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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17 Mar 09, Daniel (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi Cliff, sounds like you have bought Siam chillis, usually sold in stores such as this and are more of a decrotive plant (I have a few for extra colour in my front garden grown by my step daughter), personally I'm not a fan of the flavor but are quite hot. Also look good in an Olive Oil bottle that you use for cooking!
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16 Mar 09, Clff (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Hi all, new to this growing lark. We have a couple of Chilli plants that are fruiting well with lots of unripe chillis they are grown in raised beds and purchased from a well known DIY hardware store, my only concern is I have noticed that one chilli appears to have a purple coloured mark on its side. I am wondering is this the chilli starting to ripen or is it some Monster about to engulf my chilli plants and I will go out one morning to find nothing but a stem. Any advice would be appreciated.
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14 Mar 09, Daniel (Australia - temperate climate)
I have a few Naga Jolokia plants growing, they are flowering, but not producing any fruit, any ideas how I can get them to produce fruit? Also how do I go about collecting seed to grow more at a later date?
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08 Mar 09, Mick (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
You may need to give them an extra helping hand in pollination. use a dry toothpick or similar, and gently brush it around in all the flowers, and see if that helps. I have African Birdseye x Thai chillies that did the same for a month or so. After that (mid-summer) they fruited just fine. If that doesn't work, then try adding in a little extra fertiliser, but don't go overboard. Also, water kills pollen, so try not to spray the plants with a shower from the hose, so much as a slow soak from the ground.
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05 Mar 09, Buddy (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi My birds eye chilies grow very well but they dont fruit , only a few chilies, then nothing till they die off ...any ideas that may help ???
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27 Feb 09, Athrael (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi Lucy, All my chilli plants are grown in pots which makes it easier to bring them inside during winter. So yours should be alright by the sounds of it. Only problem is you would need to repot them once the plants get too big :)
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25 Feb 09, Ty (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
I have a few small worms/grubs eating my chillies from the inside. Any advice on how to send them packing? - Sydney
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18 Feb 09, John (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Jaime. Open up one of the chili's, if is crawling with Grubs it is more than likely fruit fly. Make sure you put the spoiled fruit in a bucket of wate to kill the grubs. Then into the bin. Do not put int the compost, or the mulch at the botom of your plants. I'm still looking for a way to prevent the fly in the first place.
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24 Jan 09, cy (Australia - temperate climate)
yah im growing chilis for the first time...how deep shoudl you plant them.
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17 Jan 09, Elliot (Australia - temperate climate)
Jamie - 2 things it could be.Lack of water when the chillies are ripening, or a grub that gets layed in the young chillie and eats the inside of the chillie causing it to rot
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Showing 401 - 410 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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