Last edited by shiny on November 11, 2026. View history
Chilli Pepper
No scientific name recorded
Also known as
chilli (EN)
A variety of chili pepper
How to sow chilli pepper: Direct seed indoors, transplant seedlings outside after hardening off
Sun requirement for chilli pepper: Plant in Full Sun
The chilli pepper (from Nahuatl chīlli) is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum which are members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Chilli peppers are widely used in many cuisines as a spice to add heat to dishes. The substances that give chilli peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically are capsaicin and related compounds known as capsaicinoids.
Chilli peppers originated in Mexico. After the Columbian Exchange, many cultivars of chilli pepper spread across the world, used for both food and traditional medicine.
- 15
- plantings
- 3
- harvests
- 2
- seed packets
Chilli pepper facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
18 weeks
median lifespan
First harvest expected
20
weeks after planting
Last harvest expected
10
weeks after planting
Grown for
fruit harvested 3 times
Optimal temperature
18–30 °C
Absolute temperature
7–40 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
600–1500 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
400–2000 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
5.5–6.8
Absolute soil pH
4.3–8.3
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
120–180 days
FAO EcoCrop
Max altitude
2000 m
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
very bright
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For chilli pepper, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 7°C and a shortest growing cycle of 120 days at its best temperature, about 2040 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your chilli pepper will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing chilli peppers
- Sow seeds indoors somewhere warm 10 weeks before planting out
- Pot on the seedlings 6 weeks before planting out
- Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
- Set or refill beer traps for slugs and snails at planting out every week
- Stake the plants 2 weeks after planting out
- Water regularly at planting out every week
- Check for aphids 2 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Feed with tomato fertiliser 6 weeks after planting out every 2 weeks
- Pick chillies regularly at first harvest every week
- Bring pots in before the first frost 3 months after first harvest
How members grow chilli peppers
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Harvested for
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Varieties of chilli pepper
cheongyang chili pepper
Capsicum annuum
Espelette Pepper
Capsicum annuum
Thai dragon chilli
capsicum frutescens
Plant chilli peppers with
ginger
Photos
Photos
Chilli pepper plantings
Chilli pepper harvests
Chilli pepper seeds
Video
Where chilli peppers grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about chilli peppers
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Who's planted chilli peppers
- milki Sfg 4x4 2 · San Francisco Bay Area
- corvi Pyracanthus garden · salt spring island
- shiny North Garden · Wellington, NZ
- lafnlab peperoncini Garden · Indianapolis,...
- pazinjanka Indoor · Almere, Netherlands
milki
Chilli pepper harvests
-
bigblen harvested 20, weighing 0.047 kg.
over 6 years ago
-
bigblen harvested 15, weighing 0.05 kg.
over 6 years ago
-
shiny harvested not specified.
over 7 years ago
bigblen harvested 20, weighing 0.047 kg.
View all chilli pepper harvests
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View all chilli pepper seeds
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 120 to 180 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Capsicum frutescens L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Solanales Solanaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | sub-shrub |
| Life span | perennial |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | shallow (20-50 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours) |
Learn more about chilli peppers
Resources outside Growstuff.
