Growing Chilli peppers, also Hot peppers

Capsicum sp. : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	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.

Your comments and tips

05 Jan 12, (Australia - temperate climate): hi I am growing chillies this is there second season in the ground, bush is full of them but some are getting holes in them never happened before looked inside but nothing there, anyone got any ideas what it ccould be.
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05 Jan 12, (Australia - temperate climate): I have same experience. The holes on the chili were caused by slug. I put snail & slug pellet around the plants. In the morning after that, found died slugs.
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17 Dec 11, Tania (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I planted some chilli's from packet seed directly into the tub where they would grow. They only grew about 2 cm high and then nothing. Anyone know what the problem was/is? I am not a gardener and often grow things by mistake.
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17 Jul 11, Barb (Australia - temperate climate): What is the best way of preparing the seeds from last years chilli crop before planting them this year. Do you need to soak them before planting?
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04 Feb 12, James (Australia - temperate climate): Like pumpkins and tomatoes you need to ferment the seed at room temperature until mold forms then wash and dry, this removes a layer on the seed which can prevent it from germinating next season. Alternatively you can rub it off with your fingers but might be hard with the seed size, or you can dry flesh with the seed and it will ferment next season you plant it but germination may take longer. Hope this helps.
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09 Jul 11, Stephen (Australia - temperate climate): My chilli plants got frosted in the last few days, is it worth pruning them back a little and cover them or do I just start again in spring with new plants? Now, what to do with 2.5kg of chillies???
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01 Aug 11, Chrys (Australia - temperate climate): Hi Stephen New to the gardening world - but I pickled my excess chillies this year and they worked out great! Pickle in Vinegar and pickling spice and Store for a min of a month. That way you have chillies you can use all year round. Chrys
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06 Jul 11, Confused little chilli plant (Australia - temperate climate): I've bought my potted chilli plant inside over winter so that it doesn't bite the dust like my previous bush did last winter. So it's staying nice and warm and is catching a lot of north sun on my windowsill but I just noticed that it is starting to bloom flowers already!! I think it's confused about the season it's in. Anyhow, will it still be ok to produce flowers/fruit in spring/summer if it's already started flowering now? Should I prune off the flowers or leave them to die off as they won't see any action from bees...
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08 Jul 11, Liz (Australia - arid climate): lol. I'd leave the flowers on. You don't need bees for them to pollinate, just walk over and give the stems a little shake, they're self pollinating :)
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31 Jul 11, Bek (Australia - temperate climate): Thanks Liz! I didn't realize they self-pollinate, I've noticed that they are starting to produce baby chillis now which I'm really excited about for this time of year! Looks like it's not so confused about after all...
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I'm growing Trinidad scorpion Butch T and Moruga. seeing they are the worlds record holder for hottest Chillies Well why not give them ago. My first crop have now got fruit and I have a few friends who love hot food so when they found out I had some of the worlds hottest chillies they could not wait to try them. I warned them that they were hotter then anything they have ever tried in their life but this did not stop one mate who thought how bad could it be I said if you are going to eat one you have to eat and swollow the whole thing not just nibble on it. So he popped it in his mouth and begain to chew he wanted to show how tough he was so he kept chewing I could see the pain in his eyes he then tried to swollow it but choked on the hottness he tried milk and icecream but it was just to hot and ended having to go to hospital for a check up. no real harm done but for a good 45 minutes he wished he was dead. I've scraped the seeds out of one and eatten it and I love hot food but I was in so so much pain. In north QLD chillies grow all year round except when it floods and your chillies are a few feet under water that seems to kill them off.

- Ryan

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Growing Chilli peppers, also Hot peppers

Capsicum sp. : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Your comments and tips

GardenGrow

Keep your garden growing - see what to plant right now

Growing Chilli peppers, also Hot peppers

Capsicum sp. : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Your comments and tips

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