How to grow hot peppers from seed in containers.

Hot pepper plants or Chillies are commonly used as a spice to flavour dishes. They are easy to grow in containers and you can get lots of them from a single plant. They can be grown easily when you plant them at the right temperature and soil conditions. Hot pepper plants grow well when the weather is warm and dry. The optimum temperature needed is between 20 to 28° C (68 to 82 °F). These plants grow well in all types of soil that are well drained and well aerated. It does not grow well in acidic soil.

How to grow hot peppers from seed in containers

Step 1

You can start your seeds indoors 3 to 4 weeks before the last frost date. Take a seed tray and fill it with seed starting mix. Sow the seeds half inch deep and gently water them. You can soak the seeds for 8 hours before you sow them. This speeds up the germination process.

Step 2

Your seeds will sprout within a week. After the sapling grows up to 6 inch tall, you can transplant it to bigger containers. Take a container that is at least 12 inches deep and has proper drainage holes. Mix garden soil (20%), perlite (20%) with organic compost (60%) and fill the container.

Step 3

Place the container in a location that receives 5 to 6 hours of sunlight every day. You don’t have to water your chilli plants often. You can water them when the soil becomes dry.

Step 4

You can add organic compost or liquid fertiliser to your plants once in 3 weeks and this helps the plants to stay healthy.

Step 5

Flowering takes place 40 to 45 days after transplanting. You can harvest your chillies within 80 to 120 days. You can store the chillies for cooking purposes.

Some of the pests that attack your chilli peppers include thrips, mealy bugs, spider mites and whiteflies. Using neem oil or diatomaceous earth can help to control these pests.