Homegrown Peppers

Posts Tagged ‘habanero’

So, is growing chile peppers any different than growing bell or sweet peppers?  Overall growing is the same, but there are some special considerations for hot chile peppers.  And the hotter the pepper, the more important these differences become.

What’s the Scoville Rating of the Pepper?

You should be aware of the Scoville rating of your chosen peppers.  The what rating?  If you’re not familiar with it, check out the about chile peppers post to find out about the Scoville scale.  Then come back here and read on!

The reason you need to know about the general Scoville rating is that the higher the Scoville, the warmer the peppers like it!  This includes everything from germination to growing weather.

I personally have noticed a difference in temperatures for germinating seeds for non-chile peppers versus the hot ones.  And also within the peppers based on their heat.  My sweet pepper seeds almost always germinate faster than the chiles.  In fact, I’m seeing it right now, with the latest batch of seeds (sweet and chile) that I am germinating.  So far, it’s just the sweet/bell peppers that have popped their head above soil.

So growing chile peppers starts with warmer germination temperatures.  If you want information about a way to keep the growing medium warmer than usual, check out the growing peppers in Florida post.

Growing Chile Peppers – Containers or Garden?

Most chile peppers don’t grow terribly large, so are fine for growing in containers if that’s your wish.  The peppers that seem to always grow larger for me are the jalapeno peppers, so if you grow them in a container, make it a larger container.  When happy in the garden, I’ve had jalapenos grow over 4 feet tall.  Let me tell you — that was a lot of jalapenos!

Now here’s something anecdotal.  In my experience, the hotter the pepper, the shorter the pepper grows.   It doesn’t mean a shorter pepper isn’t just as prolific as the larger peppers, though.  In fact, the very hot chile peppers like (which I grow for ornamental and eating purposes) bears smaller peppers but tons of them!  But these peppers rarely grow more than about 20 inches tall.   This isn’t a hard and fast rule, though — there are some habaneros that can grow 3 feet tall.

I’ve just ordered some , which happens to be the hottest pepper in the word these days (1,000,000+ Scoville).  So I’ll see if they need even warmer soil and weather conditions.  And I’ll see how tall they grow, compared to my average-sized habaneros.

Chile Pepper Weather

Keep in mind that chile peppers originated in Central America, so you know they love hot weather.  And interestingly, some hot peppers like habaneros and scotch bonnets can live as a perennial in a climate with warm weather year ’round.

The farther north you grow them, the more hours of direct sunlight your chile pepper plants need.  (Here in South Florida in the summer, I make sure they get morning and afternoon sunlight, but have dappled shade mid-day; our sun is strong!)

So keep your chile pepper seeds warmer during germination (up to 95 degrees for the hottest peppers), although 85 tends to be the best overall temperature.  Make sure you plant your peppers in a very warm area of your garden with plenty of sunshine, but which still has good air circulation.  Give them some fertilizer (I prefer organic fertilizers) and keep the soil damp, but not wet.

Then, enjoy the harvest of your chile peppers!

Growing peppers in Florida seems like it should be a piece of cake, especially in the summertime — hot temperatures, plenty of rain, sunshine.  But what are some special concerns if you decide to grow peppers in Florida?

Summer is the Best (and Worst) Time

Summer is best in Florida because of the heat — peppers adore hot weather!  Conversely, it can be the worst time, due to rain (like what we had in 2008 – whoa!), humidity and super-bright sunshine.  Each can cause problems, but there are solutions!

Solution number one is to primarily grow your chile (hot) and ornamental peppers in the summer.  They love the heat, and especially the habaneros, scotch bonnets and bhut jolokia peppers.  Their original home is the tropics, which fits right in with Florida in Summer!

Bell peppers are better grown in the cooler, “shoulder” seasons.  I’ve had very little luck growing nice, big bell peppers in Summer.

The sweet peppers can be grown in the hot Florida summer, as long as you provide them shade during the hottest part of the day.  In fact, I like to grow all but my hottest peppers in dappled shade, during July and August.  Sun scald can be a problem!

Humidity can also be an issue , unless you leave plenty of room between your pepper plants for air circulation.  If the air can’t circulate, sweet and bell peppers in particular can get mold and fungus on the leaves.

What About the Other Seasons?

Here in South Florida where I live, I can pretty much grow peppers year-round, with one caveat; that I be able to protect them when the night-time temperatures go below 50.  Peppers, especially the really hot ones, are sensitive to the chilly weather.  They don’t like cold feet, especially cold wet feet.

Actually, in most of Florida you can plant your peppers outside in Spring, once the night temperatures are consistently above 55 degrees.  The soil should be really warm, though, if the evenings are still cool, so make sure where you plan to plant gets at least 8 hours of direct sun a day.  And if your peppers decide to be long-lived into the late summer, make sure you can give your sweet peppers at least some shade at mid-day or sun scald can be a problem.

In any case, it’s best that you germinate your pepper seeds inside; check out the germinating pepper seeds post for instructions.  And I’ve come to realize that especially with hot chile pepper seeds, I have to add warmth to the soil, when I germinate my seeds in the winter – even here in South Florida!  That’s where grow mats with heat some in handy.

(Before trying the grow mats in Winter, my chile pepper seed germination rate wasn’t all that great, even though my windowsill greenhouse is on a south-facing window.  Live and learn.)