How To Sow & Grow Chilli Pepper & Sweet Peppers

The business of growing chilli peppers and sweet peppers is often made out to be much more difficult than it actually is. In fact, chilli peppers and sweet peppers are far easier to grow than tomatoes as there's much less fiddling about involved!

Growing Chilli Peppers and Sweet Peppers from Seed

If you’re planning to grow your plants in a tunnel or greenhouse, sow your seeds from late February to March, which will give you nice plants ready to set out in April–May.

If you’re planning to grow your plants outside, delay sowing until late March–April which will give you plants for setting out from late May to mid-June.

The hardest part of growing chilli peppers and sweet peppers lies in germinating the seed but it shouldn't be too difficult, providing you use the freshest possible seed compost and keep a careful eye on temperature, watering and light. To achieve successful germination you really need a good steady heat so we recommend buying a decent heated propagator, ideally one with thermostatic controls. A propagation light can also be helpful.

Sow the seed thinly onto gently firmed trays or pots of compost – about ten seeds to a 3½"(9 cm) pot or a couple of hundred to a standard seed tray (you can divide up the tray to sow a number of varieties if you wish). Cover the seed with a layer of vermiculite or sieved fresh seed compost, roughly as thick as the seeds themselves. Be careful when sowing hotter pepper varieties as the seeds themselves carry some heat and may leave a residue on your hands. We suggest wearing gloves when you handle them.

Protect newly-sown seeds from mice, which are notorious for sniffing out chilli pepper and sweet pepper seeds.

Water the trays or pots thoroughly and stand them in a propagator in good light; a constant temperature of 82-86°F (28-30°C) is ideal. Keep the compost just moist but never soggy. The seeds should germinate within five to ten days, but can sometimes take anything up to three weeks; a cooler temperature will slow down germination and some varieties will not germinate, and below 50°F (10°C) the seeds will probably not germinate at all.

Once the seeds have germinated, keep a very close eye on them as the seedlings can turn leggy very quickly. Provide as much light as you possibly can and grow the seedlings on at a reduced temperature of around 75°F (24°C). If you are growing them on a windowsill or using a similar uni-directional light source you will need to turn the growing container several times a day in order to ensure that the seedlings do not grow towards the light.

Watering is also important. It is better to keep the compost just moist at all times, avoiding drought and waterlogging – too much water will produce weak, spindly plants. Once the seedlings have produced their first true leaves (that is, the first set of leaves after the seedling leaves) they are ready to be pricked out (transplanted) into modules or small pots. As with all seedlings, hold them by their leaves rather than their stems when pricking out. With chilli seedlings the important thing is not to plant them too deeply. Unlike tomatoes, chilli and sweet pepper seedlings do not stem-root; if they are planted too deeply they are very likely to rot. To avoid this, plant them so that the compost is at the same level on the stem as in the original seed tray.)

Growing On (for those purchasing our chilli pepper and sweet pepper plants, read from here on!)

Continue growing the plants at a temperature of 65°F (18°C) or more, and pot on as required so that you end up with individual plants in 3½"(9 cm) pots, standing about 6–8" (15-20 cms) tall, perfect for setting out. If you are planning to grow your plants outside and the threat of frost has not subsided, or you’re just plain not ready to plant them out into their final position, pot on again to avoid their growth being checked or plants becoming root-bound.

Planting Out

Peppers always do better if grown under protection rather than outside because of the increased warmth and the greater control you have over watering. Both greenhouses and polytunnels are absolutely perfect for this. Whether growing inside or out, your options for the final setting out of plants are: in grow-bags, in pots or in the ground.

Grow-bags are 'ok' but, like everything, they are made for a price (which is usually cheap); if they have been standing around for some time the nutrients will have been released and the compost grown stale. In our opinion, growing in containers is the best way and will give you the best results (and is how we grow our chilli peppers and sweet peppers). You can easily make your own compost to fill the tubs by mixing fresh grow-bag compost with 25% horticultural grit or vermiculite to provide all-important drainage and adding 4oz (110g) of garden lime per 50 litres of compost.

If growing in grow-bags set out three plants per bag; if growing in containers, a 12-litre pot (12"/30 cms diameter) will be fine for one plant whilst a 40-litre tub (20"/50 cms diameter) is suitable for two or three plants. Plant firmly in compost and water in well.

If growing outside, harden off plants in late May/early June, then set out in a well-drained but moisture-retentive soil 2ft (60 cm) apart, in rows 3ft (90 cm) apart. Protect young plants with cloches or windbreaks if the weather is bad, athough chilli peppers and sweet peppers can withstand a light frost.

Training

Provide support for plants as necessary, using canes. Most plants will not require much in the way of staking or tying in. And unlike tomatoes, chillies and sweet peppers do not require side-shooting.

Watering/Feeding

Water your chillies and sweet peppers on a cyclic basis; that is, giving them a good drink and then allowing them to virtually dry out before watering again – but never allow them to dry out to the point of wilting. Keeping plants constantly moist will mean they grow quicker but the growth will be weaker, so if in doubt keep them on the dry side. If you keep chilli plants on the dry side, the fruits will have more heat. We also suggest watering in the afternoon where possible, to ensure the plants don't receive a shock from being watered with cold water.

We don't recommend using a liquid feed. Instead, ensure that you use a good-quality compost to begin with. This should be sufficient.

Pollination

Pollination and fruit set should be no problem - in fact, quite the opposite!

Pests

You will need to keep an eye out for aphids. We recommend spraying once a week with our BioFriend Plant Defence.

Harvesting

Chillies and sweet peppers can be cut and used when immature or left to mature on the plant. Chillies that are left on the plant will become hotter with time.

Chillies and sweet peppers are actually perennial in habit and the plants can be over-wintered at a temperature of 55-60°F (13-18°C) for cropping in future years, should you wish.

Saving Seed for Future Years

Different chilli varieties happily cross-fertilize so it is hard to save true seed from specific varieties unless you're willing to build fabric tents to exclude insect pollinators. Without protection, seeds will remain semi-true to the variety over several years but after that they will begin to change. However, it can be fun to see what you get from these cross-fertilizations.

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