Growing Chilli peppers, also Hot peppers

Capsicum sp. : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
    S                  
        T T            
        P P            

(Best months for growing Chilli peppers in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • S = Plant undercover in seed trays
  • T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • P = Sow seed
  • Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 64°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 16 - 20 inches apart
  • Harvest in 9-11 weeks. Wear gloves to pick 'hot' chillies.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Best grown in a separate bed as chillies need plenty of light and air circulation.

Your comments and tips

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28 Jul 12, Christine Houweling (Australia - temperate climate)
i am on very alkaline soil, can't get pH lower than 7 no matter how much i try. I live in Port Lincoln at the tip of Eyre Peninsula. it would be nice to see pH preferences for plants in your guide. I think your service is fabulous.
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27 Jul 12, wayne (Australia - temperate climate)
sounds like sooty mould.???
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27 Jul 12, wayne (Australia - temperate climate)
probably getting past it's growing season although I have had birdseye chilli that lasted three years. I actually made a small hothouse to help them through the colder months. warmer climate they will probably keep going OK
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27 Jul 12, wayne (Australia - temperate climate)
I solved the problem of the wildlife eating my vegies by buildin a large cage, it's 8m by 3m and looks like a bird cage it's 2.5m high. Yep now I get to eat my veg. cost was about $400. The wire was the most expensive bit because it was a small hole which kept the sparrows out and away from the lettuce and silverbeet. A cage is the way to go
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18 Jul 12, Andrew (Australia - temperate climate)
Do u have to cut back chillis plant back in winter?
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04 Aug 12, frosty (Australia - temperate climate)
Cant hurt them and I find that it improves growth of plant and bigger harvest.
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15 Jul 12, Betty Devonshire (Australia - temperate climate)
I have several chilli bushes and everything was looking good. The chillis developed beautifully and were ready to start picking. The I noticed they chillis started disappearing. I couldn't see any that may have dropped of on the ground !!! The I noticed a bird swooping down and taking off with the chillis. Has any one ever had this problem? I also noticed that the ducks love them too !! Help
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25 Jul 12, Westy (Australia - temperate climate)
hey I find with chilli plants they produce hotter chillies when they are not watered too much, receive a lot of sunshine, and are left to fully mature on the plant. also try a hotter chili variety such as the 'diablo' or 'red hot'. these chilies aren't overly hot, and are ideal for asian and mexican cooking, and they produce amazing amounts of chillies per plant
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30 Apr 12, Lani (Australia - temperate climate)
Ive transplanted a chilli plant into a new garden bed recently. I cut back a lot of the outer steams off the plant. I've applied dynamic lifter and it's well watered. But it's looking a little worse for ware :( any advice on how I can bring it back to its glory days?
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08 Jun 12, Brent (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Realising the comment was written late April: I also did this myself, and thought I had killed the plant. The thing to keep in mind is they are a fairly hardy, yet slow-growing, plant so those leaves will grow back and you might find it will fruit like crazy. Dynamic lifter is good, but only when fruiting. Not sure what you have done since your post, but try using something high in nitrogen (this encourages leaf growth) like 'blood and bone' and do it sparingly as it is that time of year the plant grows even slower due to the soil temperatures (unless you live in a tropical climate).
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Showing 311 - 320 of 432 comments
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Tammi - could be mice or rats, they can do this also. Its happened to me in Perth. Megan - Chillies will only grow vigourously during the warmer months, depending on where you are, they will either slow down, go dormant, or die altogether, depening on how cold it gets, a severe frowst will kill them. Wait until summer, they will flower all over, and give you lots of fruit. If you want a hotter chilli, water them less, let them dry out a little (but not all the way). A stressed plant will give hotter fruit. If you want hotter fruit still, get a different variety. Look for a chinense variety. Gareth - Most people raise chillies in punnets/starter pots, then into medium pots (10-15 cm across at the top), then onto final larger pots or garden beds when they have outgrown the medium one. You can tell when they are ready to be moved as they will have roots coming out the bottom. Julie - feed them with tomato food, probably in liquid form, is pretty good for flowering chillies, also, mulch and compost the soil if you can. Murray - depending on the variety, chillies can take up to 6 weeks to germinate, and they also need warm humid conditions to do so. Chillies are originally grown in warmer humid places, so they better you can recreate this, the happier they are. Keep them moist, (but not wet or soggy), perhaps put half a coke bottle over them to keep the humidity up, put them somewhere warm, they dont need sunlight to germinate, so the top of the fridge will do. When they do germinate, move them to a sunny windowsill or similar until they are ready to be hardened off to go outside. Michael - an NPK ratio of 10-5-10 for when they are growing works well, then 5-10-10 for flowering, if using bought fertilizers. Otherwise, a well composted mix of garden waste should work well, with some animal manure thrown in. Dont forget to mulch the soil to stop evaporation.

- Simon

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