How to grow... Chillies & Peppers

Rocket Growing Guides

These tasty vegetables do not like the damp or the cold. What they like is a sunny windowsill or a nice warm greenhouse. Chillies are surprisingly easy to grow and we’ve got loads of different types for you to try. Given plenty of sunlight and warmth, they will shoot up rather quickly – it’s not unusual to harvest 20 or more chillies from one plant.

  • Chillies & Peppers Growing Guide

How to Plant Chillies and Peppers

  • Best grown in a greenhouse or polytunnel. If growing outside, choose a sunny, sheltered spot that stays quite warm – up against a south-facing wall would be good.
  • Some of the smaller plants will do well on a sunny windowsill.
  • You can plant in raised beds or a traditional veg plot, and also in pots (20cm+) and growbags (3-4 plants per growbag)
  • Plant 30cm apart.
  • They will do best with plenty of compost or well-rotted organic matter.
  • Most will need a support, so push a 60cm bamboo cane in alongside them when planting.

How to Grow Chillies and Peppers

  • Keep them well watered – a thorough watering 2-3 times a week if growing in a greenhouse is a good starting point.
  • As the plants grow, loosely tie the stem to the bamboo cane
  • You can pinch out the growing tips when the plants reach approx 30cm tall – this will encourage the plant to bush out
  • Once flowers start to appear, give plants a liquid feed every fortnight

Common Problems with Chillies and Peppers

  • Aphids – watch out for colonies of these tiny little bugs appearing. A sharp blast from the hose will wash them off, and it is worth putting something yellow and sticky (like a yellow bucket smeared in vaseline) to stop them from re-colonising. Try planting up marigolds and tagetes with your peppers too.
  • No fruits appearing – this is likely to be either poor pollination (try planting some companion plants like marigolds to encourage bees, and make sure there are open windows to greenhouses) or too cool conditions – if growing outside you could try using a cloche or make a mini polytunnel for your peppers (bamboo stakes topped with upside down jars make a good support for a polythene or fleece cover.)

How to Harvest Chillies and Peppers

  • Harvest in autumn when the peppers/chilli turn the desired colour.
  • You can dry out chillies to store. It’s also worth popping some of the smaller chillies in the freezer whole. When you want to then use them you can simply cut a slit down the length of the chilli and add it whole to a pot of curry etc.
  • Peppers will store in the fridge for several days
  • You can roast peppers, then peel off the skin, tear the flesh into strips and preserve in olive oil in sterilised, airtight jars.

When your plants arrive....

  • Your baby plants will arrive carefully packed in cardboard. They may look a little tired from their travels. This is quite normal but, as soon as possible, carefully unpack them all.
  • Stand them upright, being especially careful with the ones that aren’t in bio pots. The roots may be dry, so give them all a good drink of water by submerging the roots for a few minutes in a container of clean water.
  • Now you are ready to plant your Rocket Garden. Try to do this within 24 hours of the arrival of your plants.

Types to try

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