How to Grow Chili

Choose a chili variety. Chili peppers are one of the most interesting crops, as they come in a wide variety of colors, sizes, flavors and spiciness. Chili peppers can be annuals (which need to be replanted every year) or perennials (which grow back on their own). There are three main types of chili peppers: sweet peppers, hot peppers, and ornamental peppers. All three types of peppers have a certain degree of spiciness, but sweet peppers are the mildest, ornamental peppers come in many beautiful colors and shapes (but can be very hot), and hot peppers are used primarily for their spiciness. their strength and taste.

• Peppers come in many colors, from green, pale yellow, orange and fiery red to purple and jet black. The color of chili peppers is not directly related to the flavor and spiciness of each chili variety.
• Go to a nursery to find out which peppers grow well in your climate.
• Several varieties of chili peppers are used in different parts of the world in special recipes; For example, Serrano peppers are mainly used in Mexican dishes, Calcutta peppers are often used in Asian curries. ^[1]

Find the best location to plant peppers. Chili is a heat-loving plant and grows best in sunny areas. Choose a patch of soil in the garden that receives full sunlight, or at least sunlight for most of the day. If you live in a desert area, you need some shade to keep your plants from getting sunburned. If you live in a rainy area, you should try to find a location that receives full sun and good drainage; Too much water will cause the pepper plants to become waterlogged and produce less fruit.

Think about whether or not to grow houseplants at first. If your location is not a suitable area for growing peppers (near the equator), perhaps you should grow peppers in pots indoors during the winter, then move them outdoors when spring arrives and the weather gets warmer. . While you can plant them directly in the ground, they won’t have as much of a chance to grow as if you started growing your seedlings indoors and then moved them outdoors.

• You can grow chili peppers from seed or with seedlings brought back from the nursery, but you’ll have a wider variety of plants if you grow them from seeds.
• Growing with seedlings is quite easy; you just need to start planting at least 6 weeks before moving the plants outdoors. Peppers can be grown outdoors after the last frost.

Adjust the soil. The soil in the garden may need a little adjustment for the peppers to produce larger, healthier, and richer fruit. Peppers need well-draining soil and plenty of nutrients. So, add some sand to the soil to help it drain better and fertilize a few weeks or months before planting. If the soil in your garden has poor or medium drainage, you can improve it by mixing a little sand into the soil. If the amount of potassium in the soil is not enough, you should add more potassium to help the plant grow faster. You should always test the soil first. If the soil is low in potassium, you can go to a nursery and choose a fertilizer that is high in potassium and low in nitrogen (like a 0-20-0 ratio). ^[2]

• Test the pH of the soil and determine if an adjustment is needed; Peppers prefer neutral or slightly acidic soils, between 6.5 and 7.
• The better the soil is prepared, the stronger the pepper plants will grow.