Hot Pepper Seeds 7g

The hot chili pepper is the spark behind so many beloved dishes, prized for the heat it brings to the plate and the deep flavor that builds as the fruit ripens. The slim, glossy pods can be harvested green for a bright, fresh kick, or left on the plant to ripen and change color, which develops a hotter, more intense flavor. It is a warm-season crop that rewards a long, sunny stretch with a steady flush of fruit, equally at home in a sunny garden bed, a greenhouse, or a single pot on a bright balcony.

Planting

Hot chili peppers need a long warm season, so start them off early under cover. Sow the seeds about 0.6 cm deep in a sterile, soilless germination mix, beginning 8 to 10 weeks before your last expected cold spell (some of the hottest types need up to 12 weeks of a head start). The seeds need warmth of around 21°C to germinate and usually break through in about 10 days; a heat mat holding 27-32°C speeds and improves emergence. Once the seedlings appear, keep them at 16-18°C in bright light. When true leaves form, thin or prick them out so they stand 5-8 cm apart, or pot each one on while it is still small. Move plants outdoors only after nighttime lows stay above 10°C and the soil has warmed to at least about 18°C. In Egypt the main crop is a spring planting: start seeds under protection from late December to February, then transplant once the cold spells pass, from late February to March in the Nile Delta and Lower Egypt, and a few weeks earlier, from mid-February, in the warmer soils of Upper Egypt. A second autumn crop is possible by sowing in July-August under shade and transplanting in late August-September. Give every plant the warmest, sunniest spot you have, with full sun of at least 6 hours a day and ideally 8-10 hours. Space transplants 30-60 cm apart in the row with rows about 75-90 cm apart, or in the open ground set chili plants 38-45 cm apart (30 cm for dwarf varieties); in containers, grow one plant per 22 cm pot.

Fertilizing

Start feeding from the ground up. Before transplanting, work a balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10 or 13-13-13) into the soil at about 1 kg per 9 m², adjusting phosphorus and potassium to suit a soil test, and aim to keep the soil pH between 6.0 and 6.5. Once the first fruits set, side-dress with nitrogen to keep the plant growing and fruiting; go easy, though, because too much nitrogen gives you bushy, leafy plants that are slow to bear. For chilies grown in containers or a greenhouse, switch to a high-potassium liquid feed (such as a tomato feed) as soon as flowering starts, applied weekly, so the plant puts its energy into fruit rather than leaves.

Care

Keep the moisture even. If the plants do not get about 2.5 cm of rain in a week, soak the soil thoroughly at least once a week, aiming for steady, uniform moisture rather than swings between wet and dry. Water at the base using drip irrigation or soaker hoses instead of wetting the leaves from above, which helps keep disease down. Watch for the usual pests, including cutworms, aphids, tomato hornworms, and stink bugs, along with corn borer, earworm, and armyworm in field plantings; common troubles also include bacterial leaf spot, bacterial wilt, viruses, and the physiological problems of blossom-end rot and sunscald. Peppers are usually ready 70-85 days after transplanting, while habanero types take around 90-120 days. Pick the first fruits promptly once they reach full size to encourage more to set; you can harvest them green or let them ripen to full color for a hotter flavor. Keep in mind that leaving chilies on the plant to ripen suppresses new flowers and can cut the total harvest by a quarter or more, so picking green maximizes overall yield. In Egypt, where summers regularly climb above 30°C and that heat suppresses flowering and causes flower and fruit drop, time things so the plants are flowering and setting fruit before the peak heat, with the heaviest harvest falling in late spring to early summer.