Pepper seeds should be sown indoors to extend the growing season in most climates. Most varieties take between 60-100 days to produce, so it is recommended to plant seeds 6-8 weeks before your last expected frost date. To ensure proper spacing, plants should be spaced 12 to 18 inches apart in rows or clusters within the raised bed. The number of pepper plants you can grow in a 4×4 raised bed depends on the size of the pepper plants and the spacing between them.
Spacing for sweet bell, jalapeno, anaheim, and cayenne peppers should be spaced 2 feet apart in rows that are 24 to 30 inches apart. Banana and bullhorn peppers can be spaced 18 inches apart in rows that are 24 inches apart. If you are not sure when your last frost date is, you can find your last frost date online.
In a 4×8 raised bed, you can grow anywhere from 9 to 20 pepper plants depending on the spacing method and pepper variety. Small pepper plants, such as Carmen, can be planted 18 to 24 inches apart from each other in a 4 x 4 raised bed, which allows for comfortable seating for six to nine plants comfortably. However, some pepper plants may require staking, so it is important to allow 18 inches for each pepper in a raised bed and one or two peppers per 5-gallon container.
The best spacing for most pepper plants is 18 to 24 inches apart (check the tag for exceptions). Peppers grow best in a soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5, so they need some garden space to spread out. Ideally, your raised bed should be at least 12 inches deep.
📹 Grow The BEST Peppers In Containers In 5 Easy Steps
In this video, I share 5 easy steps that will help you grow the best peppers in containers of your life! Container gardening can …
Can you plant two pepper plants together?
The orange cayenne plant can be consolidated into a single unit, facilitating both transportation and storage.
Do peppers need to be planted in pairs?
The planting of multiple pepper plants together has the potential to provide mutual benefit. For example, the creation of a border of hot peppers around sweet peppers may act as a deterrent to pests, thereby protecting both plants.
How many peppers should I plant?
The pepper plant is highly productive, with an average yield of 3-4 plants per person for fresh use and 5-10 plants for other forms of preservation, including pickling, canning, drying, and freezing. It is reasonable to expect 75 pounds of fruit per 100 feet of row, with the yield depending on the variety. Pepper is a nutritionally dense vegetable, containing minimal calories and fat, and a rich source of vitamins A and C.
Do peppers like to be crowded?
Overcrowding plants can negatively impact plant health, as they are more susceptible to insect and disease issues, which can affect their growth and yield. Planting peppers too close can lead to growth into neighboring plants, reducing air circulation and causing foliage to dry faster. Overcrowding also affects yield as tightly packed plants compete for sunlight, water, and nutrients. Peppers require a minimum of 8 hours of sunlight to produce sturdy, healthy plants, and tightly packed plants don’t get enough light to grow into large plants.
In short-season climates, ideal conditions and spacing are crucial for maturing fruits. Pepper plants also need consistent water and nutrients, which can be achieved by deep watering them in garden beds or by watering them two to three times a week depending on the weather. Additionally, they should be fed with a liquid organic fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks.
How close to plant peppers in a raised bed?
Pepper plants can be grown in raised beds, containers, and in-ground gardens. They require at least 6-8 hours of sunlight per day and should be planted 18-24 inches apart in a sunny, well-drained spot. Mix compost or organic matter into the soil when planting, water immediately after planting, and regularly throughout the season. A continuous-release fertilizer should be mixed at planting and replenished as directed during the growing season.
Spread mulch around the plants to keep the soil cool and moist. Support each pepper plant with a stake or small tomato cage to bear the weight of the fruit once it begins to produce. Harvest peppers with shears or a knife, and store them in the fridge.
Peppers grow best in a soil with a pH between 6. 2 and 7. 0, although they can tolerate slightly alkaline conditions near 7. 5. For in-ground gardens, mix several inches of compost or aged compost-enriched Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose In-Ground Soil with the top layer of existing soil. Planting in containers or raised beds requires different, lighter soil, such as Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose Container Mix or Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Raised Bed Mix. Place a few inches of mulch around each pepper plant to keep the soil cool and moist.
Can you overcrowd peppers?
Tomato and pepper plants are susceptible to diseases like Verticillium wilt and bacterial spot. To prevent these diseases, follow good gardening practices such as not overcrowding, not over or underwatering, not watering foliage, and avoiding working in the garden when plants are wet. Check the disease pages on PlantVillage for helpful information on these plants. Additionally, avoid working in the garden when plants are wet to prevent water splashes between plants. This will help prevent the spread of diseases and protect your plants.
Do peppers need a lot of space to grow?
To grow pepper plants, choose a location with no previous tomato, potato, pepper, eggplant, or tomatillos cultivation for the past three or four years. Space plants 18 inches apart in rows 30 to 36 inches apart, and grow closer if temperatures are below 60°F. Transplant pepper plants outdoors after nighttime low temperatures are above 50°F, as dry soil, temperatures above 90°F, or night temperatures below 60°F or above 70°F can weaken plant growth.
Transplant in late afternoon or on a cloudy, calm day. Pepper flavor is best when the season is warm and sunny, and fruit is vulnerable to sunburn. Water plants well before transplanting, and avoid exposing the top edge of a peat pot above the soil surface. Set pepper seedlings out in the garden with shoots at the soil line, make a hole large enough for the root ball, firm the soil around the roots, and water the transplant.
Do peppers need a lot of space?
To grow pepper plants, choose a location with no previous tomato, potato, pepper, eggplant, or tomatillos cultivation for the past three or four years. Space plants 18 inches apart in rows 30 to 36 inches apart, and grow closer if temperatures are below 60°F. Transplant pepper plants outdoors after nighttime low temperatures are above 50°F, as dry soil, temperatures above 90°F, or night temperatures below 60°F or above 70°F can weaken plant growth.
Transplant in late afternoon or on a cloudy, calm day. Pepper flavor is best when the season is warm and sunny, and fruit is vulnerable to sunburn. Water plants well before transplanting, and avoid exposing the top edge of a peat pot above the soil surface. Set pepper seedlings out in the garden with shoots at the soil line, make a hole large enough for the root ball, firm the soil around the roots, and water the transplant.
Do peppers like to be planted close together?
To grow pepper plants, choose a location with no previous tomato, potato, pepper, eggplant, or tomatillos cultivation for the past three or four years. Space plants 18 inches apart in rows 30 to 36 inches apart, and grow closer if temperatures are below 60°F. Transplant pepper plants outdoors after nighttime low temperatures are above 50°F, as dry soil, temperatures above 90°F, or night temperatures below 60°F or above 70°F can weaken plant growth.
Transplant in late afternoon or on a cloudy, calm day. Pepper flavor is best when the season is warm and sunny, and fruit is vulnerable to sunburn. Water plants well before transplanting, and avoid exposing the top edge of a peat pot above the soil surface. Set pepper seedlings out in the garden with shoots at the soil line, make a hole large enough for the root ball, firm the soil around the roots, and water the transplant.
What not to plant next to peppers?
Peppers can benefit from good and bad neighbors, such as peas, fennel, and beetroot. To achieve a bountiful pepper harvest, it is crucial to have the right plants with beneficial impacts. Polyculture, a natural gardening method, is a key aspect of achieving this. However, the interactions between plants in a polyculture are complex and not fully understood. Recommendations for good and bad neighbors for sweet peppers have emerged from years of cultivation experience, and some information varies from source to source. To determine if a method works well in your garden, try it yourself and compare it to other methods. Additionally, consider crop rotation for peppers to ensure the best results.
Can I plant two pepper plants together?
Plant pepper seeds 10-12 inches apart, with the rootball just below the surface or burying up to 1/3 of the stem. Space them 10-12 inches apart for support and shade. For large-podded peppers, plant two seedlings in the same hole to protect them from sunburn and ensure more peppers per square foot. For small-podded chiles, plant one per hole. Pick off flowers and fruit for 4-6 weeks after planting for best production. Water the seedlings immediately to settle the soil and mark them clearly.
Use drip irrigation and soaker hoses for watering throughout the season, but water the seedlings with a hose for the first few weeks until they settle in and their roots start growing. For fast-growing hybrids, continue top watering for an extra two weeks.
📹 Why I’m OBSESSED With These 3 Special Pepper Plants!
In this video, I share why I’m completely obsessed with these 3 special pepper plants! Growing pepper plants was my first love, …
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If you enjoyed this article, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for perusal 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 Intro To My Best Pepper Varieties 0:59 Best Pepper Plant #1 3:25 Best Pepper Plant #2 6:14 How To Make Pickled Peppers 7:43 Best Pepper Plant #3 10:46 Where I Buy Pepper Seeds 11:39 Adventures With Dale
I have a special needs child. He watches your articles over and over with a smile on his face. My wife and I can’t tell you how rare it is to see a smile on his face. As a result, we’ve built a big patio container garden with him following all of your tips. You have touched a life more than you know. Endless thank you from a fellow Jersey guy (we recognize our own :))
As a pepper lover I would like to add the Ukrainian “Lesya” pepper. It is almost shaped like a heart. It gets sizable enough to stuff. An be eaten green or red. No heat at all but sweet. When stuffed or cooked the fragrance is amazing. Every time I pick one I say a prayer for peace. Give them a go. Cheers!
Man…the hot cherry pepper is amazing. Another pepper you might enjoy is the Jimmy Nardello pepper which was brought over from Italy by Giuseppe Nardiello about 145 years ago. It is long and thin walled which is great for people that have a hard time digesting peppers and it makes for excellent dried peppers. It is deep red, really delicious and it grows like crazy. Cheers from Ottawa, Canada🍁
Most people don’t know that you can winter over pepper plants. I’ve found, the hotter ones are easier. I have a 2 year old jalapeño, a 3 year old habanero, and a 4 year old Carolina Reaper. I can’t eat the reaper, 😂but I have fun sharing with those that do. 😍 Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge. ❤
I subbed to all articles, I too am Italian, and I love pickling hot peppers, I planted 8 verieties, last year I had troubl finding all of them, I love serranos, so I bought 4 cowhorn plants, they were hot and so productive, I could not believe how many peppers came of those 4 plant, I picked them every other week, but they were a thin walled pepper and they got very soft from the boiling brine, so I dried them in my dehydrator and ground them into red pepper flakes, I have a whole qt mason jar full, to season chilli or what ever for a year, yeah, I use a qt or red pepper flake per year. Last year I canned 50 qts of tomatoes and 15 qts of hot peppers, I only have 3 qts of peppers left, I do give some to friends, but we love em, great articles I love the tips.
Just stumbled upon your website. Excellent article. I’ve been gardening for over 50 years and the thing that makes gardening enjoyble is you learn something new and can implement it into your own garden. I downsized my house a couple of years ago where I had 6 4’x6′ raised beds. Now I’m in 15 5gal buckets. I plan to try your pepper varieties next year. Thank you.
One of my favorites for fall hot sauce making is Sugar Rush Peach! Baccatums set fruit late, and they all ripen around the same time once the heat breaks in late sumner! Very fruity and sweet with pronounced but short lived heat and a non-descript tropical aftertaste. I also love most Paprika varieties for roasting and stuffing with cheese. I ditched Jalapeño for some of the Hatch and Numex varieties, and have no regrets. Ashe County Pimento is my go to for early setting and prolific sweet red peppers, especially for the northern climates. An odd ball variety to look for seeds is the CGN 21500. One of my favorites, it has roughly half the heat of an orange habanero, and tastes much better with almost no detectable floral or soap flavor! As mentioned earlier, Ill second Shishito for an all around best variety. Prolific, and great grilled, smoked or stir fried at any stage!
Im trying Bounty this year and Im excited to see what I get. If you want to try a bell pepper again, Im growing an Emerald Giant pepper and omg…you have to try it! I overwintered this one because it got started late in the fall, so I stuck it in a pot, and put it back out in the garden the end of Feb. Right now theres 15 peppers growing on it, and its full of more bloom. Big strong sturdy plant…Im so impressed. Im in FL so it seems to enjoy the heat.
Discovered datil peppers as a bonus seed pack when I ordered a certain amount of packs. Come to find out they were developed in St. Augustine, FL and love the heat and rain. They are habanero hot but with a bit of citrus sweetness. They ripen in succession rather than all at once. Makes great spicy sweet jelly.
I am a pepper lover of different flavors, but have a very low heat tolerance so I use lime juice to tone down the heat. I tried Habanada and Nadapeño this year but didn’t get any fruit because our growing season wasn’t long or hot enough. I have several plants I will be attempting to over-winter so I can get a head start on next year’s crop.
I love your articles and they are so informative and useful in my garden. All of the tips you give are timely and I have learned to take your recommendations to heart. I don’t have your heat tolerance but by pickling and removing the seeds on the hotter ones I can enjoy them quite well. Thanks. I do have one question, when you do the hot brine/vinegar and immediately cool them to seal the lid, are those pickled peppers shelf stable or do you need to keep them refrigerated?
Love the enthusiasm. You gave me a several ideas. Those yellow peppers look a lot like Hungarian peppers. I see you plant the peppers and much of what you have closer together than typically instructed on seed packets. I spaced things out in my garden again this year to help minimize pests and diseases, but I think it has come at the expense of pollination and fruiting. Based on the growth rate of everything but my sweet corn, it’s likely to be a late and weak harvest for me this year in northwestern Virginia.
Your articles are so educational and inspire me to grow these peppers. I have never heard of the garden salsa pepper nor the cherry peppers but now plan on buying especially the cherry pepper seeds to grow next year. I have grown banana peppers in the past but never thought of stuffing them. Great content.
You are a doll! So encouraging and very informative. I’m waiting for my bells to change color and in the meantime my peckerhead birds have gotten 3 . I planted Hungarian yellow also. We usually buy boxes or gunny sacks of the Hatch green chili’s right about now, roast them, cover when cool slide the skin off and bag and freeze.
how did shishitos not make the list!? or hatch chilies!? 3 is not enough! I’m currently growing jalapenos, shishitos, banana, habenero, hatch, and one random plant that idk what it is, it’s a decently thick pepper, green so far, i thought it was hatch, but the peppers all started to curl and now they’re all half moon shape. can’t wait to try it out when they’re done. Peppers are great 🙂
Great article. I’ve grown garden salsa peppers every year for many years and they always seem to produce. This year we also have Jalapenos, Jalafuegos, Jimmy Nardello, Bell, and Lipstick. My Bell peppers are better this year than usual, but I agree they are very slow growing and don’t produce a lot. I’m really impressed with the Jalafuego peppers so far! Very productive and hot. My peppers and tomatoes are ahead of schedule because of your advice! I made my first batch of salsa last week here in zone 5b, which is the earliest I’ve ever had ripe tomatoes and peppers. Thanks, MG!
We are growing Datil, Puma, Scotch Bonnet, Carolina Reaper, Serrano, Jays Peach (ghost scorpion), a Korean Green Crunch pepper, Banana Pepper, Santa Fe Grande and 3 Bell Peppers. All of the hot peppers I started 1/27 and the first pepper to get fruit was the Santa Fe but we haven’t picked it yet, hope it tastes good!
Wonderful article. I’m going to try Garden Salsa peppers next year. I’m a “hurt me with the heat” kind of gal, so l grow HOT peppers. If the pepper doesn’t make my hair stand on end, it’s not hot enough. This year I’m growing Port o Peno peppers. Wonderful raw or grilled. And I’m growing Carolina Reapers for salsa and for drying. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve really been enjoying your content. I’m on the other side of North Carolina in the foothills at Polk county near lake lure. If you are a spice fan, try a Carolina reaper not to eat raw, tear up and not enjoy. But I take all my fruit and dry them then grind it up into a powder. I generally get a mason jars hole at the end of the season. And it is well enough to last me and many friends till the next year. Only takes a little sprinkle or a partial spoonful in a giant chili batch. If used wisely it can give good heat multiple times out of one single pepper.
I feel same way on peppers. Only bell i found worth the space is “King of north” bell pepper ..it really pumps them out from july right till frost where i am in southern new england. Another great and versatile heavy producer pepper worth some real estate is the “yum yum”/ lunchbox ..great in salad,great popper pepper and just snacking on as watering
That cherry pepper sounds interesting. I try at least one new pepper per year, just for the fun of it and I think I’ll add cherry pepper to the line up for next year or maybe even this fall if I can get seeds right now. This year I tried Beaver Dam for the first time and am impressed. A bit hot (for me) and a bit sweet. I split them in half and stuffed with goat cheese, chopped sun dried tomatoes and chopped bacon. Baked off till goowy. Yum! Thanks for sharing your pepper picks.
I’ve had great success growing banana peppers,, but I’ve always grown the hot variety. In terms of heat, they fall somewhere between jalapenos and serranos. By far, my favorite pepper is the cowhorn. They grow about as long as a banana, but they’re not as big around. They’re the hottest pepper I grow, but they’re also the tastiest and among the most productive.. I still have a couple jars I canned in October 2019.
I havent tried your version of it, but last year I replaced the banana peppers I used to grow (Bonnie Farms ?) with Cornito Arancias from Johnny Seeds. Big tasty versatile bountiful and disease resistant. My main peppers however are a Jalafuego (johnny seeds) and Snacking Peppers (bonnie farms or Johnny seeds).
As a hybrid, are the banana pepper seeds viable if I ever went to keep any and plant more? I usually try to overwinter my peppers so they get a head start but the option to plant additional ones is nice. I’ve been growing jalapenos and serranos and letting them fully ripen because I’ve always wished that grocery stores sold the fully ripe sweet versions of the peppers you usually find. I vastly prefer the sweetness and increased heat
Hey! I’ve chosen my tomatoes and peppers based off your recommendations (and cucumbers, lol!) and I’m trying to find spacing information and size of plant on this bounty hybrid banana peppers. I looked on the website and I don’t see any information. Could you let me know what I should be prepared for? Do I need a round trellis for each one? I didn’t see any trellises in the picture. I appreciate it!
I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration from your website and hope to be in a place where I can start my own garden next year. I know this would be a very niche thing, but being that I live not too far from you in the same 8a climate hardiness zone, would you ever consider doing a planting chart or guide, or share what information source you use to make those decisions? I’ve tried researching charts for when to plant but they’re always either very vague or very narrow in selection.
Hey there. Been perusal your website for well over a year and have incorporated several of your ideas in my garden. Love your website. Trying Siletz tomatoes this year as well as installed a rain barrel water system based on your advice. Do you have a way to contact you? Thanks for all the advice and help!
My bell pepper plants are loaded there like huge grape clusters I have between 30 and 40 bell peppers per plant every one is like holy cow that’s nuts how do you grow so many bell peppers on your plants every years Years of experience trying different organic things on the homestead I always get a huge harvest of food every year from trying different things all organic.
Does this bounty hybrid sweet banana pepper produce through the summer like hot peppers do? I have found that my mild pepper plants stall out in the summer and pick back up in the Fall. It would be nice to have a productive mild general purpose pepper that continues to produce and stay mostly disease free when it gets hot.
There’s a great recipe on Youtube for pickled and stuffed cherry peppers that are beyond amazingly good. Peppers pickled for a few weeks then stuffed with a cube of provolone wrapped in proscuito, then bottled up in oil. There’s heaven in every bite! I have six Cherry Bomb peppers growing just for that. Trying out Italian sweet peppers too-“Jimmy Nardello” I hear rave reviews about and you can dehydrate them for paprika even.
What up brother, love your content man. I’m currently searching for these 3 pepper seeds and I’m unable 2 of them and that’s the bounty hybrid and Garden salsa. I have seen large hot cherry peppers but in not sure if those are it? Could you please sell me some seeds or send me a link where I can buy them at, thank you very much
I am a spice wimp. Jalapenos are too spicy for me. I only ever grow bell peppers. Somehow, this year, one of the plants I’m growing turned out to be a banana pepper plant. But as time has gone on, I do believe that a second plant is actually a cherry bomb plant. At least I know what kind of peppers I’m producing this year😂
Hello MG! I have a plant that I got from Burpee that was labelled a CA Wonder bell pepper but it has produced fruit that is yellow and looks like a sweet banana pepper & tastes like a bell pepper – is this possibly cross-pollinated or just mis-labelled? Do sweet banana peppers start out & stay yellow?
I can’t do heat in peppers, but I’m going to order seeds for Bounty Hybrid Sweet Banana Pepper asap!! if you can, give me a shout if you know of other large quantity sweet peppers to grow?? Now… off to order Bounty Banana…if I can germinate the seed, I’ll have an indoor banana pepper growing in my house. The 5 plants I’ve got growing inside (w/grow lights) one has 5 peppers, two have 1 each, and 2 plants still have no peppers, but flowers keep coming…!
@TheMillennialGardener – You may have done this but I can’t find it…. and I can’t imagine anyone doing a better job of it than you. There’s a popular concept that removing flowers/buds from young pepper plants will allow the plant to grow and establish more vigorously and ultimately make more fruit. Have you ever directly compared yield results from doing this? If not, perhaps an idea for a future article. Personally, I’ve never plucked the flowers…. but I had a few plants with meagre harvests last season and I wondered if pulling some early flowers may have helped build a bigger, more productive plant.
I keep hearing this about bell peppers, but my Bonnie green bell peppers that I got in a 9 pack are littered with peppers. Maybe it’s the green variety? Bc my other bell peppers like the monster yellow, red, orange, and purple beauty aren’t producing jack shit. However I do get blossom end rot on quite a few of my green bell peppers. I have one plant that has 12 peppers on it as I type this. So I wonder why I keep hearing bell peppers don’t produce?
There is another pepper you really should look into, it’s called a datil. It’s grown mostly around St.Augustine and was brought to this country by the early slaves. It’s similar to a Szechaun pepper because of the numbing effect it has on the mouth. You’ll have to order the plants because the seeds are too hard to germinate unless you’ve done it before.
we regularly have various chilli in food however, growing a load of jalapeno or other hot peppers, you dont know what to do with so many hot peppers. that’s why milder peppers are more warranted in my garden, when grown in numbers. i grow hotter peppers as individual plants together with ornamentals or a single pot. they are pretty plants after all
S.O.S. HELP! I grow everything from seeds! Everything germinated great and i gave away so many plants….for free! But, yes there’s a but, for whatever reason, i cannot for the life of me get sweet banana pepper seeds to germinate. The only thing i can think of to cause this is the seed supplier. This particular one is the only one different than all my other seed suppliers. Im going to buy another pack of seeds to try, but can you briefly tell me how you germinate those? Im on my 4th attempt now! Ugh! NW Georgia
Bounty peppers, Garden salsa hot peppers (really hot), Hot cherry pepper (mild). Seeds at Tomato growers Pickled Pepper Brine:1 cup distilled (white) vinegar; 1 cup water; 1 Tbsp Kosher salt. Enhance with dill, sugar to taste, mustard seed, black pepper, turmeric, garlic etc. Take that brine and bring it up to a boil. Slice peppers or cucumbers and put them into a mason jar. Pour boiled brine over peppers and fill jar to top, put on lid and ring, place in fridge to cool. Pickled peppers reduce the amount of spice of the peppers.