Capsicum annuum

If you love spicy food, you’ll love growing chili peppers. They give the body a natural high and increase libido in both sexes. They prefer sunny spots and take a little time to fully ripen, but their delicious harvest is well worth the wait. Prepare yourself for a spicy liftoff! It takes some patience and effort to grow chili pods by yourself. This exciting journey will take you through all the crucial gardening jobs for thriving growth. No worries if you don't know how - we're here to support you every step of the way.

Chili fruits have a heat level of up to 20,000 on the Scoville scale.

Sprouts within: 7-21 days
Harvest in: 98 - 126 days
Temperatures: 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. Overall, chili pepper is a very heat tolerant plant, it grows best as from 20 °C up to 30 °C. 

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

• Do not cut or prune your chili plant. It will form flowers at 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 paint brush to move pollen from one blossom to the next. You can also pollinate with your fingertip. A guide to pollination may be found 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 as not every flower becomes a fruit. The plant has the skill to use its resources in the best imaginable way.

• Chili pepper fruits ripen from white/purple to bright red color in about 12 weeks from planting.

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

• If you feel a true affection to 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 - a great opportunity to start a new hobby!

• Please note! The leaves and seeds of the chili can be hot. 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.

• Warning! Only the fruits of the chili are edible, the rest of the plant is poisonous and should not be consumed.