Vegetable · Solanaceae
Chili Pepper
Capsicum annuum
Offer it heat, sun, and steady water, and a chili plant rewards you with fruit from summer into fall.
Full sun
Every 2–4 days
59–86°F · 15–30°C
70–85 days
Overview
Chili peppers carry real heat, and you'll find they're a friendly plant to grow once you know what they like. They sit in the nightshade family right beside the tomato, first came out of the Americas, and these days they're grown wherever people garden. Think of yours as a warm season annual, and it will settle in just as contentedly in a sunny bed as in a pot out on a hot patio.
There's wonderful variety in the fruit you can grow. Some peppers stay gentle and thick-walled, lovely for eating fresh, while others run fierce enough that you'll want gloves at the cutting board. The heat all comes down to capsaicin, a compound that gathers in the ribs and seeds, and it's the same compound that can irritate skin, eyes, and the mouths of most animals.
These plants reward a bit of patience early on and steady warmth all the way through. They're slow to wake up from seed and they do sulk in the cold, but offer them full sun, even moisture, and a long warm season and they'll keep handing you fruit right up until frost. Small missteps along the way are easy to recover from.
Care
The short version: give them full sun and steady warmth, keeping the soil evenly moist so the fruit stays sound at the bottom. Set them in rich, well drained ground, feed gently across the season, and let the cold pass before you send them outside.
Light
Your chili peppers will be happiest in full sun, soaking up eight or more hours a day. Give them less and they tend to stretch leggy with thin foliage and far fewer peppers to enjoy, so a bright spot really pays off.
Water
Aim to keep the soil evenly moist, watering deeply to at least 6 inches and tucking mulch around the base to hold that moisture in. Consistency matters most while the plant is flowering and setting fruit, since the dry-then-wet swings are exactly what bring on blossom end rot. When peppers are in a pot or a heat wave hits, plan to water every 2 to 4 days.
Soil
These plants love well drained loam or sandy loam worked through with plenty of organic matter. A pH between 6.0 and 6.8 suits them nicely, leaning just a touch acidic, and that good drainage keeps the roots from ever sitting soggy.
Temperature
Warmth is what peppers live for, and they grow best between 59°F and 86°F (15°C to 30°C). Cold soil holds them back at the start, and fruit set falters when the days run too hot, so a long, mild stretch is what truly fills the plant with peppers.
Humidity
Ordinary household humidity of about 40% to 70% is all your peppers need, so this is one number you can stop fretting over. What matters far more is airflow, because crowded, damp leaves are what invite the bacterial spots peppers can pick up.
Feeding
Feed your plants monthly through the growing season with a balanced vegetable fertilizer. A side-dressing of calcium nitrate about 3 to 4 weeks after transplanting, and once more a few weeks after that, helps the fruit set well, though a soil test will guide you better than guesswork ever could.
Pruning
Peppers ask very little of you here. If you like, you can pinch off the first flowers to coax bushier growth and stronger roots, tidy away any damaged or diseased leaves, and pop a stake beside the taller plants so a heavy crop of fruit never weighs them down.
Repotting
Think of your chili as a one-season plant, grown fresh from seed each year. Shift seedlings into roomier pots before they head outdoors so their roots never have a chance to coil, and keep an eye out for circling roots or quick wilting, both gentle signs that a young plant has outgrown its little cell.
Size & spacing
Most chili plants reach 12 to 35 inches (30 to 90 cm) tall depending on the type, and spread out to 12 to 24 inches (30 to 60 cm) wide. Leaving each one that much room lets air flow freely and keeps the leaves dry and healthy.
When to plant
Chili peppers adore heat and have no patience for frost, but the timing is forgiving once you know the rhythm. Start your seeds indoors well ahead of the last frost, hold the transplants back until the nights settle above about 55°F (13°C), and you'll be picking fruit from summer right into fall.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: 6 to 8 weeks before the last spring frost
- Plant: After the last frost once night temperatures stay above about 55°F (13°C)
- Harvest: Summer to fall harvest of fruit
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 9–11
Temperature: down to -7°C
Troubleshooting
Most pepper troubles show themselves on the fruit, the leaves, or the flowers, and that's good news, because they're easy to spot. Notice those early signs and you can step in long before a small issue spreads. Find what matches your plant below, then take action while it still does the most good.
Angular brown leaf spots edged in yellow
What you're seeing is bacterial leaf spot, and it can move quickly when conditions stay wet and splashy, sometimes leaving a plant bare. There isn't a cure once a plant is heavily covered, so the kindest thing is to pull and toss the worst of them. Water down at the base, keep your hands off the leaves while they're wet, and move your peppers away from tomatoes and the rest of the nightshade family.
Fix:
- Remove and discard heavily infected plants
- Avoid overhead watering and handling plants when wet
- Use copper-based products where appropriate
A dark, sunken spot forming at the base of your peppers
Take heart, because this is blossom end rot, and the cause is usually uneven watering instead of soil that runs short on calcium. As moisture lurches from dry to drenched, the plant struggles to move calcium up into the fruit it's forming. You can turn this around by watering on a regular rhythm, laying down mulch to hold moisture in, and easing back on nitrogen.
Fix:
- Maintain even soil moisture and mulch to buffer drying
- Avoid over-applying nitrogen fertilizer
- Confirm adequate calcium with a soil test and amend if needed
Blossoms falling off before any fruit forms
Try not to worry, because peppers simply let go of their open flowers when the weather turns hard on them, shedding blooms once the days climb past 90°F (32°C) or the nights dip under about 60°F (16°C). Your plant stays green and perfectly healthy through it. Keep the soil evenly moist, go light on nitrogen while it's blooming, and the fruit will start setting again as soon as the weather eases.
Fix:
- Wait for moderate temperatures, when fruit set usually resumes
- Keep soil evenly moist
- Avoid heavy nitrogen feeding during flowering
Curling leaves dotted with little bugs and a sticky film
Those tiny soft specks, green through to black, are aphids, and they gather on tender shoot tips and the undersides of leaves, leaving a sticky honeydew where they feed. A firm blast of water will send most of them flying, and there's no need to reach for insecticidal soap or spinosad unless a colony gets truly heavy. Given a little time, lady beetles and lacewings will happily finish the job for you.
Fix:
- Dislodge colonies with a strong spray of water
- Apply insecticidal soap or spinosad if populations are high
- Encourage natural predators such as lady beetles and lacewings
Toxicity
The fruit is delicious and a staple in kitchens the world over, so you have nothing to worry about eating it yourself. The one thing to mind is capsaicin, the compound behind the heat, which is a strong irritant to cats, dogs, and most animals and can leave them with a burning mouth, drooling, and a queasy stomach. Birds are the cheerful exception and aren't troubled by it at all.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock
Safe for
People · Birds
Cats Mild
A curious cat that takes a bite of the fruit ends up with a mouthful of burn. Look for drooling, pawing at the mouth, and perhaps a little vomiting or loose stool, which usually clears up on its own.
Dogs Mild
A dog that chews a pepper feels that same sting, along with drooling, a queasy stomach, and a sudden thirst. Most come right once the heat passes and they've had a good drink.
Horses Caution
A horse will seldom go near the spicy fruit, yet capsaicin would still burn the mouth and unsettle the gut, so it's best to keep the plants somewhere they can't reach.
Rabbits Caution
For a small grazer the heat is rough going. Even a nibble can leave a rabbit drooling and uninterested in food, so it's wise not to let one browse the plant.
Livestock Caution
Goats, sheep, and cattle tend to find the burn unpleasant and steer clear of peppers, though a curious one that does eat the fruit can end up with mouth and stomach irritation.
Birds Safe
Birds feel none of the heat whatsoever. They simply lack the receptor that capsaicin works on, and that's precisely how wild peppers get birds to carry off and spread their seeds.
People Edible
Chili fruit is a beloved kitchen staple and safe to eat, however much heat it carries. Slip on gloves when you're cutting the fiercest kinds, and keep the cut flesh well away from your eyes.
Capsaicin causes painful skin and eye irritation when handling or cutting hot peppers. Wear gloves, avoid touching your eyes or face, and wash hands thoroughly afterward; inhaling fumes from cut peppers can irritate the airways.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
United Kingdom
Animal PoisonLine: 01202 509000 (fee applies)
Australia
Animal Poisons Helpline: 1300 869 738
Varieties
There are thousands of chili varieties out there, but only a handful turn up again and again in home gardens. These are the ones it pays to recognize, both by name and by how much heat they bring.
Jalapeno
Thick-walled and medium-hot, this one is usually harvested while it's still green, and it's the friendly first pick for fresh eating and pickling.
Cayenne
Long, slim, and wrinkled, its fruit carries more heat than a jalapeno and dries down beautifully into the ground cayenne powder you already know.
Habanero
Shaped like a little lantern and very hot, this one belongs to the Capsicum chinense species and hides a lovely fruity aroma beneath all that fire.
Thai (bird) pepper
Tiny yet fiercely pungent, its fruit points upward in tidy clusters on neat, compact plants.
How to propagate
Chili peppers come up from seed, and the only knack to it is giving them plenty of warmth and a generous head start indoors before the weather warms.
SeedModerate
Start seed indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last spring frost · Germinates in roughly 1 to 3 weeks in warm soil (about 80-85°F); transplants are field-ready 6 to 8 weeks after sowing
Peppers come up readily from seed, and all they really ask for is steady warmth to get moving. Start them indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost, set them over bottom heat near 80°F to 85°F (27°C to 29°C) in bright light, and you'll see sprouts in about 1 to 3 weeks. Around 6 to 8 weeks later the seedlings will be ready for the garden, once you've hardened them off and the frost has gone for good.
Myths
Chili peppers are deadly poisonous to dogs and cats.
Capsaicin stings, but it doesn't poison the way a genuine toxin would. A pet that chews a hot pepper ends up with a sore mouth and a queasy stomach for a little while, with no lasting harm done, and culinary peppers aren't on the ASPCA's classic toxic-plant list.
The heat in chili peppers harms birds.
Birds never register capsaicin in the first place, so they eat the fruit without so much as a flinch. That very blind spot is the whole point, because wild peppers count on birds to gulp down the fruit and scatter the seeds far and wide.