Chile peppers are easy to grow in any climate, although the seeds of these tropical plants cannot be planted directly into the soil of gardens in a temperate climate, they can be in tropical regions, or areas with a very long growing season. In temperate climates it is necessary to buy plants from a well-stocked nursery, or start seeds indoors months before the outdoor planting date.

Plants from a nursery are a great option; they are often a good size, healthy and reasonably priced. The drawback of buying pepper plants from nurseries is their selection's are generally limited to popular varieties such as bell peppers, Jalapeno, Banana, Wax, Hungarian, Poblano, Serrano, Habanero and some ornamental varieties. This limited selection may suit the needs of many growers, but a huge variety of pepper seeds are available not only in stores, but from mail order suppliers.

The selection of chili pepper seeds from even a general gardening mail order seed catalog can be huge, including bell pepper that very in color from purple to brown, a few varieties of jalapenos to choose, heirloom varieties grown for generations and many unique kinds of peppers to numerous to mention. For those dedicated chile pepper lovers and gardener who find it necessary to start pepper plants from seeds will find the process long, uncertain and rewarding!

 I start pepper plants indoors four months before they can be placed outdoors for the summer growing season, generally a few weeks after the projected last frost. The seed must be kept warm, moist, and some people report better success when the seeds are planted close to the surface and exposed to light. Even when these conditions are kept close to optimal germination can take up to 30 days! A long and sometimes frustrating wait while the plant less pots are still requiring constant care.

Pepper plants are tropical so warm temperatures for germination are critical as well as moisture. But too much moisture can deprive the delicate little sprouts of the critical oxygen necessary for the root buds to grow. This causes a common problem with young sprouts, root rot and then quickly death. One way to avoid this dampening off is to start the pepper seeds in a soil that is light and easily drains. Try using soils with vermiculite, perlite or peat moss to make a lighter, airier soil that will also dry out faster and require more frequent watering.

Ancho Chile Powder

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Sannam Peppers

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Many of us are substituting at least some of our older incandescent light bulbs for the more efficient fluorescent bulbs whether they are the traditional long straight bulbs or the newer compact variety. This change is essential when the light emitted from the bulbs is meant to nourish plants. Incandescent bulbs just do not produce the right spectrums of light for healthy plant growth, it is towards the redder end of the spectrum with little blue light which cause plants to produce tall, spindly, and unhealthy growth. More.

Fluorescent bulbs, especially those label "cool", or "cool white" produce light higher in the blue spectrum with less red and help plants produce more compact healthy growth. Straight or compact bulbs make no difference to plants and the choice to the grower depends on what is more convenient and readily available. Now of course, light bulbs are not limited to these two most common varieties and some of the others at least deserve to be mentioned.

Professional greenhouse often use supplemental lights in their nurseries to give seedling a head start and give the young plants a nice health appearance on the store shelves. These pros use more energy efficient lights such as metal halides (MH) and high pressure sodium (HPS) lights which produce a good spectrum of light at minimal cost per lumen of light. HPS lights use a little less energy for the amount of light they produce, but while the spectrum of light they create is well suited for plant growth, it is still slightly higher in the red spectrum and more closely emulates the natural light that occurs during the fall season. The bottom line is that both are well suited for plant growth, but the high cost of both kinds of lights might be prohibitive for most home gardeners. Police actions can be an economical way of acquiring these kinds of lights at a minimal cost.

Another option that might be found at your local hardware store is fluorescent lights that are labeled "full spectrum" or "grow lights". These kinds of plant lights do emit a spectrum of light that more closely matches natural sunlight, but I think the benefits, if any exist, are not worth the much higher cost of full spectrum bulbs.

 

To much of any chemical fertilizer can "burn" a plants leaves and this damage is much more likely to occur in a potted plants because the chemicals the fertilizer is composed of can't of be defused into surrounding soil. Fertilizer may also be concentrated in a drip tray and reabsorbed when the pots are over watered. To avoid this, follow the direction on the fertilizer for indoor plants, or about half the dose of what is called for for outdoor plants.

Plants need adequate space for root growth so transplanting seedling and small pepper plants into larger pots as they grow is absolutely essential. The soil in pots contain lesser nutrients, called micro nutrients, required by plants for healthy growth not to mention the soil holds all the water the plant has available to it. To transplant a young pepper with the least amount of damage and trauma to the plant, lightly water it several hours before the transplanting so that the soil is slightly moist, but not wet. Place a finger on either side of the main stem, invert the pot and gently tap the bottom until the plant falls clear. Place the plant in a larger pot and fill in the sides in with soil.

 

Pepper plants can be put in the garden 1-2 weeks after your area's frost free date. Young plants which have been raised indoors may need some extra care when moving them outdoors for the first time. The light they have been receiving through your windows and from supplemental light sources can be relative gentle compared to a full day of the sun's direct rays. The pepper plant's leaves can literally get a sunburn killing tissue, but leave the suntan lotion in the cabinet and instead introduce the suns full strength to the pepper plants slowly. This can be done by putting them in an area with partial shade or slowly increasing the amount of time the plants are left outside for about a week. If you see brown spots on the leaves the process of acclimating the peppers to full sunshine needs to be slowed down. Professional grows often put tender seedling under a lattice frame to approximate 50% light until the plants are adjusted. Another consideration is the strength of the plants in wind.

If pepper plants have been raised indoors they have never been exposed to wind and may be susceptible to being blown over and damaged. Fans set to low can be used once the pepper seedlings are a few inches tall to strengthen stems and branches, but staking and tomatoes cages work just as well and will help support a large crop of those delicious peppers later. The plants will need to be placed in a sunny position, about 18'' apart, and in rows going from east to west if possible. When the peppers are ready to be planted directly into the garden, slightly moisten the soil in the pot before attempting to remove the pepper plant from its pot to minimize damage to the roots.

 

As the pepper seedlings grow into robust little plants they may require additional fertilizer. If the whole plant appears light green the young plants will benefit from some fertilizer. Since these pepper plants will later be planted outside in the garden I do not think the kind of fertilizer particular matters as long as it is well balanced and high in nitrogen. All plants convert the suns light into sugars with a photochemical called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll gives a plant its green color and it cannot be made by plants without the essential element nitrogen and pepper plants love nitrogen. That said, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

Some chili pepper plant growers claim that well fertilized plants will set less fruit later in the season then plants which stop receiving fertilizer as they reach maturity. I have not noticed this myself, but as a general rule I stop applying chemical fertilizers to plants in my vegetable garden not long after they set fruit. I do like to add plenty of organic fertilizers such as compost and grass clipping from a lawn that has not been treated with chemicals. Besides being potential harmful to you, chemicals residues on grass clippings like herbicides may kill plants in your garden. But grass clippings slowly break down releasing nutrients into the soil and also act as mulch that easily allows water to penetrate while slowing evaporation and reducing the need to water.

I believe the best way to ensure a large crop of chili peppers from each plant is to make sure the plants are able to reach a mature size before they set fruit, this will ensure the plants are big enough to continue growth while they support the growing chili peppers. I achieve this by pinching off the first few sets of flowers the pepper plants produce.

Chili pepper plants, like all plants, require 16 essential elements to survive. These are: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sulfur, magnesium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, boron, chlorine, and molybdenum. The first three of these elements a plant obtains through the air or water and do not need to be considered by chili pepper growers. The next three, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium are macronutrients, meaning they make up a large percentage of the plants tissues and these elements are the main ingredients in most chemical fertilizers. They are also the N-P-K number prominently displayed on most fertilizer container, it often looks something like 10-10-10.

Nitrogen (N) is essential for plants to make the pigment chlorophyll which gives them their green color and allows plants to turn the sun’s energy into the sugars used for growth through photosynthesis. Plants lacking nitrogen start to turn light green especially the older leaves as the plant moves chlorophyll to the newer leaves. Nitrogen is essential in cell growth,  division and is the most commonly lacking plant nutrient.

Phosphorus (P) helps plant cells divide and thus helps them grow bigger. Deficient plants are stunted and can take on a purplish hue as sugars build up in the plant tissues. Phosphorus also encourages plants to flower and set fruit, fertilizers intended for flowering plants are high in this element.

Potassium  (K) help plants in all aspects of growth along with providing protection from drought and cold. Potassium is essential for root growth and the storage of plant sugars. Plants lacking potassium have weak stems, leaves that can be deformed, wither and die .

The next three elements, calcium, sulfur, magnesium are macronutrients, but mostly do to pollution, sulfur is abundant in most soils and generally not added to fertilizers. Calcium is present in some fertilizers especially those intended specifically for tomato plants.

Calcium (Ca) makes plant cell walls sturdy and without it leaves become weak, stringy, and light in color. This Nutrient is also necessary for cell division. Blossom end rot may occur in pepper plants lacking calcium.

Sulfur (S) is necessary for rapid root growth, but is seldom deficient in outdoor gardens due to pollution. Plants lacking sulfur leaves that lighten in color and leaves that may slightly curl upwards.

Magnesium (Mg) combines with other elements such as nitrogen to make the chlorophyll. Plants lacking enough magnesium turn yellow between plant veins due to lack of chlorophyll and slow or stop growing.

The remainder of the essential elements are micronutrients which are found in adequate amounts in most soils, the only time they are generally a problem is when the pH of local soil is to low. These acidic soils, common in the western U.S., lock up micronutrients in insoluble forms which cannot be absorbed and utilized by your pepper plants. If you know you have acidic soil in your area adding lime to your garden will raise the pH and prevent any problems. Home soil test kits are available to test your gardens soil for major nutrients and pH, and some state and county agriculture extension programs will test samples for a small fee. Peppers prefer slightly acidic soil with a pH of between 6 and 6.8. Read more about pH.

 

 

Hydroponic chile peppers

 

The basic idea of hydroponics is to grow plants in a soilless medium with a well-oxygenated nutrient solution providing all the plants nutritional needs. Although pepper seedlings are susceptible to damping off, they can be grown hydroponically. Seeds should be started in lightly watered rockwool cubs or perlite. Once the young plants have a well-developed root system they can be placed in a hydroponic system. These kinds of growing systems can speed growth and increase yields, but the higher costs of equipment and nutrient solution makes this method of growing chile peppers mostly a novelty.

The pepper plants botanical classification

The pepper plant family

The Scoville scale that measures the capsaicin content in peppers

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