Whether you prefer chiles just a tad on the tangy side or fiery enough to send smoke pouring from your ears, you've got a multitude to choose from - each with a distinct, complex flavor. Peppers, especially hot ones, need warm weather to grow well.
Tips:
- North of USDA zone 4, you'll get best results with short-season varieties such as 'Long Slim', 'Hungarian Wax Hot? and 'Gypsy'. If you garden in the country's hotter reaches, look for peppers with "TAM" or "NuMex" in their names; they've been bred to produce well in very high temperatures.
- You can grow any kind of peppers in containers, but compact varieties such as 'Jingle Bells? and 'Thai Hot? do especially well.
Steps:
- Choose a site that gets full sun and has well-drained soil with a pH of 6.7 to 7.0. Raised beds are ideal for chile peppers because these plants need warm soil, as well as warm air, to thrive.
- Work a moderate amount of compost or manure into the soil, then dust the planting surface with a fine layer of Epsom salts and work it into the soil. It will provide magnesium, which peppers need for good development.
- Buy pepper plants at the nursery for planting after all danger of frost has passed. Otherwise, sow pepper seeds in 2-inch containers filled with sterile planting mix eight to ten weeks before your area's last expected frost.
- Harden off the seedlings, whether homegrown or store-bought, then plant them outdoors two to three weeks after the last frost and when the soil temperature has reached 60 degrees F. Set normal-size varieties 14 to 16 inches apart and smaller ones an inch or two closer.
- Provide support for varieties that grow over a foot tall.
- Keep the soil evenly moist; especially when the fruits are developing, peppers need about an inch of water a week. After the ground has warmed thoroughly, mulch with organic matter to conserve moisture and deter weeds.
- Spread compost or a balanced organic fertilizer around the plants when they flower and again three weeks later.
- Start picking hot peppers when they're still green if you want, but for full heat and flavor, wait until they've turned color.
Warnings:
Hot peppers can inflict painful burns. Always wear gloves when working with them, whether in the garden or kitchen, and keep your hands away from your face.
Insects cross-pollinate peppers with abandon. Plant hot peppers and sweet peppers at least 900 feet apart; otherwise your sweet peppers will deliver a kick you hadn't bargained for.