepper seeds that were 5 years old in the past that would still germinate. They always take longer to germinate than fresh seeds and might not grow as vigorously. If you store your seeds in a cool place they will easily last for several years and still be viable.

I’d love to do a post on pepper varieties some time. Having grown many dozens of varieties over the years, I’ve got some opinions, lol. Anyway, when you choose your varieties, keep in mind the following broad categories to choose from:

Sweet And Mild Peppers

Sweet Bell Peppers (California Wonder, Ozark Giant, Horizon, Chocolate, etc) – Great for stuffing or chopped up in salads. They are sweet, juicy and thick skinned.

Sweet Roasting/Frying Peppers (Corno di Toro, Stocky Red Roaster) – These varieties are usually a bull’s horn shape, and they really excel when pan-fried or roasted.

Sweet Paprika Peppers (Boldog Hungarian Spice, Feher Ozon, Alma) – These are bred to make a delicious paprika powder for dishes such as Goulash. They are usually sweet or very mildly spicy.

Mild Chilies (Nadapena, Cayenne Sweetness) – I don’t grow these, because I love the spicy versions, but I thought I’d mention them, in case you love their taste but don’t care for the spicy kick.

Cherry Peppers (Piquanté Peppers and Pimientos are just slightly spicy) – Heavy, round, very thick skinned peppers that are great for stuffing. Peppadews are often pickled in sweet and sour brine. Super delicious!

Spicy Peppers

Spicy Roasting/Frying Peppers (Poblano, Hungarian Wax, Santa Fe) – These are a bit thinner skinned and are great for roasting and frying, but they have a bit of a bite. The poblanos are also popular stuffed as in Chile Rellenos, and when red ripe, are the base ingredient for Enchilada sauce.

Spicy Paprika Peppers (Leutschauer, Szegedi) – Leutschauer paprika are my absolute favorite paprika pepper. They are so prolific, early and quite spicy. Almost like a cayenne. And if you’re in a short growing season and want to grow a paprika variety, I highly recommend them. They used to turn red before any other peppers up in Washington. And I got good sized harvests of red ripe peppers before the rains started in September.

Medium Hot Chilies (Jalapeno, Cayenne, Serrano) – Hot, but bearable. Jalapeños are great for stuffing and making jalapeño poppers. Try wrapping them with bacon. Yum!

Hot Chilies (Thai, Chiltepin) – Now we’re getting into more serious heat. These are not for the fainthearted. They are small, fiery and usually very prolific peppers.

Very Hot (Habanero, Scotch Bonnet) – I think these don’t need introduction. Hold on to your scotch bonnet when you bite into one of those.

Incendiary Chilies (ghost, califorina reaper) – These are outside of my comfort zone and I pass on growing them, but if you’re adventurous, by all means, give them a try!

Here is a list of the hottest peppers, and a Scoville Chart

Choose your Location

When you choose peppers, keep in mind your location. Some of the peppers have a really long growing season and if you’re in the north there might not be enough time to ripen them. Choose a variety for a shorter season to ensure ripe peppers.

Mixing up your varieties a little can help you find out what works best for your area. And you can find your favorites that you can give priority in subsequent years.

If you’re planning to save seeds, you can often improve the outcome of your harvest over time by selecting the strongest, healthiest plants to save your seeds from. Then plant those seeds and always keep picking the best plants. Over time, you’ll have peppers that are better adapted to your climate and location. 

Supplies

Pepper seeds – Trueleaf has a great selection of pepper seeds available, or check out the list of seed companies and supplies I recommend at the bottom of this post.

Pots and Trays – Choose One

If you are interested in bulk seed starting supplies, check out the Greenhouse Megastore. They have great prices and you can get a one-time 5% off your order with this code: FOODFORLIFEGARDEN.

Seed starting waterproof trays – These trays are waterproof and they are used to put your pots or soil blocks in. They are also available with holes in case you want to start a lot of seeds in flats. Then you add your soil mix to the one with holes and place that into one without holes. This is a great system for growing sprouts, microgreens, or wheat grass as well.

48-cell inserts – These inserts are used inside the waterproof trays. These are great for starting your seeds. or you could use the larger 3″ or 5″ starter pots and start multiple seeds in each.

Starter pots – If you prefer separate pots, here are some 3″ pots like the ones I use very often. I really like having separate pots and they are more durable than the disposable cell trays. For up-potting, you might need some 5″ pots. You could also use 18oz soda cups with a few slits cut out or used yogurt containers with a few holes in the bottom.

Soil blockers – If you want to skip the plastic pots, try this Ladbrooke original micro 20 soil blocker. It makes pot-less compressed soil blocks that you can just place your seeds into. As they grow, with this design, their roots will be air pruned, which prevents root bound seedlings. After your seedlings emerge, you can make bigger blocks with an additional Ladbrooke mini 4 blocker. The smaller micro cubes fit perfectly into the mini cubes for up-potting. I highly recommend this system for reducing plastic waste and it can improve plant health too.

Complete seed starting sets – If you like an all-in-one seed starting kit, give these a try. I have not tried them, but they look like they would work very well.

Markers – I have cut up milk jugs in the past to make plant markers for starting seeds and used a permanent marker to write on them. But you can also use popsicle sticks or the little 4″ plastic labels.

Soil Mix And Mixing Container

Dishpan or other container for mixing soil – I like to mix my soil in a cheap dishpan from the dollar store or Walmart. For larger amounts I love using a cement mixing pan. You can get them pretty cheap at home depot.

Seed Starting Mix – A dedicated seed starting mix is best and recommended for starting your seeds. A home made soil mix (⅓ peat, ⅓ sifted compost, ⅓ perlite or vermiculite) can also work, but might carry pathogens. 

Optional: Vermiculite – I prefer vermiculite to cover my seeds after sowing, rather than using soil mix. It can prevent damping off.

Incubator Setup

Grow lights (shop lights) – these need to be at least 2000 lumens and 5000 kelvin light temperature. Here are the 4-ft LED shop lights that I use and I quite like them. They are a good price for the set of 4, but they don’t come with hooks to attach the chains (at least mine didn’t). 

Small clamp on grow light – If you just have a small area for starting your seeds, you could use these Table mount grow lights.

Seed Starting Shelf – In my tiny yurt there is little space and I needed a shelf for seed starting. So I got the largest and tallest 4ft long wire shelf with wheels that would just barely fit and it works out perfectly. It has 6 shelves, thus maximizing my space.

The grow lights fit perfect length-wise and there is plenty of room for 4 full-size 1020 trays side by side. Last year I had 12 of them lined up with 6 grow lights on 3 shelves. I wrap the whole thing in Emergency blankets to reflect the lights and keep drafts out when my door is open.

Heat Pads – If you are starting your seeds in a cold room, I recommend a Heating pads with a thermostat. This mat can double for other uses too. It can be used for raising yeast bread dough, making infused oils, making yogurt and more. Do get the thermostat! You won’t regret it. 

Watering Bottle – Use a Spray bottle, or a water bottle with a few small holes drilled into the lid.

Plant Food – I highly recommend fish emulsion as plant food for any plants any time. Use once every 2-3 weeks diluted. For peppers in particular, Tomato and Veg is a great plant food during the growing season after transplanting. Alternatively you can use compost tea.

For a transplant soak I also like to add a tiny bit of EM-1 to the drench to infuse the roots with beneficial microorganisms. You can read more about EM-1 here.

For The Garden

Compost – Use compost to enrich the soil before planting and side dress with more midway through the season. Here is how to make your own fast compost (Hint: if you start right now, there is still enough time!)

Transplanting and cultivating tools – Rakes, hoes and garden forks are indispensable in the garden, but for small work around the tiny plants, I like to use my cobra head cultivator and for transplanting my favorite tools are the dibber and the hori hori knife.  

Tomato Cages or Stakes – To provide support for your pepper plants as they grow tall and top heavy. While Tomato cages don’t work very well for tomatoes, they are perfect for peppers. Or you can just use bamboo stakes, of maybe rebar or fiberglass posts are cheaper for you.

I have also made ripped 2x4s, about 3/4″ x 1.5″ sections that are 2-3ft long, with an added point at the end. They can be pounded into the ground easily and are good for a couple of seasons.

Black Plastic Mulch – For the northern growers, a black mulch dramatically improves yield and growth of pepper plants. They are not cold loving plants, and they respond well to any help that makes things cozy warm for them.

Garden Cart – Besides a wheelbarrow, I use my Gorilla garden cart with removable sides every day. It holds several trays of seedlings, buckets of water or compost, fallen leaves for leaf mulch, branches and logs, firewood, heavy bags of peat moss and potting soil and so much more. It’s an indispensable tool for me. 

Planting your seeds

First, prepare your soil mix. 

It is best to use a dedicated seed starting mix for this part. You won’t need much, because you can bulk sow your seeds and transplant them later after the little seedlings emerge.

A seed starting mix is sterilized and that means it doesn’t contain pathogens like a potting soil might. And they are very light so the new little seedlings can send their tender baby roots throughout the soil easily and without having to battle compaction or circumnavigate clumps.

Now you’ll want to pre-moisten the soil mix so it is just moist, but not wet. If you squeeze it, you should see a drop or two of water between your fingers, but not a stream of water. 

Fill your planting pots

Grab your planting pots and fill them with the pre moistened soil mix. Now tamp them down on the table a couple of times to slightly compact the mix and top off if necessary. This will eliminate air spaces in your pots. 

Sow Your Seeds

Sow several seeds in each pot, about 8 or so in a 3 inch diameter pot. If you plant several varieties, you can just designate a separate pot for each variety and don’t forget to label them immediately after sowing. I don’t know how good your memory is, but chances are high that you’ll forget what you planted if you don’t do it right then.

Now I like to press down lightly on the seeds so they make good soil contact.

Cover Your Seeds

Rule of thumb in the seed starting world is to cover your seeds with twice the depth of soil as the diameter of the seed. Obviously that is in no way an exact science.

So use your best judgement and place about ¼ in of soil over sweet pepper seeds and just a sprinkling over the smaller hot peppers.

I like to use vermiculite to cover the seeds to let some light through. It also reduces the chances for damping off disease (where plants just fall over and die due to a fungus infection).

Moisten the soil

I like to use a spray bottle to moisten the top of the soil. This keeps the seeds from getting washed away and keeps the soil cover in place.

Now you can place your pots into a water proof tray that can double later as a water basin to water your plants from below through siphoning action, to keep the plants dry and prevent disease. 

Humidity Cover 

You can certainly use one of those humidity domes that are sold by seed supply companies. But they are fairly expensive and often don’t fit very well.

So instead, you can just drape a bit of plastic wrap over your seed pots, which has the added benefit of letting you place lights very close over the plants to prevent legginess. And you can cover only the pots that need it, since they should be uncovered once the seedlings germinate. 

Lights

Place your trays under grow lights. This is recommended over just leaving them in a window, because the days are still short and the plants won’t get as much sun as they might need to grow vigorous. 

Technically the lights are not needed until the moment that the seeds sprout. I just happen to have mine going for other plants already, so they are on, but not necessary at this point. It does add a little extra warmth to the environment though, which peppers like for germination.

Heat

I have one large heat mat that fits 2 trays and a small one. This gives me a lot of flexibility without wasting energy. A Thermostat is super helpful for that reason and to prevent overheating your soil.

Unless you keep a very warm room, your peppers will want some heat under them. They germinate best at temperatures over 75 degrees and up to 95 degrees.

I use heat mats and keep my thermostat set in the upper 70s to conserve energy and still give the little seeds what they need. And I find that the grow lights add enough extra heat to raise the environmental temperature quite a bit too. 

Observe

Now your task is to observe and maintain soil surface moisture until the seeds start to sprout. After that it’s best to keep the surface dry. It may take up to five weeks for some of the seeds to emerge, but most will show their little green tips in about two weeks. 

Transplant

When you see the first set of true leaves appear, you can go ahead and transplant the peppers into individual pots. Start with 3″ pots and up-pot again later if necessary. This time you can use regular potting soil, which normally contains enough fertility for several weeks. Water thoroughly. 

When transplanting, take care to not grab the little seedlings by their stem. The stem is very fragile and can be damaged very easily, which can kill the plant. Instead, grab the leaves, loosen the soil and pull the seedlings out carefully.

Using a dibber or some kind, make a hole in the new soil filled pot and set the roots into it. Plant at about the same depth as it was in the old pot.

You will still need to keep the plants under grow lights, and keep the lights about 2″ above the plants. The heat pads are not necessary anymore, but do try to keep your room temperature above 55 degrees. Warmer is better!

Feeding

Later on, after about 3 weeks you can go ahead and fertilize with a diluted fish emulsion at half strength, to supply nutrients. 

Maintenance

From now on, let the soil dry out almost completely before watering again. Water from the bottom up to prevent fungal diseases. The way you do that is by adding a half inch or so of water to your bottom tray and letting the soil soak it up. Add more water if necessary.

Once the soil is moist throughout, keep an eye on it and again let it dry out before watering again. 

Once you see roots starting to grow out of the drainage holes at the bottom, it’s time to transplant your peppers once again. This will prevent them from becoming root bound, a condition where the root starts circling inside the pot and this will stunt the plant’s growth and can even choke them.

Choose a pot about 5 inches in diameter for your next size up and that should then suffice until it’s time to plant your peppers outside. 

Common Problems in Seedlings

The most common problems in young seedlings are damping off disease and spider mites. Damping off can be controlled by keeping the peppers warm (over 70 degrees) and keeping the surface of the soil dry. That is why you want to water from below.

Damping off is super frustrating, it makes your little seedlings just keel over and you’ll see a shriveled area at the bottom of the stem. If you use Vermiculite on top of the soil, it can help prevent damping off. 

Apparently spider mites hate moisture, so if you’re dealing with spider mites (you’ll see white webbing under the leaves), mist the plants with a fine spray of water to provide humidity, which can deter the mites. 

Pruning Flowers

Do prune off the first few flowers that form, especially before you plant the peppers into the garden. This will encourage the plant to grow bigger first. This will increase fruit size and give you healthier, stronger plants.

If flowers form early on the plants, it might be a sign that they are root bound or are stressed. Check the roots and up-pot if they appear crowded. Be sure to water regularly but don’t overwater. Don’t feed phosphorous at this stage, you’ll want to promote vegetative growth with nitrogen.

Prune off any flowers that form before transplanting the peppers.

Hardening Off

About a week after your last frost date, start hardening off your pepper seedlings. This can be done two ways. But each involves progressive exposure to the elements. 

Method 1: This is more labor intensive and requires you to be home for part of the time during the day, but it gives you the most control.

Take your seedlings outside for about an hour on the first day. Give them dappled shade and a bit of direct sun. Not too much. The plants will need to build up their sun tolerance or they might suffer leaf burn and stress. 

Take them back inside and the following day do the same but for a couple of hours and increase sun exposure. Keep increasing exposure on days 3-7 and after this week finally give them all day outside with at least several hours of sun.

Method 2: The first method can be hard to maintain if you’re super busy or work full time away from home. In that case, here is another way you can do this.

You can observe your yard outside and choose a spot that gets shade for most of the day, especially in the afternoon, but gets a little sunshine in the morning. Choose a sheltered location for the first few days that doesn’t get a lot of wind and that is protected from the rain.

Set your plants out there. After a day or two, you can move them out a bit farther into the sun, progressing each day with greater exposure until the week is up. 

Once this week is done, I like to keep mine outside in the full elements for a few more days and up to another week before transplanting into the garden. 

Transplanting Out Into The Garden

When it’s time to transplant, it’s best to choose a cloudy day or do it in the late afternoon when the sun is less intense and starts to go down. This can prevent stress and wilting. 

Soak them: To reduce transplant shock, I give mine a really good soaking before I transplant them, so they have their needs met fully. I imagine that this will give them a bit of time to get used to being in different soil and environment without having to scramble to find water and food right off the bat. 

I prepare a half strength solution of kelp or fish fertilizer with water, and a tiny dash of EM-1 (Effective Microorganisms). This is a special blend of microorganisms that can inoculate the plant roots and later populate the area around the plant with a diverse mix of effective microorganisms.

You could also use LAB (lactic acid bacteria grown in rice water) or a bit of Whey or Fermentation juice. If you have compost tea or comfrey tea, that can help too. The benefit of EM-1 is the great diversity of select microorganisms that have proved to be especially good at their job. Em-1 helps to increase bioavailability of nutrients and promotes healthy root growth. You can learn more here.

I pour this solution into a waterproof pan or tray and set my plants into it for an hour or so. Then I take them to my garden and transplant them.

Choose The Right Location

Peppers need at least 6 hours of sunlight per day. They love the warm weather, however, they will suffer if it’s too hot. At temperatures over 95 degrees, peppers will drop their blossoms in order to conserve their energy. They go into survival mode, not production mode.

Therefore it’s good to provide them with some shade on hot afternoons. Both to keep them cool and to prevent sunscald on the fruits, which can ruin them. 

If you can, pick a spot where you can plant sun-loving taller plants on the west side of the peppers that can serve as shade in the afternoon. Tall flowers, such as zinnias or a trellis of pole beans would work well.

This way the peppers can get their sun requirement in the cooler, early hours of the day and have a bit of shade in the afternoon. 

Preparing The Soil

Most peppers like well draining soil that is rich in organic matter, and a bit on the acidic side (6-6.8 pH). Some compost added to the bed in fall, early spring, or both will provide most of the nutrients that the peppers need to get started and can help increase soil acidity if your soil is very alkaline. 

I heard once that a few matchsticks added to the planting hole will help with the acidity. Never tried that! But it makes sense because sulfur is used to acidify soil. Alternatively, you can get bagged sulfur at a garden center.

If you’re a northern grower, consider black plastic mulch. I promise, it makes a world of difference when your climate is too cold for big pepper harvests. I’ve tripled my pepper harvest in New Hampshire and Washington just by mulching with black plastic. 

I hate using plastic, but in some cases it just is hard to avoid for lack of a better alternative. And if you’re careful, you can reuse a quality plastic for several years. 

Place the mulch down at least a week before planting (a great time to do this is when you start to harden off your plants), to warm the soil for planting later. 

I would lay the plastic along the side of the plants on both sides of the row so you can take it off easily when the weather gets very hot. Secure with soil, rocks or garden staples (super handy to have for many projects around the homestead).

Planting Your Peppers

Most growers recommend a 18″ planting distance, but I like to plant them a bit closer. This achieves that the canopies of the peppers shade the roots to keep them cooler during the heat of summer and with a good leaf cover, it helps protect pepper fruits from sun scald. I usually plant mine about 12 -14 inches apart. 

Unlike tomatoes, peppers should not be planted deep. They don’t form roots on their stem like tomatoes and the stems could possibly rot. Burying them up to an inch deeper is ok, but not more.

So make a hole for your peppers and plant them up to an inch deeper than they were. Then leave a slight indent around the plants for water catchment.

Give them a good initial watering with a fish emulsion or some other fertilizer that supplies a bit of nitrogen and is low on potassium. This will help the plant spend its energy on strong vegetative growth rather than fruit production in the beginning. Big strong plants will be better able to produce big, heavy peppers.

Staking

Provide a tomato cage for support or some stakes that you can tie the branches to. Peppers can easily tip over on a windy day which can damage the plants and sever some roots.

If you grow your peppers in a row, you can try a Florida weave support. However, when I tried it I didn’t like it all that much.

For one thing, your supports need to be super strong, the center can sag after a while unless you add many supports along the way and make the pepper bushes lean. And the branches end up squished, I found it tedious to harvest the peppers that way without breaking branches.

My preference is tomato cages or stakes. 

Set the support now while the peppers are little so you don’t disturb the soil later or damage the roots when they grow larger. 

Mulch with black plastic in the North or straw, hay or leaf mulch in the South.

If you have a slug problem, leave a ring of no mulch around the plants and sprinkle a little diatomaceous earth (DE) on the exposed soil to keep slugs away (reapply after rain). DE can possibly harm beneficial earth creatures too, so apply only when and where necessary.

Or try placing prickly briars like blackberry vines or rosa rugosa prunings around the stems to deter slugs. 

To Prune Or Not To Prune

You might hear about topping your peppers. It’s very popular and gets promoted by many. But does it work? Here is the deal: theoretically it should totally work, but in real life, it might not.

So here is how to do it. You prune off the very growing tip on your pepper plants, just above the first branches, shortly after planting (give them a few days to get over the transplanting ordeal first).

What it does: This will make bushier plants that are less tall, less prone to toppling over, and that put out more fruiting branches, thus yield more fruit.

Here is the caveat: I tried it one year back in Washington. But with the short growing season up north, I couldn’t make up for the loss in time that pruning caused, and it didn’t work. Pruning sets the plant back slightly, then it will recover, put out side branches and get vigorous again. But there is a bit of a time lapse here. And the time lost will be regained with vigorous growth later. However…

It took longer for the pruned plants to start producing and, while they did end up loaded with fruits eventually, the fruits did not have time to mature and were undersized at the end of the season. They never grew to full size, because there wasn’t enough time to catch up before the cool, rainy weather set in.

And the moral of this story: I advise caution if you live in northern climates! Living in the Southern part of the country now, with a longer growing season, I will give it another try on a few plants. But I just thought I’d give you my take on this popular push for pruning. 

Here is something that I’m trying this year with a few plants: Pruning the suckers that come from the side of the stem and promoting the main stem growth. Fruits that grow on the main stem are normally bigger than those on side stems.

Watering

Keep your peppers watered regularly. If you don’t, you might get blossom end rot on the fruit. Just like with tomatoes, peppers can suffer a calcium deficiency, which is caused by irregular watering.

The plants cannot take up calcium from the ground when it is not sufficiently moist. It can be helpful to install drip irrigation and mulching will help much with moisture retention in the soil.

If you overhead water, try to do it in the morning so the plants will be dry in the evening. Evening watering might keep the plants damp throughout the night, which can provide a breeding ground for diseases.

Fertilizing

Fertilizer should be used sparingly, unless you have depleted soil. A good compost will supply what peppers need in general. However, when you first plant the peppers it helps to give them a boost.

Start with an initial fertilizer that supplies some nitrogen and is low in potassium. If the plant’s energy is spent on fruit production early on, it can stunt the growth of the plant itself and that can result in smaller fruits and lower production throughout the season.

Once the pepper plants are well established and have grown 18 – 24 inches tall you need to quit the nitrogen and give a fertilizer that is higher in potassium to promote flowering and fruit set, such as Tomato and Veg every 2-3 weeks.

So, avoid nitrogen rich fertilizers, except when you first plant the peppers. They will make your pepper plants look amazing with vibrant, lush foliage, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a lot of fruits under there. 

Phosphorus is king when it comes to producing fruits on pepper plants or any fruiting plants for that matter. Most soils have plenty of it, but it is not always available, unless you work on your soil health and soil life.

Improving soil health can be a process that takes a few years of adding organic amendments such as sheet mulch, compost and things like grass clippings.

So in the meantime, the fertilizer will help. But priority should be on soil building for the long run. 

Pests and Disease Control

Watch for aphids, white flies, and leafminers. All can be controlled with neem oil if there is an infestation. Any pesticide sprays, organic or not, can harm beneficial insects as well and so it must be applied with care and only right where it is needed.

Use a mix of 2 tsp pure neem oil, 2 tsp castile soap and 1 quart of water. Mix well and spray the affected areas. 

Small patches of aphids can be crushed between your fingers. Use companion planting to attract predator insects.

Hornworms are easy to spot, but if you don’t catch them right away, they can decimate a plant overnight. So keep your eyes open for hungry critters and deal with them promptly.

Other common pepper diseases include bacterial, viral and fungal diseases. It is recommended that you rotate your crops to prevent them, and discard any leaves or plant parts that show signs.

Many of these diseases can be transmitted through the seeds, so do not save seeds from diseased plants. 

But you can also help prevent disease by trying to keep water from splashing on the plants from the ground, as that can possibly introduce diseases. Mulching helps a lot, drip irrigation can help as well as careful watering.

Keeping good airflow around the plants, and watering in the morning when the plants have a chance to dry quickly helps too. Evening watering might keep the peppers damp through the night. And this can provide a fertile breeding ground for diseases. 

Harvesting

Peppers can be harvested as soon as they are full size. They will first be green or yellowish depending on the variety, and then transition to their final color, sometimes going through various hues on parts of the peppers, before arriving there. 

If you want to pick your peppers at the fully ripe stage, then you’ll need to wait till the color turns at least 80% bright red, yellow, or orange depending on the variety you planted. They will fully color up within a couple of days.

If you like green peppers, then pick them at the green stage and it will actually encourage the plant to make more peppers. 

When you wait until the fruits are mature, the pepper plant will think that it has done its job at producing viable seed. Them it might just get lazy about producing more.   

Picking continually is especially important with the abundant smaller chilies. Keep them picked at the green stage in the beginning. This way they’ll keep putting out an abundance of flowers and fruits throughout the season.

I like to pick off all the green ones, except for the cayennes, early in the season. Then I use them for cooking. And if I have a lot, I cut them into recipe sized pieces for the freezer or to dry. I also like to ferment slices or make fermented green chili paste for convenient use year round. 

Then I let the subsequent flush of peppers ripen to maturity and pick them ripe. At the end of the season, before frost comes in, I pick them all and process them for storage. For bell peppers that means freezing or drying them.

Processing

Any peppers are easy to freeze, just chop, bag, and toss them in the freezer. You can also freeze them on a cookie sheet and bag them when they are solid, so they can be removed as needed, instead of forming a solid chunk.

If you have a food dehydrator, peppers are great when dried to toss into soups and stews later. I have a hanging dehydrator with removable trays near my wood stove, which works awesome when the wood stove is going. Or I can hang it outside if it’s not too windy.

I like to ferment hot chilies into chili paste and salsa verde. Green or red ones go into tomato and pepper salsa, and red hot chilies into hot sauce. I also dry them to make chili flakes, chili powder, and paprika powder. 

I also store a few whole red dried chilies in jars for use in spice teas, bone broth, fire cider and various vegetable fermentations that could use a spicy kick. You could also make a pretty ristra with red hot chilies!

Seed Saving

If you like to save your seeds (and I think you should try), wait for the peppers to mature to their ripe color. Select your best plants and collect the seeds. Peppers are self pollinating, but they can also cross pollinate. And note that hybrid pepper seeds do not reproduce true to type!

Here is a warning: You may end up with a cross if you grow more than one variety. And yes, peppers cross-pollinate between sweet and hot peppers too. So you might get an interesting offspring next year when you plant the seeds. They cross pollinate by wind and insect pollinators.

It’s still worth saving seeds. However, to keep your variety pure and to produce like in kind offspring, you could try to grow them far apart with a wind screen in-between (maybe a bean trellis). But that won’t guarantee success.

However, you can cover a few plants before the flowers open to keep the pollen from spreading. Then hand pollinate and keep the plants covered until fruit appears.

Mark the selected fruits, that you know are good, with a ribbon and let them mature.

Or you can try to grow a few peppers in a greenhouse or indoors. There you can keep out pollinators and wind.

Then collect the seeds from fully mature fruits and dry them well before storing them in small paper envelopes. 

End of Season

Here is something cool you can do before the first frost hits. Remember that peppers are perennials? If you have room indoors, you can actually dig up the plants, cut about ⅔ of the plant back. Retain some of the trimmed bottom branches. Then shake most of the dirt off the roots.

Place the plant into a very small pot and just keep the pepper plant near a window throughout the winter. Water only when needed.

In the spring, pop your pepper plant back in the ground after all danger of frost has passed and keep it growing for another season. You’ll get a head start on your pepper growing season.

Well, It’s done, frost came and went and your peppers are either dead or very likely just sad looking. It’s time to let go untill next year. Hopefully you had an abundant harvest and saved some seeds that you can plant the next year. 

Overwintering Peppers

In mild climates, You can leave your pepper plants where they are till the spring. Prune them back to leave about one third to half of the plant and mulch, or cover with a row cover if you expect a few mild frosts.

Peppers will not survive hard frosts. They are considered perennial in zones 9 and up. But if you have a mild microclimate in a lesser zone, it might be worth trying to over winter a few plants.

Planting In Pots

If you don’t have a garden spot, you can totally grow peppers in pots! I’ve done it many times, even though I had a garden, just to keep a few plants near my kitchen and also to overwinter them without having to transplant them. 

Especially the little chili pepper plants like dwarf Thai hot chilies, or the hybrid Super Chili. Super chilies are super fun to grow if you don’t mind hybrids. Besides if you keep it as a perennial, you wouldn’t need to save seeds. These are very suitable for smaller containers and smaller spaces. They are super ornamental too!

Start your peppers the same way as described above. Then, instead of planting them into the garden, up-pot into a larger pot that is about a foot wide and a foot deep, or holds 3-5 gallons. Smaller pepper plants such as the Thai or Super Chili, will be ok in a 3 gallon pot. Bells should have at least 5 gallons or larger. 

Companion Plants

If you can keep your peppers growing strong and vigorous, your pest and disease pressure will be greatly reduced. But you can also help your peppers by growing plants they love near them and keeping plants they dislike away. Here are some suggestions:

Peppers Love…

Tomatoes, Basil, Borage, Onions, Spinach, Carrots, Chives, Fava Beans, Garlic, Herbs, Marigolds, Nasturtiums. Some of these will deter pests because of their scent, such as garlic, marigolds and nasturtiums. And others will simply grow well with peppers because they have similar needs and they don’t rob each other of nutrients. Fava beans fix nitrogen and carrots can mine minerals from deep below.

Pepper Hate…

Brassicas like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, which are all heavy feeders and will compete with peppers for nutrients. Fennel contains a substance that repels other plants and should be grown off to the side in it’s own space somewhere. Corn and strawberries are not good to grow with Peppers.

Your Questions Answered:

Can you grow hot peppers next to sweet peppers?

Yes you can! They will be fine beside each other and, no, they will not make each other hotter or sweeter. Not in this generation anyhow. It’s a different story if you are saving seeds. 

The offspring of either plant might be altered if they cross pollinate, so for seed saving purposes it’s best to keep varieties separate. If you grow more than one variety, you can cover the plants you plan to save seeds from and hand pollinate. 

Can I grow peppers in pots?

Absolutely! Peppers grow really well in pots and they are so ornamental too. Just be sure to size your pots large enough to give your pepper roots space and to promote healthy, large plants. 

Happy Pepper Growing!

I hope you get to plant some peppers this year. They are so versatile and fun to grow. Try different varieties in all the colors, hots and sweets, small, one-bite peppers and full size bells.

Peppers are loaded with health benefits too! So it is a good idea to get more peppers into your diet. Especially if you grow them in healthy soil, organically, and eat them fresh from the plant.

I think peppers are the most exciting plants to grow in your garden. And they provide such a dramatic display at all stages, but especially when they are loaded with bright red, orange, yellow or purple fruit. 

Good luck growing your peppers! And do drop me a comment here to tell me how it went! I’d love to hear about it and I’d love to know what your favorite varieties are. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask, I’ll be glad to answer. 

If you found this helpful, don’t forget to like and share my pepper growing page and leave me a 5 star rating!

For more content like this see below and do sign up for my food for life garden news letter so you can get notified of any new content, pepper recipes, planting guides, homesteading tips and more!

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