Growing Banana Peppers
Growing banana peppers is really easy, as they are one of the most forgiving varieties. Still, they do need some care. Let’s take a look at growing banana peppers in the garden.
Type of Banana Peppers
These versatile veggies go by several names, but they can be divided into two main types: and
.
The most common banana pepper is called Hungarian, and it’s also available both ways. So that’s something to keep in mind when you are perusing the seeds!
The hot variety of the banana pepper reaches around 3,500 to 4,000 Scoville Units — about on par with jalapenos.
Growing Banana Peppers in Containers
Sure, you can grow these peppers in containers. For a bountiful harvest, I suggest 5-gallon containers. However, with a good potting soil, plenty of fertilizer, water and sunshine, they can also be grown successfully in 3-gallon pots.
Here’s more detailed information about container pepper growing.
Peppers in the Garden
Peppers, including the bananas, have similar requirements to their relative the tomato. That includes a fertilizer that has more phosphorus (the middle number of the fertilizer content) than nitrogen. While a lot of nitrogen will grow you large, lush plants, you won’t get many peppers off it.
Peppers like rich, well-drained soil. I’ve found that they also appreciate “fluffy” soil, which doesn’t compact easily, but which holds enough water to keep the plant happy. I do this by incorporating compost, sphagnum moss and perlite in the planting hole and surrounding soil.
Peppers like warm weather, especially the hot varieties. They don’t appreciate a windy location, so if you do get really breezy on a regular basis, see about constructing a wind break of sorts.
What About Eating?
You can eat the banana peppers when they are immature (green), ripe (red) or anywhere in between!
Here’s a hint: a sweet pepper will grow sweeter the riper it gets. Similarly, a hot banana pepper will turn up the heat, the riper it is.
Enjoy growing (and eating) your banana peppers!
E-mail all small letters.
Why are my banana peppers turning plumish brown.
Hi Wendy,
I’m not sure why your peppers are turning plum-ish brown, but here are some things to consider:
If the spots seem soft or rotting, check to make sure your peppers aren’t getting too much water.
You might also want to check that your peppers are getting enough calcium — some eggshells crushed and worked into the top part of the soil will help here.
If the areas don’t seem to be rotting, your possibilities are 1) they are in the process of changing color while ripening or 2) sunscald.
Those would be my first guesses, without more details.
I have planted banana peppers in containers and the leaves are turning yellow and brown, falling off, and it looks like something is eating the leaves. I do have a few peppers on the plants. Why are the leaves turning and falling off??
Hi Patty,
Since your banana peppers are in containers, it’s not likely nematodes being the problem. And unless you smoke tobacco and then go handle the plants, tobacco mosaic virus isn’t likely the cause.
That leaves us with insects attacking your plant, especially since you say it looks like something is eating the leaves.
Check out the page on pepper insects at
http://www.homegrown-peppers.com/category/pepper-insects/
You should be able to figure out which bug is the problem, and you’ll see the solution to getting rid of it.
I have planted banana peppers in my garden for the first time and I would like to know if they can take on the flavor of bell peppers if planted too closely, or if their taste is similar. I have only had pickled banana peppers that taste similar to pickles on a sandwich. I tried one of mine raw and it tasted very similar to the bell peppers I planted close to it. I am new to gardening and would appreciate any help you may give me. Also I would love to know how to pickle those banana peppers. Thanks!
Hi Debbie, and thanks for your question. No, peppers planted close to each other won’t necessarily take on each other’s flavors. However, if you save the seeds from these peppers, they may be a cross between the bell and banana peppers (which could be interesting).
The only “exception” would be if a really hot pepper was rubbing up against another pepper; the oils from the hot pepper could run off on the others (temporarily).
As far as pickling the peppers, I don’t have a favorite recipe, as I tend to just eat ‘em raw! But go ahead and do a search for pickled pepper recipe and you’re bound to find some good ones.
Enjoy your peppers!
My banana peper is wilting, it did great all summer but now with cold and lack of sunshine it’s not doing so good. Do they die at the end of the season like tomatoes?
Hi Craig,
For the most part, pepper plants are annuals, so they do die off at the end of the season. While some plants can overwinter, that’s generally only where winters are extremely mild. Even where I live (South Florida), the peppers usually die off by Christmas.
So yes, I would expect your plants to die back now, the same way tomatoes do.
Howdy! I planted my banana pepers a month ago along with other stuff. The other stuff is growing well but the banana peppers have not grown a bit. They are the same size they were a month ago, still alive though. They are planted in a garden full of Miracle Gro garden soil mixed with peat moss and cow manure. What’s going on?
Hi Charles,
It’s funny you should say that, because my banana pepper is the slowest growing in my garden this year, for some strange reason (it’s usually one of the fastest). That being the case, just be patient; keep it well-watered and if you want to give it a little extra boost, try some fish fertilizer, 3/4 strength. If you can’t find that locally, then get some Miracle-Gro for Tomatoes (make sure it’s the one for tomatoes) and give the plant a 1/3 to 1/2 strength application.
You might see the new growth starting from the side of the plant, instead of height.
Let’s hope both our plants start to grow and bloom soon!
Hello I broke off the top part of my plant a little while ago and it seems to be doing fine so far but it hasn’t grown at all. Is my plant going to die?
Hi Ben,
You should be fine. The plant will likely simply grow wider instead of taller (although it will likely still gain in height).
Best wishes!
Gail, I’m planting mt garden at this time. I know tomatoes are planted much deeper than the soil line which they were started from seed to establish a larger root system but should peppers be planted no deeper than the original soil line or can they be planted deeper? My pepper plants were nursery grown but appear a little lanky.
Hi George.
I almost always plant my peppers deeper than the soil line in which they were last grown. The only exception is if a pepper has a lot of growth to the sides (wider rather than taller).
Peppers will sprout new lower leaves and branches when they get established. Mine are usually fairly lanky by the time I put them in the garden, so I do plant them deeper. However, I’ve noticed that once they feel at home, they usually get a lot of growth from the bottom up.
Enjoy your peppers!
Gail, do you only have information on peppers or are you well versed on other veggies as well? This would be a great one stop site for all our garden questions. Thank you for your info on the planting depths.
I grow all kinds of veggies! I actually operate 2 other sites in addition to Homegrown Peppers: http://www.homegrown-tomatoes.com and http://www.planning-a-vegetable-garden.com
You are more than welcome to browse these sites as well.
I know this is a bit early but I would like to save some pepper seeds for next season. When is the best time to begin storing seeds from this season’s planting and when should the seeds be taken from ripened peppers. Should I leave some peppers on the plants until they dry up to harvest the seeds? Thanks.
I visited your tomatoe site and found it interesting. I didn’t see any means to ask questions like you have on this site. I just moved from Tarpon Springs and really don’t miss the heat but I don’t think I can adjust to winters here in Indiana.
It’s never too early to start planning for future harvests!
What you’ll want to do is choose fully ripe peppers, preferably nicely shaped and without blemishes. Then you’ll want to slice open the pepper and remove the seeds. Spread the seeds out on some paper plates or paper towels and let them fully dry (usually only a day or so). It’s that easy!
But here are some things to keep in mind. First, make sure you aren’t saving seeds from a hybrid pepper, unless you want to be surprised next year with what you get. Second, you might want to bag a few of the blossoms before they fully open, to prevent them from being pollinated by a different pepper (if you are growing more than one type). I use small white organza bags, which let in sunlight and air, but keeps out insects and other pollen. Use these peppers for saving seeds.
Gail, thank you again for the information. Now all we need is dry weather. It has rained here the last 15 days out of 20. The plants appear to be doing OK with the wet feet but I don’t know how much longer they can go without sunshine and drying out a little.
Well I have started my vegtable garden indoors in Feb. I have taken them outside and they have been doing quite well except my pepper plant is getting attacked every night. I wake up with the buds missing! I can’t even tell where they used to be. What is this elusive creature?
Hi Jenny,
Well, I have to say this is a new one on me, that something is just eating the buds! If other parts of the plant were gone as well, I’d expect an animal, like a deer or rabbit. Hornworms generally ignore the buds in favor of the leaves (and they prefer tomato plants anyway).
Your best bet as to actually seeing what’s eating your buds is going out to the garden during the night with a flashlight and maybe a magnifying glass, to see if it’s a slug or something. Another option might be to get some bird netting and place it over the plants. If it’s a creature, the bird netting should deter them.
Of course, it could be someone (as opposed to something) could be doing this as well. Maybe far-fetched, but a person could definitely remove the buds in the way you describe.
Best of luck in finding the culprit!
Hi Gail,
I just bought my first plants to start growing in containers. I bought ancho and banana pepper plants. They are both about a foot high. Should I stake them or cage them?
Hi Kelly,
Usually, peppers grown in containers don’t need to be staked/caged. The exceptions would be is if the peppers themselves are large (like some of the big bell peppers), or if the plant is situated in an area that gets a lot of wind.
Hope this helps, and best wishes with your peppers!
Hi everyone! I’m very new to this garden stuff in fact this is my first year in doing so. I have something going on with my banana pepper plants. I have 6 and they all are approx. 4 to 6 inches high with several ready to pick peppers. I just cannot get my plants to grow any taller, any suggestions or have I done something wrong?
Hi Keri,
If the plants seem otherwise healthy, you’re OK. But here are a few other thoughts.
If you are growing peppers in a container, they usually won’t reach their full height. They just grow bigger when in the ground. And the smaller the container, the shorter the plant; for banana peppers I’d suggest a 5 gallon container as a minimum.
Height can also be influenced by sunlight, warmth and fertilizer. Peppers like warm (even hot) weather and plenty of sunlight — I would say that 7 hours of direct sun would be the minimum. And of course ferlilizer should be given in moderation, although more often if the plants are in containers (1/2 strength more often).
My banana peppers tend to grow around a foot high in a 10-gallon container, with about 10 hours of direct sun a day. They are more like 18-20 inches tall when grown in the ground with the same amount of sunlight.
Finally, while a plant is actively fruiting, it’s not going to grow taller; it’s putting all its energy into producing and ripening the peppers.
Hope this helps!
Hello,
I am a very new gardener, but thus far have had lots of successes! I am growing bell peppers and hot hungarian peppers in my garden, and I have a cherry bomb pepper plant and sweet banana pepper plant in containers. All are doing great, except the hot hungarian. When I bought it it was healthy and had lots of flowering. I potted it in a large container and it sprouted a pepper which has gotten very large and remained healthy. However, all the sudden the buds are flowering and then the bud and flower fall off completely. I went to the nursery to see if they had any ideas, and they felt that it was root bound and needed to go in the ground. So I took it and have since planted it in the garden. But still to this day it has that one big healthy pepper and buds that flower and fall off completely. I don’t know what else I can do! My sweet banana pepper plant is in a large pot and doing fabulously I currently have tons of peppers sprouting fine, they are both in the same type of soil and getting the same plant food and fertilizer (and generally same watering too!) Would love any help or suggestions you have! I don’t know if there is some kind of pest that can cause this?
Hi Laura,
It sounds to me like that particular plant is stressed, and that’s why the flowers are just falling off. And going from nursery container to garden container to garden soil is a fair amount for the plant to handle.
Here is what I would do. Make sure the plant gets plenty of sun and water, and then some foliar fertilizer — seaweed or fish fertilizer are good. Then steel yourself and…pick that one pepper (if you think it’s full-sized). Sometimes the stress of one big fruit will cause the plant to put extra resources into that one pepper, instead of letting new ones form. (I’ve seen it happen lots of times.)
So make sure the plant is stable in its new home, give it a little foliar fertilizer, pick the one pepper, and I’m betting you will see new ones form.
Best wishes, and may you have a bounty of peppers!
Beautiful, thank you! Just plucked that pepper off and hoping to see some new ones growing. Thank you so much!
I JUST PICKED THE FIRST ROUND OF PEPPERS (SWEET BANANA PEPPERS) AND THEY ARE HOT! I TRIPLE CHECKED THE LABELS PRIOR TO PURCHASING THEM AND I AM SO DISAPPOINTED. DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG?
Hi Jason,
No, you didn’t do anything wrong. If you bought the plants (as opposed to growing from seeds), I’ve had many a plant be different from the label. Sometimes people switch by accident, sometimes not. It happens.
However, another possibility is that the plant appeared to be labeled right (meaning that it wasn’t switched), but the fruit had been crossed unintentionally. Hot is dominant over sweet, so if a sweet pepper was accidentally crossed with a hot, most likely the resulting peppers will be hot.
And growing from seeds can carry the same risk (although far less likely). Still, I have bought many, many packets of seeds from extremely reputable growers and have still had a few surprises on occassion. (And sometimes the surprises were quite happy indeed.)
I know it’s frustrating — you were hoping for sweet peppers and got hot instead. Your only option now would be to pick the peppers very young, when they have the least heat. And stay away from the membranes and seeds, where the heat is concentrated. The bottom part of the pepper tends to have less heat.
Sorry for your unhappy surprise, but don’t let it stop you from growing more peppers in the future!
I have planted chili peppers, hot and mild banana peppers, bell peppers and the great jalaenos. My problem is that my chile and banana peppers are not hot. I need hot. what can be done? Is it to late to plant more?
Hi Joyce,
When you are picking the peppers, are you picking them when they are green, or at the red-ripe stage? If you’ve been picking them green, wait until they have turned red — they tend to be hotter then.
The next two go together — I don’t know where you live, so I can’t say if it’s too late to plant more. If you’re in zone 9 or 10, then I’d say sure, you can try more. Otherwise, it’s iffy unless you can bring them indoors when it gets cooler (peppers like heat).
That being said, if you live in zone 7 to 4, your peppers won’t be as hot as those grown in zones 8 through10. And the more direct sunshine they get, the hotter they tend to be.
It’s always possible that what you thought were hot banana peppers were actually mis-labeled and were actually mild. However, I’d expect the jalapeno to be hot. So if you’re picking green, let them ripen. If they don’t get at least 8 hours of direct sun a day, see if you can move them to get more.
And remember — the membranes and the seeds of the peppers are always the hottest parts. If you’re discarding the seeds and trimming off the membrane, you are cutting back on the heat — sometimes way back.
Hope this helps!
i have planted banana peppers for the first time and they are doing beautifully, however not sure when to pick them. right now they are green and very tasteless. do they need to ripen more and do they have some kind of flavor.
deb g
Hi Deb,
Thanks for the question. Now banana peppers are rather mild in taste, so you won’t get a huge “taste sensation” like you might with some other pepper varieties. However, banana peppers are definitely not tasteless, so let’s see what we can do.
Now I’ve covered a lot of your question with my post http://www.homegrown-peppers.com/growing-peppers/when-to-pick-peppers/ However, the first thing you want to make sure of is that the peppers are fully grown (as big as they are likely get) and they have changed from the bright green to a more lemony (still green, but with a yellow tint) color before plucking from the plant.
Naturally, the full flavor is reached when the peppers are red ripe — that’s when they are the sweetest.
Hope this helps you! And that you get tasty peppers, to boot.
Hi Gail! I am in the same boat as deb g. We have never grown banana peppers before and we just picked one off the plant and it is also green and tasteless. And, other peppers that we left on the plant have been the same color green for about a week and a half, and are not getting any bigger. How long does it take them to turn red? Are there varieties of yellow pepper that do not turn red?
Also–what we are really after are the banana peppers that you get when you order a good pizza! How do we get our homegrown banana peppers to taste like those? Is there some sort of pickling or spicing process?
Thanks so much!
Andy.
Hi Andy,
It takes awhile for the banana peppers to turn red; they will be green for several weeks, maybe a month (depending in your climate) before they start to turn yellow, then an orangy-red. It does take patience! Once you start seening the orange appear, though, it’s only about a week or so more until they are fully ripe.
As for the banana peppers on the pizza, they are most likely either pickled (although not a sweet pickle) or they have been put in a vinegar solution — think of the banana peppers you see in the grocery store. You can check around on the internet for recipes for marinating the peppers (small number of peppers) or canning (larger number of peppers).
I am currenly growing 4 types of peppers and 2 types of tomatos in a raised bed. Everything was going great until my bell pepper plant just decided it did not want to be in this world anymore and died after only producing 2 nice peppers. About 2 weeks later my banana pepper plant did the same thing. We live in Alabama and its quite hot but they are getting plenty of water and the rest of the plants look fine. Help, do i have a black thumb!?
Hi Sara,
Sorry to hear of your two recently departed plants! No, I don’t think you have a black thumb; some plants just can’t take the heat as much as others. For example, maybe they get a little more sun, a little less ventilation, etc. As an example, I have 2 peppers that were planted 1 foot apart — one of them always looked fine, the other one was thirsty and was always needing water.
Of course, it’s always possible that either nematodes came by for a munch (although I would expect that most of your plants would succumb in that case) or some other insect played a part in sending your plants to their doom.
If the other plants are doing fine, I’d chalk it up to experience. But I’d also keep an eye out on the other plants, just in case you notice anything different.
Best wishes on your peppers and your tomatoes!
My banana pepper plant is doing well in all respects except that at about 3-4″ in length most of them have developed a small tan spot that grows larger and darker, then begins to rot. All this usually happens before the peppers begin to turn red. I have not detected any insects poreying upon the plant, which is one of the healthiest and prolific in the garden.
Hi Bob,
Yep, that’s frustrating when something like that happens! You get your mouth all watering and then the dreaded spot appears.
It happens to me, but almost exclusively when the days get very hot and humid, plus with little to no winds/breezes. Since it doesn’t happen to me earlier in the season (or later when it starts cooling down some), I’d have to call this one environment-related.
There’s not a lot you can do for something like this, aside from picking the peppers before they turn red, and let them ripen in an area with good ventillation.
Hope this helps!
Gail
i just plucked off about 5 peppers from the lower branches, all symptomatic like in Bobs plant, i thought about picking them as soon as i saw a little bit of brown to let the taller flowering branches produce, 1st year doing them and glad i read this forum, next time i see a spec of brown starting the peppers are getting picked to let roots, stems, flowers move on for a good late summer/early fall harvest
Hi Tim — I’m glad this was helpful to you! Best wishes on your harvest.
Hello! I have many varieties of hot pepper plants. My favorite by far is the hungarian wax! I also have a few different kinds of tomato plants. This may sound silly but is there any chance of growing “hot” tomatoes by surrounding them with hot pepper plants or is it impossible for two different species to cross?
Hi Frank,
That’s an intriguing question, but alas, the answer is no. While you can get tomatoes a bit on the spicy side by slicing and letting them marinate with really hot peppers, you won’t get spicy tomatoes off the vine. The only other spicy opportunity would be if extremely hot peppers (think habaneros) rub up against the tomatoes — there is sometimes oil on the surface of the peppers that can rub off on other things.
At any rate, while peppers and tomatoes (along with eggplants) are in the same family, they cannot cross-pollinate.
Lol, thank you for answering my ridiculous question.
I always take a few greenish/yellow cherry tomatos and pickle them with jalepenos. Excellent flavor to them. I love hot tomato so I figured I’d ask. I’m still relatively new to gardening.
Thanks Gail.
Frank
Hi there, I just came across your site while looking for some answers about my banana peppers. They are planted in what I now know is a fairly small container, but the plant is about waist high and there are DOZENS of peppers on the one plant. The peppers are only about 3-4 inches in length and have started to turn yellow. I noticed yesterday that the bottoms of some of the peppers are streaked with a dark purple colour. Is this normal, or is something wrong with my plant? The spots are not soft or rotting.
Also, I have 6 Cubanelle plants that are all sprouting lots of peppers. How big do those usually get?
It’s my first year planting peppers and they seem to be doing really well, despite the fact that my balcony in in shade most of the day and the weather flip flops constantly (I live in Atlantic Canada) I mostly just planted them to see if it’d work. My green peppers did not even flower
Hi Jen,
Sounds like you have been doing well this season, with lots of banana and cubanelle peppers! The streaking with the dark purple is probably OK — some varieties may turn briefly purple on the way to red (usually just as streaks). Minde generally don’t, but I am also in vastly different climate, and we may not be growing the same variety.
Hard to tell on the cubanelle peppers; most tend to be in the 4″ range, but they can be larger or smaller, depending (once again) on the variety and the climate.
Green/bell peppers really do like warm sunny weather, so I am not surprised they didn’t flower. I run the same problem here when we have cold springs (80′s one day, 50′s the next).
Best wishes on your peppers!
Of course the day after I posted that I went out and looked, my green pepper plant has two blossoms on it, so I guess there is still hope! It will likely start cooling off in the next few weeks, but I will just bring my plants inside at that point.