Capsicum annuum

Chili peppers are available throughout the year to add zest to flavorful dishes around the world. Red Hot Chili Pepper is the plant that puts fire on your tongue and maybe even a tear in your eye when you eat spicy Mexican, simmering Szechuan, or smoldering Indian food. Chili peppers are used as food and seasoning and revered for their medicinal qualities. 

80 000 units on the Scoville scale. 

Sprouts in: 1 - 3 weeks

Harvest in: 14 - 18 weeks

• Chilies love hot temperatures. They grow best at 20 - 35 °C / 68 - 95 °F.

• Chilies are a bit slow to germinate, so it might take a while - up to 3 weeks. You can speed up the process by raising the temperature to 26 °C / 79 °F.

• Decrease the number of chili plants to one per pod to ensure enough space for the plant to grow.  You can find more info and a video about thinning here.

• Do not cut or prune your chili plant. It will form flowers to the tip of the plant.

• Once your chili is flowering, the blossoms need to be pollinated. To help blossoms pollinate, gently shake your plant or use a clean paintbrush to move pollen from one blossom to the next. You can also pollinate with your fingertip. A guide to pollination is here.

• Chilies need some time to ripen, up to 90 to 120 days from planting the pods. Caring for the plant during this time consists of cleaning the plant from wilted leaves and dead flowers.

• Red hot chili ripens from white color to red.

• Once the fruits have ripened, the plant will slowly start to degrade. The chili pod has fulfilled its purpose to produce little chilies.

• For constant supply plant new refills at least every two months.

• If you feel true affection for your chili plant after harvesting its fruits, feel free to prune it and repot your plant to a bigger pot with some fresh soil and create your very own chili bonsai - why not start a new hobby.

• Warning! The leaves and seeds of the chili can be hot too. It's always a good precaution to wash your hands after touching the chili plant. It’s also not a wise decision to scratch your eye or other gentle body parts after dealing with chili plants.