Hot peppers are fun to grow for people who enjoy spicy food. They are a delicious addition to salsas, hot sauces, and different cuisines from around the world.
Hot peppers come in a wide array of vibrant colors, so they can also add a decorative splash to your garden.
Like sweet peppers, hot peppers can be a challenge to grow, especially when starting from seed. But, they can be worth the effort. They grow well in containers which makes them ideal for small-space gardeners.
Varieties
Peppers are rated on the Scoville Organoleptic Scale which was developed in 1912. The Scoville rates the pungency or heat of the pepper from 0 to 2, 500,000 - I’m not sure why it’s so broad.
For example, a sweet bell pepper is a 0. The Carolina Reaper is the hottest pepper at 2,200,000 Scoville units.
Mild to Medium Spicy
Early Jalapeno
Early Jalapeño is a staple for any hot pepper garden as these plants are reliable and work well in fresh salsas. At 2,000 to 8,000 Scovilles, they are also fairly mild for a hot pepper.
Jalapenos produce 2 to 2.5 inches of dark green peppers that can also be harvested when red. This variety takes 60 days to reach maturity. Open-pollinated.
Carrot Bomb
Carrot Bombs are cute, short, and stubby orange peppers and a close relative of cherry bomb peppers. They are 1 to 2 inches long and resemble baby carrots.
These peppers are slightly hotter than jalapenos at 5,000–30,000 Scovilles and are a great choice if you like pickled peppers. This variety takes 74 days to reach maturity. It is open-pollinated.
One of the best things about growing hot peppers. They are so pretty!
Fish Peppers
Fish Peppers are small chili peppers that range from 5,000 to 30,000 on the Scoville. The leaves of this plant are unique with variegated coloring. The fruit often has stripes.
They are historically significant. Fish peppers originated in the Caribbean and were grown by enslaved African Americans. They became “the” pepper to serve in crab houses in the 1800s and the seed was notably saved by Horace Pippin a Black painter.
El Eden
El Eden peppers are 7 to 8 inches long and deep red. They range between 200 and 2,500 Scoviles, which makes them the mildest hot pepper on this list. They have a slightly sweet flavor and work well in mole.
This variety takes 85 days to reach maturity. It is an F1 hybrid, so seeds saved from this type will not produce the same peppers as the parent plant.
Very Spicy
Red Habanero
Red Habanero plants produce small, bright red peppers that are a great addition to hot sauce. These peppers reach 200,000–325,000 Scovilles which is very spicy, so a little goes a long way in recipes.
Habaneros take about 110 days to reach maturity. It is open-pollinated.
Apocalypse Scorpion
Apocalypse Scorpion is only for the most spice-enthusiast gardeners. At over 1.4 Million Scovilles, it is one of the spiciest peppers in the world - use it sparingly in marinades and salsas.
This plant produces pitted deep red peppers about 1.5 inches long and takes 120 days to reach maturity. It is open-pollinated.
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Planting
Starting Seeds
You can start pepper plants from seed indoors and then transplant them during warmer weather, to get a head start on the season.
Check out Ame’s Planting Schedule for Zone 6B
Pepper seeds need warm soil to germinate. Use a heating mat to keep soil temperature 80 to 90 degrees F. I usually start my pepper seedlings inside around mid-March about six weeks before transplanting them outside.
I seed peppers in four-inch pots so I don’t have to transplant young seedlings. If you are short in space you can start in a 72-size flat and bump up after they get their first true leaves.
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Transplanting
Hot pepper plants like warm temperatures; they are very sensitive to cool temperatures. They are heavy feeders so add plenty of compost. In addition, like tomatoes, they need plenty of calcium and phosphorus.
Wait until nighttime temperatures are consistently in the 50s F before planting outside. Adding black landscaping fabric to the ground early in the season can also help increase soil temperatures.
If you are planting in traditional rows plant 12 - 18 inches away from each other, in rows about 30 inches apart. For a raised bed you can use the 3 - 2 - 3 method.
Read our article 10 GARDEN METHODS TO INCREASE PRODUCTION to learn some alternative ways to plant your crops.
Containers
Hot Peppers (and sweet ones) do well in pots and grow bags on the patio as long as they have plenty of sun. Peppers like to have room for their roots to spread out so choose a container that is at least 12 inches in diameter.
Ame grew peppers, tomatoes and herbs on her patio this summer. Photo by Ame Vanorio
Care
Water
Hot peppers need consistent watering, but too much water can lead to disease. Water early in the day, soaking the soil and avoiding the leaves.
Weeds
Peppers also need regular weeding to prevent weeds from competing with the pepper plants for water and space.
Check out our article on Using Mulch to improve your garden.
Staking
Many pepper plants produce more when they have stakes or cages to support them. Although hot peppers are usually smaller than sweet peppers, too many hot peppers can still cause plant stems to break without support.
Hot peppers do well in a sturdy tomato style cage. Photo by Ame Vanorio
Fertilizer
Pepper plants like nutrient-rich soil, so adding manure or compost will help the plants grow better. However, gardeners should avoid over-fertilizing as that can lead to plants with lush foliage but very few peppers.
Kelp meal, fish emulsion, and bone meal as organic fertilizers good for pepper plants.
Problems
There are a few major diseases and pests to watch out for with hot peppers. Bacterial leaf spot, blight, and root rot are a few common examples in my area. Avoid planting peppers in a place where other nightshade crops like peppers, tomatoes, or eggplants, have grown in the last three years.
Pests will vary by region, but some are pretty common across Zone 6B in the U.S. In Kentucky, for example, some common pests for peppers include corn borer, armyworm, aphids, and stinkbugs.
One way to reduce pest damage is to encourage predator bugs like ladybugs, spiders, and wasps in your garden. For larger pests like armyworms and stink bugs, you can also manually inspect your plants for bugs and remove them by hand.
Companion Planting
Cool-weather plants like cabbage with peppers for small space gardens. This allows you to grow the cool weather plant while the pepper plant is small, and then harvest it before the pepper plants grow big enough for the plants to crowd one another.
Trap crops work well when planted among peppers. A trap crop draws in pests so they leave the main crops alone. Dill and Queen Anne’s Lace make great trap crops.
Flowers such as cosmos and zinnias attract leaf miners away from nightshade plants.
Mint is also a good companion plant.
Harvesting and Storing
Many hot peppers like jalapenos and el edens can be harvested when green for a milder pepper, or when they are red for a hotter pepper. In general, it is best to consult harvest recommendations for each variety.
Use hand clippers to prevent breaking the plant’s stems. Most hot peppers will last for one to two weeks in the refrigerator.
You can preserve peppers in several different ways like drying, freezing, or canning salsas, hot sauces, or pickled peppers. If you find the hot peppers you grew are a bit too spicy, try removing the seeds and white ribs from the inside, and just eat the outer part.
Remember to wear gloves when you are harvesting or preparing hot peppers and don’t touch your face!
Seed Saving
You can save seeds from heirloom or open-pollinated hybrid varieties of hot peppers. This can be a good way to save money on seeds the following year. Hot pepper seeds are ready for seed saving without needing to wait for the pepper to over-ripen, so you can save the seeds from the peppers you eat.
Hot pepper plants are self-pollinating but they can cross-pollinate with any other pepper varieties, including sweet peppers, grown nearby. This can lead to seeds that produce peppers, not like the parent plant, which may be low quality. Typically, this cross-pollination comes from insect pollination and not wind pollination.
Natural physical barriers like a tall crop of corn or row cover can also prevent pollinators from accessing their blossoms. Because peppers are self-pollinating, this will let them develop seeds that will produce the same variety of peppers as the parent plant.
Guest Author, Taryn Dawn, first began food gardening with her family when she was four years old and planted a patch of radishes. Now, she and her husband have a food garden on one acre in Virginia, which they have expanded over the last decade to include many vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Taryn has a MSc in Sustainable Food Systems from Green Mountain College and tries to implement sustainable production practices. Follow her on Twitter @taryndawntweets
Homegrown tomatoes are the ultimate in taste and texture. So much better than the cardboard grocery knockoff ones. Tomatoes need some care but are easy to grow and productive, saving you lots of money.
This is a complete guide to types and varieties that do well in Zone 6B, how to choose tomatoes, and how to grow your tomatoes from seed.