Growing Chilli peppers, also Hot peppers

Capsicum sp. : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
                S S    
                    T T

(Best months for growing Chilli peppers in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions)

  • S = Plant undercover in seed trays
  • T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings

September: After risk of frosts

  • Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 64°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 16 - 20 inches apart
  • Harvest in 9-11 weeks. Wear gloves to pick 'hot' chillies.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Best grown in a separate bed as chillies need plenty of light and air circulation.
  • Chilli harvest
  • Small, hot, chilli

Small bushy plants. Dark green ovate leaves.

Chilli need warm frost free weather, so protect with glass or plastic covers if planting outside in cooler areas.

Most varieties need a long growing period to produce many fruit.

There are many types of chilli. Some are more fiery than others. As a general rule, the smaller the pod the hotter the taste.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Chilli peppers

Chillies freeze very well. Wash, dry, and free whole. Use them direct from the freezer (no need to defrost).
Wear plastic gloves or wash your hands thoroughly after handling and cutting to avoid accidentally rubbing chilli juice onto your mouth or eyes!

Your comments and tips

09 May 08, brad simes (Unknown climate)
my chilli plant is going yellow is that normal
10 May 08, Tammi (Unknown climate)
A question if anyone can. I live in Mandurah WA, something is eating my chilli seedlings off to a stalk. I have used ant and grub powder and also snail pellets. Any advise? Thanks Tam
12 May 08, Clair (Unknown climate)
Tammi - it might be slaters. Put a piece of orange near the plants at night, and check early the next morning. If it is slaters eating the chili plants, they will congregate on the orange, which you can then dispose of, with the slaters! Repeat until you are slater-free. If you don't have pets or kids, you can also crush up snail pellets to a powder as the slater's mouth parts or too small to eat the big pellets.
21 Jun 08, Tammi (Australia - temperate climate)
Thank you so very much for the Slater advice. I will try the orange.
09 Aug 08, Megan Darling (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I was just wondering, my chili's are very small and not very hot. Is there a way to encourage them to grow bigger? It's only 10 months old. Thanks
22 Aug 08, gareth (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
do u plant chillis from punnets or straight into the beds =) =(
01 Sep 08, julie (Australia - tropical climate)
Do chilli's need full sun to grow or just morning? I am just getting ready to put in a vege patch.
03 Sep 08, Liz (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Julie, chillies will do better in full sun
13 Oct 08, Joel (Australia - temperate climate)
Megan, I have had the same problem with growing jalapenos, the plants make a lot of fruit, but they all stay very small and not spicy. I have found some other chili varieties grow better, birdseye chilli's especially. Someone suggested that the pH in my soil might be too high, I havent checked it though.
22 Oct 08, Julie (Australia - temperate climate)
My chilli plant was prolific with aprox 3cm sized fruit for the last few years. Now it has flowered again abundantly but the fruit are maturing tiny (0.5cm) and round. What is it lacking?
Showing 1 - 10 of 427 comments

Tammi - could be mice or rats, they can do this also. Its happened to me in Perth. Megan - Chillies will only grow vigourously during the warmer months, depending on where you are, they will either slow down, go dormant, or die altogether, depening on how cold it gets, a severe frowst will kill them. Wait until summer, they will flower all over, and give you lots of fruit. If you want a hotter chilli, water them less, let them dry out a little (but not all the way). A stressed plant will give hotter fruit. If you want hotter fruit still, get a different variety. Look for a chinense variety. Gareth - Most people raise chillies in punnets/starter pots, then into medium pots (10-15 cm across at the top), then onto final larger pots or garden beds when they have outgrown the medium one. You can tell when they are ready to be moved as they will have roots coming out the bottom. Julie - feed them with tomato food, probably in liquid form, is pretty good for flowering chillies, also, mulch and compost the soil if you can. Murray - depending on the variety, chillies can take up to 6 weeks to germinate, and they also need warm humid conditions to do so. Chillies are originally grown in warmer humid places, so they better you can recreate this, the happier they are. Keep them moist, (but not wet or soggy), perhaps put half a coke bottle over them to keep the humidity up, put them somewhere warm, they dont need sunlight to germinate, so the top of the fridge will do. When they do germinate, move them to a sunny windowsill or similar until they are ready to be hardened off to go outside. Michael - an NPK ratio of 10-5-10 for when they are growing works well, then 5-10-10 for flowering, if using bought fertilizers. Otherwise, a well composted mix of garden waste should work well, with some animal manure thrown in. Dont forget to mulch the soil to stop evaporation.

- Simon

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