Growing Guide: Peppers

Grow and Save Pepper Seeds

Both sweet and hot peppers originate from one wild species native to Central and South America. Of today’s five domesticated pepper species, gardeners usually encounter two: Capsicum annuum and Capsicum chinense. All species grow well throughout the United States as long as they receive enough sun, heat, and moisture.

A bowl of peppers of different sizes, shapes, and colors — Shop pepper seeds

How to Grow Peppers

Peppers have a long growing season and are usually started indoors and then transplanted into the garden when soil temperatures have sufficiently warmed. Most sweet peppers mature in 60-90 days; most hot peppers take from 85-100 days, but some varieties take up to 150 days to mature.

When and How to Start Indoors

A row of pepper seedlings growing in plastic trays with many more pepper seedlings out of focus behind them — Sow peppers indoors 6-8 weeks before transplanting.

Sow peppers indoors 6-8 weeks before transplanting. Plant seeds at a depth of ¼ inch into small containers with sterile potting soil or seed-starting mix. 50, 72, or 128 plug 1020 trays work well for starting pepper seeds.

After sowing pepper seeds, water them in with a hose or watering can with a low flow. Keep the soil moist until the seeds germinate.

Peppers need soil temperatures of at least 75 degrees F in order to germinate and grow. Bottom heat from heat mats can speed up germination. Be sure to remove heat mats after germination occurs to prevent seedlings from growing too rapidly and getting spindly.

Learn more about starting seeds.

Time to Germination

Seeds will germinate in 14-18 days.

Seedling Care

Keep seedlings in a well-ventilated space with plenty of sunlight. After the seeds germinate, water when the top layer of soil is dry and do not allow the soil to get waterlogged.

Learn more about nurturing seeds indoors.

Two hands press pepper seedlings into new three inch pots — Move pepper transplants into a 3″ pot once they have at least two sets of leaves.

Potting Up

Transfer (or “pot up”) tray-grown pepper seedlings into 3-inch pots when the plants have at least two sets of leaves. Potting up is necessary to give seedlings the space and nutrients they need to grow, especially if sowed in small cells.

Learn how to pot up seedlings.

When to Transplant

Gradually harden off pepper transplants 4-6 weeks after sowing indoors by introducing the seedlings to direct sunlight, dry air, and cool nights.

Learn how to harden off seedlings.

Transplant pepper plants on a cloudy day, if possible, as soon as soil temperatures have warmed above 75 degrees F and the danger of frost has passed.

Set the plant so the lowest leaves are at soil level. Add a layer of mulch to help suppress weeds, conserve water, and regulate soil temperature.

Learn more about transplanting pepper plants.

Light Requirements

Peppers require full sun. Plant your peppers in a location with as much sunlight as possible.

Spacing Requirements

Space plants 12-24 inches apart in the garden in rows at least 12 inches apart.

Plant Care

Watering

Be sure to keep pepper plants moist but not waterlogged. Water when the top layer of soil is dry, but do not allow plants to completely dry out. Water deeply at the base of the plant, avoiding wetting the leaves if possible.

Weeding

Weed regularly to ensure the plants have room and resources to grow without the competition of weeds.

Hand hoes, collinear hoes, and small scuffle hoes are handy for precision weeding. Be sure to scratch every square inch of soil, even if you don’t see a weed, in order to catch any germinating “thread stage” weeds.

Learn more about plant care.

Nejiri Gama Hoe, Right-Handed — Hand hoes, like the Nejiri Gama hand hoe, are excellent for precision weeding around plants and in small garden beds.

Staking

A pepper plant supported by a green stake in a garden — Stakes provide support to pepper plants

Staking provides added support to pepper plants. Large pepper varieties especially benefit from staking to help support the weight of heavier fruits. Very small pepper varieties may not need staking at all.

Follow these steps to stake pepper plants:

Drive a 2-3 foot stake into the soil next to the pepper plant while the plant is still young to avoid damaging the roots.
As the plant grows, loosely fasten the main stem to the stake with twine, plant ties, velcro strips, or other soft materials to avoid damaging the stems.
Add more stakes to support the plant as it branches.
Prune any leaves that touch the soil to prevent disease.

Tomato Cages: You may also provide support to pepper plants with small tomato cages.

Trellising: You may also provide support to pepper plants by trellising. One way to do this is to drive two t-posts into the ground on either end of your pepper row. Next, loop the twine around the row. As the plants grow, you can add more rows of twine for additional support.

Two rows of 'Aurora' pepper plants supported by rows of twine — ‘Aurora’ pepper plants supported by trellising.

Topping: “Topping” pepper plants encourages plants to grow sideways, giving the plant greater support, and is especially helpful in areas that experience high winds. To top pepper plants, cut off the top 30-50% of the plant using a pair of clean garden shears. Be sure to do this after the plant has had some time to grow, but before it begins to produce fruit.

Growing Peppers in Containers

A 'Golden Nugget' pepper plant, with small peppers in various stages of development, with colors such as green, red, and purple. — Recommended variety: ‘Golden Nugget’ is great for containers

With the proper soil, sunlight, and care, pepper plants can thrive in containers. Make sure your container is deep, opaque, and has drainage holes. Use potting soil mixed with a generous amount of compost to add nutrients, increase drainage, and help retain moisture. Most peppers can be grown in containers, however smaller varieties—such as ‘Grandma Kirksey,’ ‘Fatalii,’ and ‘Golden Nugget’—are most ideal for container gardening.

Learn more about container gardening.

Common Diseases

Peppers can be susceptible to a number of diseases, many of which can be mitigated or prevented by providing support and adequate spacing between plants. Staking or trellising pepper plants provides protection from storms and increases airflow around plants. Rotating crops, removing diseased plants, and watering plants at the base also helps to prevent diseases or curb their spreading, as can mulching the base of the plants.

Blossom end rot: Blossom end rot appears on the blossom end of the fruit (opposite the stem end) and appears as a brown, water-soaked, leathery, flattened or sunken spot. It is caused by a calcium deficiency. To prevent blossom end rot, water regularly to keep the soil consistently moist. Any affected fruits should be removed.

Bacterial leaf spot: Bacterial leaf spot appears as tan-gray lesions on leaves and stems. As the lesions age, they can develop a black center and a yellow outer halo. Flowers and fruits can also become infected. The disease can be passed down through seeds or through the soil and is spread by splashing water, wind, or physical contact. Bacterial leaf spot thrives in warm temperatures with high humidity and heavy rainfall. To help mitigate, purchase seeds and transplants from a high-quality supplier, maintain proper spacing between plants, remove leaves or fruit touching the soil, and water at the base of the plant, avoiding getting the leaves wet.

Anthracnose: Anthracnose is a fungal disease that affects the fruit of peppers, first appearing as small, water-soaked lesions that expand, are sunken, and range in color. Though anthracnose attacks immature fruits, the fruits often don’t show symptoms until they are mature. The fungus thrives in warm, wet weather and can survive in both seeds and debris from other crops. To prevent anthracnose, water at the base of plant.

Sunscald

Pepper mild mottle virus

A pile of colorful 'Shishito' peppers — Recommended variety: ‘Shishito’ peppers are delicious at every stage. Green peppers are super crunchy with just a hint of heat. When red, the fruits are sweet and slightly hotter but less crunchy.

When and How to Harvest for Food Consumption

Harvest with scissors or pruning shears, leaving 1-2 inches of the stem intact to prevent early rotting in storage. Maturity in peppers is indicated by a color change in the fruit. Most varieties will ripen from green, to yellow, orange, and finally red, brown, or purple when they are fully mature. Many pepper varieties can be harvested for food consumption at immature stages as well as at full maturity.

Eating

Peppers are one of the most versatile culinary crops grown in the home garden. They can be eaten fresh, fried, roasted, stewed, stir fried, pickled, as well as puréed into soups, dips, and pestos. Peppers, especially thin fleshed varieties, can be braided into a decorative ristra, air dried, and then crushed to make pepper flakes, chili powder, or paprika.

two jars with globular red and yellow pickled vegetables inside — Try making Lucina’s Miniature Stuffed Bell Peppers

Try these pepper recipes:

Many small red peppers, halved covered in seeds, laid out on a metal sheet — Recommended variety: The ‘Ausilio Thin Skin Italian’ heirloom pepper is delicious and versatile in the kitchen

Tips:

Wear gloves when handling hot peppers and never touch your eyes.
To lessen the intensity of hot peppers, remove the seeds and interior ribbing with a spoon.
When eating extremely hot peppers, it may be helpful to have dairy products on hand. Dairy products, such as yogurt and milk, can provide relief from capsaicin, the active compound in peppers that causes heat and irritation.

Storing

When stored at room temperature, peppers have a shelf life of 1-2 weeks. Preserved peppers, when pickled or stored in oil, can last for many months. Dried peppers will keep almost indefinitely in a dark, dry pantry.

How to Save Pepper Seeds

When saving seeds from peppers, remember that different species occasionally cross-pollinate, so be sure to isolate varieties as recommended.

Understanding Pepper Species

Five domesticated species in the genus Capsicum are grown for their edible and ornamental fruits: C. annuum, C. frutescens, C. chinense, C. baccatum, and C. pubescens.

C. annuum, C. frutescens, and C. chinense are most popular among gardeners and are collectively known as the Capsicum annuum complex. These species are able to cross-pollinate with each other and require isolation from each other.

Many small 'Red Habanero' peppers hanging from a plant — C. chinense peppers, such as habaneros, are cross-compatible with other peppers in the C. annuum complex.

C. baccatum and C. pubescens are less popular among gardeners. C. baccatum may cross-pollinate with plants of the Capsicum annuum complex, but C. pubescens will only reproduce with members of its own species.

A pile of 'Aji Crystal' peppers in colors ranging from light green to yellow to red. — C. baccatum peppers, such as ‘Aji Cristal’ may occasionally cross with varieties in the C. annuum complex.

Life Cycle

Peppers are most often grown as an annual crop, but can be perennial in tropical regions. Annual crops complete their full life cycle—including germination, reproduction, and death—in one growing season.

Recommended Isolation Distance

When saving seeds from pepper, separate varieties by 300-1,600 feet.

A pepper flower next to a small pepper fruit — Peppers have perfect flowers and are capable of self-pollinating. Peppers with inserted stigmas, such as this one, are more prone to self-pollination.

Peppers have perfect flowers, which means each flower contains both pollen-producing (male) and pollen-receiving (female) parts. This means that peppers can self-pollinate, though some are better at self-pollinating than others. Peppers with inserted stigmas are more prone to self-pollination than peppers with exserted stigmas. Peppers are also commonly pollinated by insects.

Other Isolation Methods: Physical Barriers

If separating pepper varieties by the recommended isolation distance isn’t possible, you can use physical barriers to prevent cross-pollination by insects.

Mesh blossom bags, organza bags, or jewelry bags prevent insects from accessing pepper flowers. Tie blossom bags around individual pepper flowers, or clusters of flowers, before they open to keep insects out. Once pollination has occurred, the fruit sets and the flower wilts, and you can then remove the bags. Be sure to mark which fruits have been isolated by tying a ribbon around the stem!

A small white mesh blossom fastened over several budding tomato flowers — Blossom bags, seen here on tomato flowers, isolate varieties from one another.

Due to the locations of pepper flowers, or just the sheer number of them, affixing blossom bags may be difficult. Alternatively, you can isolate entire pepper plants by placing a mesh lettuce bag or isolation tent over the entire plant.

An isolation tent around a plant in a garden — Isolation tents and large mesh bags can be placed around entire plants.

Pollinating by Hand

Two white pepper flowers and a small green emerging fruit — Some pepper varieties have flowers with exserted stigmas, making them more prone to outcrossing.

To ensure fruit set, you can facilitate the pollination process.

Shaking: Natural wind may shake the flowers enough to facilitate pollination. You can also gently shake the pepper plants to help this process.

Hand-pollinating: This method is more hands-on, but will maximize pepper yield by ensuring successful pollination. To hand-pollinate, use a small paintbrush or cotton swab to pick up pollen grains from inside the flower. Then, “paint” the pollen onto the stigma of the flower. If you are using physicals, place them back over the flowers until the fruits set.

Learn more about isolation methods.

Recommended Population Sizes

Viable seed can be harvested from a single plant. To maintain a variety over time, save seeds from between 5-20 plants. For genetic preservation of a rare variety, save seeds from at least 50 plants.

A pepper plant with small pointed peppers in various stages of ripeness. — Peppers are mature when they reach their final color, often red.

Assessing Seed Maturity

Fruits are mature when they reach their final color and begin to soften. Harvest fruits up to two weeks past their fully ripe stage.

If frost threatens before the peppers mature, pull entire plant and hold at 65 to 75 degrees F in a protected location. Held at the ideal temperature, the seeds will continue to mature. Be sure to monitor the fruits to make sure they do not rot.

Processing

Protection

Be careful when processing the fruits of hot peppers as the oils and vapors of capsaicin can cause eye, skin, and respiratory irritation. Work in a well-ventilated area and take care to wear protective gloves and a respirator or dust mask to prevent irritation. Avoid touching your eyes or nose as you work. If you handle hot peppers bare-handed, immediately scrub hands with soap and warm water.

Cleaning

There are several ways to clean pepper seeds.

1. Easiest method

Four different peppers sliced vertically in half, showing the interior ribbing and seeds — Slice peppers in half lengthwise, then use a spoon to scrape off the seeds.

Cut open the fruits lengthwise and scrape the seeds off the core. For bell types, it may work better for you to cut around the top of the pepper and use the stem as a handle to twist out the core.

Rinse the seeds to remove any remaining pulp, and immediately spread out in a single layer on a screen, coffee filters, or newspaper to dry.

2. Best for very small peppers

An outstretched hand holds two tiny peppers — Blending and decanting works well for very small peppers.

Very small peppers can be processed whole using a food processor with a dull blade. Blend the peppers with water until the fruits have broken apart and the seeds have separated from the cores.

Transfer the mixture of water, pulp, and seeds to a larger container and add more water. Agitate the mixture to make sure the seeds are separated from the pulp. Then decant the mixture by pouring off the floating pulp and lighter, immature seeds. Repeat the decanting process several times until the water is fairly clear and what remains is mostly seeds.

Finally, rinse the seeds of any remaining pulp and immediately spread out in a single layer on a screen, coffee filters, or newspaper to dry.

3. Best for thin-walled peppers

A glass jar of dried red chile peppers — Thin-walled peppers can be dried and processed as a dry-fruited crop.

Thin-walled peppers can also be dry-processed. After harvest, allow fruits to dry in a dry, protected location with good airflow until the pepper is brittle enough to break apart. Crush the peppers into a container.

With your hands, gently rub the mixture on a screen to separate the seeds from the plant material. Use a screen, strainer, or similar tool with holds just large enough for pepper seeds to fall through, leaving the larger chaff behind on the screen.

Finally, winnow the seeds by dropping them in front of an air current, such as a fan, to blow away any remaining chaff and lighter, immature seeds.

Two long red 'Joe's Long Cayenne' peppers hanging from the plant — Recommended variety: ‘Joe’s Long Cayenne’ pepper is excellent for drying.

Thin-walled pepper varieties for drying:

Drying

Allow seeds to air-dry on newsprint, coffee filters, or screens for several days. To test if seeds are dry, rub a seed in between two pieces of paper. If the seed leaves a damp spot, the seeds need to spend more time drying. Dry seeds will not leave a spot on the paper.

A person holds a pile of dried pepper seeds in their hands over a screen with more pepper seeds — Let the pepper seeds dry completely.

Storage and Viability

Store seeds for up to three years somewhere cool, dark, and dry.

Read more about storing seeds.

Instructional Video

How to save pepper seeds

Sarah Cousins, former greenhouse manager at Seed Savers Exchange, walks you through saving pepper seed from your garden in this video from the Resilience Garden video series.

More to Explore

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