Growing jalapenos in pots
I want to get into growing chilis and I decides I want to get started with Jalapenos. I want to grow chilis but the problem is it's already the middle of Summer so if I plant now I can only harvest in fall/winter. Because of this I need to grow the indoors in pots. So my question toward my fellow chili growers:
How hard is it to grow Jalapenos in pots?
I can get my hands on 20L pots so that's not a problem, I can also get nitrogen and good soil (I found a recommendation to not get high quality one). One problem I faced is that I would need heat lamps to help the growing process. My guess is I can't go without them because in my country in late fall, winter, early spring it's pretty cold. How quickly do they grow and how tall they get? One concern I have is they will get to big to grow indoors since I don't have a ton of space inside. I have heard that there are kinds of chilis that stand the cold better (the ones with hair on them) so do you recommend me to get them? Or do you recommend me to wait till january? I'm really excited to start growing them and I'm a bit inpatient. Thanks for the advice in advance.
I got into growing chilies a couple of years ago. I've only ever grown indoors, straight from the seed (I've also successfully propagated some from cuttings of my plants).
I've ordered seeds from a dedicated chili seed vendor via mail, but I've also obtained seeds from habaneros bought from a grocery store. I've germinated both seed kinds successfully into plants that bear fruit, although the habaneros produce little to no fruit even if they bloom, this is something to keep in mind if you try to use seeds from store bought veggies.
I live in Hardiness Zone 5a, so during winter it can get cold even indoors. I try to keep the indoor temperature above 19°C (66.2°F). The growing slows down remarkably during the winter since the amount of natural light is just way too low. I still managed to keep chilies alive through the winter without a dedicated light. Last fall I purchased two somewhat inexpensive growing led bulbs and they worked miracles, the fruiting season was extended well into the winter and I did the last harvest of the year in December!
I'd encourage you to try growing indoors, even if it's not the optimal time to plant. Just place you pot right next to the window that gets most light during the day. This way you can get a hands dirty and either successfully keep a plant alive through the winter or fail gloriously! Either way you'll be more experienced in next spring during optimal planting season.
Also look into bonchi (bonsai chili), all my chilies are basically bonchies, even though the "traditional" way of growing a bonchi is planting outdoors to grow a huge plant before cutting it down to a tiny plant. Basically you limit vertical growth by cutting the tips of the branches, this encourages the plant to create more branches which in turn leads into a denser canopy. The best thing about bonchi is that you actually decide how large the plant can get.
I'd love to try growing outdoors but my current apartment does not allow for that. Growing outdoors comes with it's own challenges as mentioned by others (pests, sunburned saplings).
The fruit yield will always be greater if you grow outdoors.
Feel free to ask if you need any tips for germination or growing in general, I'm still very much learning the ropes myself but always happy to share any knowledge I've gathered.
Thank you for the detailed answer. I thought about growing them straight at the windown until they are small and after that moving them to a bigger pot to let them take space. I haven't thought about led growing lights, thanks I will look into them. How much light do you give them during the winter? All day long or just morning/night? I would love to know about that. That's why I want to start it now, because of the experience! I'm already taking care of a basil and an ornamental chili plant my mother got me lol. But ofc ornamental is great and good but I want to taste the fruit of my work too. Ofc in the specified growing season it will be better but it's still something that I grew indoors. Even if they are smaller, not that hot I still took care of them and will go head start in spring with more experience behind my back. Even if it's just 4-5 chili I will harvest, I will be happy. Regarding the led light how far apart are they from the plant? I will take a look where I could put them I will be happy to organize around lol. I didn't now bonchi existed I will take a look at them. I would love to grow habaneros but they are still too hot for me. I can grow a jalapeno, let them ripe red (as they only come green in grocery stores) and have them used up as bunch of stuff. Although I'm still thinking about which chili to get. Do you have any recommendation? I would love to grow thai chili but Idk if I could manage 30-50k yet lol. That's why serrano came up as one alternative, it's 10-15k which I think I can manage well. Storebought Jalapenos and anything I can buy at my grocery stores I can manage (it's pretty limited but basically what I can get my hands on without ordering are Jalapenos, Pepperoni, and I think Fire Flame(?) it was transported from Spain, as far as I read it's around 10k but it doesn't really faze me. As of chili products 90% is tabasco and some kinds from my country but they aren't hot). I'm exited to grow outside I'm sorry you doesn't have that option, I will grow a few more kind of chilis and have fun making stuff from them. Ofc it will be a different challange outdoors but if I have previous knoweledge from growing indoors I think I can manage it. If I start I will probably message you if I have questions.
I have a timer that keeps the lights on for 12 hours during the winter, from 7am to 7pm. During the summer I've configured the timer so that the lights are on in the morning to supplement the first sun rays of the day.
I currently have six plants within one square meter, above the plants I have two Star 1700LM Plant Lights. Since the lights are bulbs and not tubes the actual distance to the plants is not that even, I've arranged them so that each light is roughly focused on three plants. I try to keep the distance between the light and the closest lamp between 15-25cm.
I recommend you try Lemon drop! It grows fast and can get quite large if you don't trim it, but I think that is a good quality even for an indoor plant; you'll get to do more and get to experiment with shaping the plant a lot faster! It bears large fruit, and they have a nice citrus like flavor (hence the name), the burn is between 30-50k though.
For smaller plants with more but tiny fruit, I can recommend (Bird's Eye Baby)[https://fataliiseeds.net/product/birds-eye-baby/] and Aji Benito, both are considered easy to germinate.
Thank you for the recommendation! I will take a look at the light you gave and thank you once again for the distance recommendation. I will defenetily consider the lemon drop, the citrus+spicy mix sounds exciting, ofc even if it's hot I might give it a try. I might just use tiny bits of it at once and slowly but surely get used to it. I have heard about Bird's Eye, I will take a look at the baby version. Thank you once again!
It's definitely late to start chili peppers. You can still do it, but you won't benefit from the peak season.
I always start mine indoors before Spring starts, and use a heat pad to get the seeds going. You might be able to use the warmer air outside for the same purpose, but that'll depend on your climate. A heat pad is likely to be more reliable.
Once your seeds germinate, they'll need light. You might be able to get by if you place them near a bright window, but again a proper grow light would be more reliable. This is probably the most important tool you'll need.
There's lots of different approaches to lighting.
A small fan is also a good idea. You don't need to put it on all the time, but it'll help prevent edema and weak stems. Come time for pollination, it'll also help get pollen moving around, which is how you get peppers!
A grow tent is the biggest investment. It'll help you manage humidity and amplify the lighting. I don't use one, but many serious growers do. Personally, I opted for a grow shelf instead. It's just a Fjällbo with a couple Spider-Farmer LED boards strapped to it. But again, none of this is necessary.
My guess is that your plant will probably not produce too well if growing from late Summer to early Winter. I expect it would grow, but might not produce any fruit. It'll depend entirely on your environment though.
To answer your bolded question: chili peppers do fine in pots. I use grow bags which are similar, though are a little harder to over-water. You'll probably want to find a smaller pot to act as a mid-sized home, between their starter/seedling cell and the 20L pots though.
If this all sounds like a lot, I think I'd suggest going to a nursery and picking up a mid-sized pepper plant. It'll give you something to play with while waiting for the start of next season.
Thank you for the thoughtful anwser. Ofc I know I will not benefit from that but I'm still willing to do it, even if the harvest is just 4-5 peppers, even if it's non at all I'm still willing to do it to get experience for the main season. Ofc the main plans is to start growing from seeds in early spring to get them to peak season to harvest well but I would like to build some experience first. I will take a look at heat pads, I will put them in a window with a lot of light, I might even get a small thermometer to see what the tempreture is in my window. What would the ideal tempreture be? I'm thinking about getting LED growlights as other people recommended it. I will think about a small fan, do you think if I use a brush to pollinate it could replace it? I'm exited for it, my ornamental chili just grow their first tiny flower and I'm really happy for that (it came with the fruit already on so Idk if I need to pollinate rn). I think a grow tent is a good investment too but it would be outside my budget to get one I think. I will probably get a 10L one too, is it a good inbetween? Or should I get more and slowly increase the pot size? I have an ornamental chili I'm playing around with it rn I'm happy with it but I would still at least like to pot one Jalapeno. Thank you once again!
So the soil temperature is what's important, not the ambient (air) temperature. It should be warm to the touch. A quick Google suggests a temperature range of 21-32°C (70-90°F). But this isn't baking, so you don't have to be exact with it. Most of the time if you have all the right ingredients for life, something will happen. "Life finds a way".
Yes, you can hand pollinate with a Q-tip or small brush. Often it's enough to just give the plants a shake. Peppers are easier to pollinate than some other species because they don't have male and female flowers. The flowers will already produce pollen, and all you need to do is make sure it gets to where it needs to be (the center point of the flower, called the stigma). Usually the wind is enough, so when indoors or sheltered, that's why a fan or a good shake can be necessary.
The fan is mostly important for strengthening the stems. If there's no natural wind pushing on the plant, it won't put as much of its energy into building a strong stem because it won't have need of it. That can cause it to be unable to support its own weight later.
It'll be helpful. Like I said, a light is the most important tool. An adjustable light is even better so you can raise it as the seedling(s) get taller, but anything is better than nothing.
I'll also mention that plants raised indoors on comfortable LED lights have it easy. Just like with the wind, you need to harden them to the harsher sunlight by acclimatizing them over a period of a week or two. You can place them near a window with natural sunlight, or put them outside for increasing increments. 10 minutes, 25 minutes, an hour, and so on. Eventually they'll be comfortable living outdoors.
I'm sure opinions will vary here, but I've had better experience when going for a slightly larger mid-sized pot, so I'm sure 10L would work fine. But if you have a 5L, that's fine too. The bigger the jump, the longer it'll take for the plant to stretch its roots out and find the edges of the pot, but it'll be happier there for longer. A smaller pot means needing to transplant again sooner.
Transplanting can cause a little trauma, so it's probably better not to have too many in-between pot sizes. Three different sizes (starter/seedling cell, mid-sized pot, final home) is what I do. But I'm also just a hobbyist, so don't take my word as gospel!
There's oodles of resources online if you want to learn more. Plenty of articles, discussion boards, and YouTube videos to take you through the steps of germination, transplanting, pollination, and harvesting.
Best of luck!
Thank you for the detailed response! Your comment cleared up a lot of things for me. Firstly I have only seen the fan as just polinating thing but from the stem strenghtening point of view it makes a loot of sense. So much that I feel stupid for not thinking about it lol. I have a big fan that can rotate from setting (you know the usual left to right one that if not set in place will move around the air in the room), so my question if I rotate it to get it on my plants so it will push them in turning is it good too? Or do I need a tabletop one? I have one of those and I could use it on the lowest setting in winter although Idk how much my parents will approve that. But I think my ornamental chili and my basil could benefit from this too. Both of them were bought from a multi and are kind kf "bushy" so here and there they are having a hard time carrying their weight (I've heard advice that in really hot weather you shouldn't cut down those branches so I have thought about tying the orn. chili up to a stick). I've thought about the transplanting trauma and that's why I would want to make bigger jumps, the pepper will be happy to grow into the pot and will not have that much trauma from being transplanted constantly. I've found a ton of resources on the internet and you are right about it, there is a ton. One thing I find myself in constantly though is I have information overload and will just be confused, but that's why there are internet forums. I will check those out, I have found a guide about growing jalapenos so I will watch that.
Thank you! If I have more questions I will post probably.
Any kind of fan will do. It's not super important if it's oscillating or not. I'd just advise not running it 24/7. I run mine something like 8 hours a day on a schedule using a smart plug. Just a low wind pressure is enough.
I felt the same way. It feels like there's all these important steps where any misstep can harm your plant for life. But really, it's not so bad. I've gone without fancy LEDs, fans, or nutrients before, and it still went fine. Taking all these steps helps increase the chances of success, but plants are still adaptable little buggers. There's a reason you find weeds growing through cracks in the cement. The chances are you'll get something to grow. In the absolute worst case, you learn from your mistakes and try again next year.
Yeah you are right. I wouldn't run it 24/7 as I would be concerned about the energy cost lol. I'm trying it out now for ~8 hours during I sleep since both me and the plant could benefit from it. Once I wake up I will turn it off and give the plant time to recover in the sunlight. Even if I have to I will rotate it away from the plant so it isn't directly affecting it. Yeah I tend to overthink it too, I think as we should think about it is it's helping the plant and even if we mess up, the plant will recover in time. Yeah even if I fail, for the next try I will have enough knoweledge to know where I messed up and what to change.
Fans are very efficient, so it'll cost just pennies per day. The grow lights might be a little bit more, but shouldn't be too bad unless you go large-scale.
I just calculated my usage. Two SF600 lights use 144 watts of electricity. At 14 hours per day, with an electricity cost of $0.13266 per KW/h, that's $8.14 per month. I run them for 2-3 months out of the year, and they allow me to start 30-40 plants. So not too bad!
Of course I'm sure you'd rather start with a simple LED bulb or gooseneck lamp, which should be even a fraction of that. The initial setup costs (buying pots, equipment, soil) will likely be the more considerable cost.
Thank you for the advice! Yeah I will probably just get a bulbb or gooseneck lamp and then see where I could go with them. I thought the same, they doesn't cost much to run daily and will be more beneficial. Ofc the get in cost will always be a lot with everything (be it gardening, woodworking etc) but in the end it will be worth it.
I'm in USDA Hardiness Zone 8a, so my experience with cold winters is minimal. That said, I have never had any problems growing any kind of basic chili pepper in a pot, indoors or out when they are started from a preexisting seedling. You would likely need at least a grow lamp if you don't get enough sun in your house, and the lack of heat would likely result in milder peppers (from what I have been told). Starting from seed, though, is another story. I have never successfully started a pepper plant from seed.
If you're game to try again (and I hope this isn't unwelcome advice!), pepper seeds generally need warmth to germinate. If you can give them consistent heat + moisture, my experience is they'll eventually germinate.
The easiest heat source is a plant heat mat, but I've jerry-rigged seed heating systems using:
-insulated box set next to a fireplace, with the side facing the fire place left open
-a 1x2 foot massage heating pad set under a food tray, with the seed trays set on the tray, and covered with a box made of pink insulation sheet
I check on the temp 1-2 x a day (using a simple kitchen thermometer) just to make sure it's not too hot/cold, and after 2-3 weeks, seedlings! Is it worth it? Ehhhhh, I get to choose from a wider variety by starting from seed, but that's about it.
After how difficult it was to find Fresno peppers this year, I might try growing from seed again. Thank you for the advice!
Thank you for your anwser. I will probably get an LED growlight. Ofc that's an issue with growing inside but I'm willing to do it. I will have fun trying to grow from seed, thank you for sharing your experience with me.
I've grown peppers in pots before with the intent to overwinter them. I would just caution that pests left on the plants will run rampant indoors, so you have to be very thorough with cleaning them off. Recommendations are to like cut off the foliage and rinse off the rootball. Here's an example of my first attempt to overwinter my peppers. To be fair, this was the winter my daughter was born, so maybe I could have saved the plants if I got to them sooner, but it's a tale of caution.
Wow that's a lot of pests. Thank you for giving a heads up. I will look out for them and be careful if I decide to start outside.
You could look into getting a grow tent. They come in a variety of sizes from small to gigantic. It is easier to control the environment in a tent also. I would just recommend getting a high quality growing light, a little fan, and a tent, and then you can grow year round :) the company I have bought from is called Vivosun. It is mostly marketing toward cannabis growers, but tbh growing cannabis is not very different from growing peppers or tomatoes.
Thank you! Yeah in essence they are not really different in growing lol. I would like to get a growing tent but it's up to my parents to decide if they get one or not it's not really my decision. I will look at Vivosun, as for growing light I will probably get an LED one. I will think about getting a small fan.
I've grown habaneros indoors. They started their life indoors, spent a summer outdoors, and then lasted a couple years indoors.
If you're starting from seed, I left a more detailed nested reply about germination needs.
Aside from warmth and light, wh the one thing I haven't seen commented on much yet is nutrients.
In my experience, feeding pepper plants a high-nitrogen, or even an equal N:P:K ratio, will trigger strong vegetative growth (stems and leaves will grow more) but suppress flowering and fruiting. So, a little extra nitrogen can help when plants are really small and you want them to get larger. But once they're grown and you want flowers (or if you see flowers developing), it's better to use low-nitrogen, high-potassium fertilizer to promote flowering/fruiting.
Also, if your plants flower indoors, you'll probably need to hand-pollinate because there (hopefully!) aren't insects indoors. Most guides suggest using a small painters brush to hand pollinate but I'm super lazy and have had great success with using just a finger.
On the topic of nutrients, I'll just add that seeds themselves contain a lot of nutrients, so you don't usually need to worry about fertilizing when they're very young. This is also why seed starting soils are light and low on nutrients - you don't want to oversaturate ("burn") your seedlings.
Depending on the quality of the soil you use when transplanting, you may not even need to fertilize later. If the soil is older, or the plant has already been living in it for a while, then mixing in some fertilizer could be a good idea. I prefer to add some liquid nutrients when watering, though I'm far from scientific about it.
If you're real fancy you could get soil testing kits. But I think that's a little unnecessary when growing in pots.
edit: Typo
Thanks for clarifying that point. I tend to re-use old potting soil by 'sterilizing' it in the oven, and then reconstitute it with some added nutrients. I kind of forgot about that when I was thinking about how I've approached seedling germination/care :)
This is really helpful. I think I will give them some compost when I move them into larger pots mixed in with the soil. Giving them with watering is also a good idea.
Wow this is really helpful. I heard about the N:P:K balance but I was overall confused about it, where to use more this where to use less. Thanks for clearing it up. I will probably hand-pollinate as if there's only like 1-2 plants I don't see the reason to get a little ventillator, if there were more I would probably get more but would also be worried about having them cross-polinate. I will probably use a small brush and will look up how to do it. Do you just get the pollen from the female flower than move it to the male? Thanks for the advice. If I have more questions I will contact you.
I noticed another commentor expanded on pollination already, so I won't add to that. For NPK, these are the 'macronutrients' of plants, the major nutrients they need to grow (beyond water, light, and air).
Broadly:
-N (nitrogen) supports vegetative leaf/stem growth;
-P (phosphorus) supports root growth;
-K (potassium) supports flower/fruit growth.
Because different plants grow in different ways (e.g., carrots with huge tuberous roots vs. herbs with tiny, fine roots; or leafy lettuce vs. tomato plants bearing lots of fruits), supplying nutrients in different ratios can help them grow those specific tissues.
Plants also need other micronutrients in very small amounts, and deficiencies can cause plant damage, but if you use an organic fertilizer/compost, you really shouldn't have to worry about this.
This clears things up, thank you. I will probably just use compost to get it mixed in, it will probably be enough for the to run. I will be looking more into it.