There are valid reasons to start with seeds when growing hot peppers. One benefit is the abundance of hot pepper seed varieties, such as heirloom, organic, and peppers bred for early harvest. Growing hot peppers from seed indoors gives growers an advantage because some varieties can take up to 100 days to mature, especially in colder climates.
Hot peppers can be difficult to grow from seed because they require a lot of moisture and warmth, and even then, seeds may not always germinate. Purchasing seedlings or young plants from a nursery is always possible, but the selection will be limited.
Plant seeds in seed starting soil 1/4 inch deep to start them indoors. Try to keep the pots as warm as possible—roughly 24° C—or use a heating mat like this one. Keep the soil moist until the seeds sprout, which may take up to 14 days.
Harden off seedlings two weeks after the last date of frost. Allowing the plants to gradually acclimatise entails transferring them outdoors to a protected area. Once a few days have passed, you can move them into the garden. Keep reading for more inputs!
Different Kinds Of Hot Peppers To Know About
The lovely thing that people forget about hot peppers is that there are so many varieties, and gardeners have many options to grow the desired spiciness. Determining where they fall on the Scoville Heat Units (SHU) scale is the simplest technique to narrow down which hot pepper to grow.
The amount of capsaicin, which makes peppers hot, affects how many Scoville heat units a pepper possesses and where it sits on the scale. Some examples: sweet bell peppers are at the absolute bottom, with zero Scoville heat units, jalapenos are 2,500-8,000 SHUs, and the world's hottest pepper, the Carolina Reaper, may reach 2.2 million SHUs.
- Hottest peppers: Besides the Carolina Reaper, try Scotch bonnets, which are used in Jamaican recipes, as well as ghost peppers, habaneros and Thai chilli peppers. Armageddon, is a new, potent pepper that has a volcanic 1.3 million SHU and can be harvested earlier than the Carolina Reaper.
- Medium spicy peppers: These include ancho, serrano, heirloom fish peppers, Hungarian wax, hot lemon, cayenne and tabasco. Stir fries, stews, hot sauces, and salsas will all benefit from the strong kick of spice provided by these medium-hot peppers. All these tastes like fruity habanero pepper, which you may not have ever tasted due to its strong heat.
- Mild Peppers: Jalapenos, poblanos, pepperoncini, shishitos, cascabel, and cubanelles are good options for mild hot peppers. These milder hot peppers are excellent when eaten raw in salads and other recipes and when stuffed, fried, or pickled.
How To Take Care of Hot Peppers?
Keeping the soil moist is critical after transplanting and settling your hot pepper plants. Throughout the summer, give them regular irrigations and cover the base of the plants with mulch to reduce evaporation.
Avoid Over-Fertilising: If you fertilise excessively, your hot pepper plants will yield far fewer peppers. Instead, add compost or other organic material to the soil before planting. Epsom salts, which may be diluted in water and sprayed on the plants, also benefit pepper plants. They can be sprinkled over the soil too.
Take Out The First Flower: Strange as it may seem, gardeners claim that by pinning back the first round of blossoms on hot pepper plants, the plant can develop stronger and produce more fruit all season long.
Regularly Check Plants: Though hot pepper plants are reasonably straightforward to grow, beginning vegetable gardeners make the mistake of disregarding plants after they're in the ground. Check your plants often for pests, signs of stress or disease, and to remove weeds.
Tips For Growing & Harvesting Hot Peppers
Keep The Kids Aways
They're hot peppers, of course, so the oils in the peppers can burn skin and eyes and be very unpleasant for unsuspecting kids and animals. Plant your hot peppers in a spot inaccessible to kids and animals, or enclose the plants with a fence. While the capsaicin in spicy peppers isn't dangerous for pets, it can cause gastrointestinal disorders and discomfort if consumed.
Give The Plants Names
You can plant hot peppers, among other veggies, flowers, or herbs, to create a beautiful edible landscape. But be sure to name your pepper plants so you and anyone visiting your garden know what's what. Reaching for a sweet snack pepper and discovering that it's a habanero would be terrible!
Wear Gloves When Harvesting
When you pick your peppers, their colour will be indicated. Harvesting many spicy peppers when they are still green and immature is possible. Or you may wait until peppers mature, depending on the type, and when they're red, yellow, orange, purple, or brown. To protect your skin from the hot pepper burn, wear gardening gloves to harvest and handle them. Instead of pulling the peppers from the plants—which could rip and harm the stems—cut them with gardening shears or scissors.
How To Grow Very Hot And Spicy Peppers?
Although hot peppers are already quite hot, you might be able to increase their heat level.
- Refusing to water the plants is one method. Yes, as just mentioned above, peppers require regular watering! Peppers just starting to set seem to have more heat when watering intervals are extended, which stresses the plant.
- Leaving peppers on the vines for as long as possible before harvesting is another method for getting hotter peppers. When plucked while still green, peppers are far less spicy than when they are fully ripe. A prime example would be fully ripened, vibrant red jalapenos, which are the main component of hot Sriracha sauce.
- Lastly, give your hot pepper and sweet pepper plants plenty of room. Hot peppers from cross-pollinated flowers are said to be less spicy by gardeners, and cross-pollination between the two is an easy process.