Growing Peppers From Seed: Our Top 12 Tips

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Growing Peppers from SeedOur Top 12 Tips

1. Use Fresh Pepper Seeds When stored in perfect conditions, pepper seeds can be viable for up to 25 years, but generally 2-5 years is more realistic for good germination rates. Sandia Seed only sells fresh seeds that were harvested from the previous season, and we ensure all of our seeds have a 85% germination rate or higher to guarantee your success. Keep in mind that the older the seeds get, the less likely they will sprout. Store seeds in a cool, dark, dry environment. Remember, seeds are meant to be grown, so plant them! Of course you can still plant old seeds (a few years old), because they can still germinate. Just be aware that the germination rate will be lower (less seeds will sprout, so you may want to sow a few extras), and older seeds can take longer to germinate, so be patient!2. To germinate, keep pepper seeds consistently warm and moist at 80-90˚ F –  warm temperatures are ideal for the most successful germination.Use a seedling heat mat like the one shown above to bring the temperature up, and don't try germinating peppers in a cold room or in a greenhouse as the temperatures can drop at night, which lowers your chance of success. You can get these seedling heat mats at your local garden store or hardware shop.Once your pepper seeds have germinated, you can turn the temperature down –   indoor pepper plants like temperatures between 70°F to 80°F during the day, and 60°F to 70° F at night. Thin seedlings so they don't crowd each other, one plant per pot is recommended. We often try to gently pull or separate out the extra pepper seedlings out and then plant them into more pots if we have the space! 3. Be patient. Some super hot pepper seeds are slow to germinate and can take up to 4-6 weeks to germinate, while many of the fastest growing peppers take 7-10+ days. This is even when kept super warm, so don't give up on them. Peppers are one of the slowest starting vegetable seeds, they just take their good ol' time. 4. Start Peppers indoors 6-8+ weeks before the last frost date. Some of the hottest peppers can take extra long to germinate and grow, so you can start them indoors about 12+ weeks out if desired! All peppers like warm weather, so keeping them indoors until it's warmed up to about 60-70˚ F at night is important. Peppers are very frost sensitive and get stunted in temperatures below 50˚ F or in cold soil. You can start them even earlier IF you have the room indoors to keep them warm and cozy until all chance of frost has passed and the temperatures warm up to a consistent 60˚ F+ at night. Most peppers will have stunted growth if in cold temperatures below 50˚ F. If you keep them growing indoors longer, just make sure to pot them up as their roots grow so they don't get root bound in the container. Be sure your seedlings have air circulation, movement, and enough bright supplemental light. If your larger pepper plants start getting leggy – then they need more movement (put a fan on them), and the lights may not be close enough, or they are not bright enough for long term growing indoors.Note: The purple-toned pepper seedling above is normal, some pepper varieties especially purple ones tend to have purple stems and leaves at first when grown outdoors. Most peppers will typically revert to green once outside in the full sun (though they may retain purplish-stems).   5. Don't Overwater Pepper Seedlings!This is a common mistake by many gardeners, experienced or not. We tend to overwater seedlings – and peppers hate wet, soggy roots. So make sure to let the soil dry out a bit between watering your pepper plants. Make sure to use well-draining seedling mix in pots with plenty of drainage. When starting pepper seeds, we do not recommend using Jiffy Pots or peat for starting  pepper seeds, as they just don't seem to like to germinate well in peat – perhaps because it dries out too fast and it's hard to keep them consistently moist without being soggy. We like to use a fresh seedling starter mix such as Coast of Maine's which performs very well with all pepper seeds. Learn more about the best soil for peppers »If you see yellow leaves on your pepper plants, and they are starting to droop, this is often a sign that the soil is too soggy – make sure to let the soil dry out a bit between watering. Your peppers will be much happier! Don't "overlove" them with too much water!   6. Pinch off first Pepper BlossomsPinch off the first few blossoms on your pepper seedlings to encourage them to put their energy into growing stronger roots and foilage, so you'll have more peppers later. This first pepper blossom is also known as the gateway flower, it's wise to pinch it off so that the plant will grow larger before diverting to pepper creation. Should you top your pepper plants? Learn IF you should, and when to top your pepper plants » 7. Give them a breeze or a brush with your hands.Once sprouted, you can encourage your pepper seedlings to grow stronger, thicker and stockier by simply brushing the seedlings with your hands daily, or by adding a fan for a light breeze on the peppers for a few hours a day. In addition to growing stockier, this will help prevent damping off, a common ailment of seedlings that causes them to wither and die after sprouting. People often think that leggy seedlings are caused by lack of enough light, but legginess can also be from lack of movement, so a fan or brushing them with your hands will encourage them to strengthen their stems for healthy, robust seedlings. Above: Our customer Rana's seedling setup with an oscillating fan.Using a fan for seedlings is an excellent idea to keep your seedlings healthy and prevent them from getting leggy.Learn more about Weak Pepper Seedlings »   8. Harden Off Pepper Plants before planting outdoors. This means if you have started them indoors you should bring them out for a few hours a day, working up to a full day and eventually overnight over a week period (or 10 days if you have time). This will acclimate the outdoor weather, sun, breezes, etc so they won't be shocked when transplanting into the garden or outdoor container. Don't skip this step to avoid shocked pepper plants. Learn more about Hardening Off Seedlings »9. Plant in Full Sun! Make sure the pepper plants get full sun, at least 6-8 hours of sunlight is best. We find that peppers also can do well with dappled shade for a part of the day, as long as they get 6-8 hours of good sunlight paired with warm weather.  DON'T TRANSPLANT peppers outside until it has warmed up to 50-60˚F at night consistently and all change of frost has passed. Pepper plants can be stunted in temperatures below 50˚F, and can easily be killed by frost.Transplanting your hardened off pepper plants on cloudy days or in the early morning or dusk (not in direct sun) will help your plants acclimate better. Speaking of sun, do you ever get white spots on your peppers? If you're getting a lot of sunscald on your peppers, grow pepper companion plants like bush beans around your peppers to keep the peppers from getting exposed to too much sun. A bonus of growing beans along with your peppers is that they naturally add nitrogen to the soil via their nitrogen fixing root nodules that transform environmental nitrogen into nitrogen underground that benefits other vegetables like peppers. This type of natural soil nutrition is better than using store-bought high-nitrogen fertilizers, which can cause pepper plants to just grow bushy and not produce pods. Read on... 10. Don't Over-fertilize with Nitrogen: Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers later in the season. They create lush foliage, but few peppers. Peppers are light feeders, but will benefit from a regular feeding of a well-balanced, organic fertilizer or compost tea. Homemade compost is also highly recommended for adding to your soil in your garden every year to keep it packed with natural nutrients that slowly release and feed your plants over time.    11. Plant Lots of Flowers Near Your Pepper GardenDo your pepper plants have flowers but no peppers? Pollination is key to growing successful peppers, and while peppers can self-pollinate with the wind, pollinators can really help seal the deal. Invite pollinator bees and attract beneficial insects by growing lots of natives and flowers in your garden. Don't use pesticides! Make sure the peppers are grown in a spot with good air circulation and spaced properly. There are also other reasons that peppers have flowers but no peppers such as extreme temperatures. Pepper plants with no blooms or peppers?If your pepper plant has no flowers or pods, this could be a result of undesirable weather such as extreme cold or heat, or it could be too much nitrogen. If your plant is healthy but has no flowers, it could be that your plants are over-fertilized with nitrogen, which results in a lush pepper plant with no blooms. Avoid using high-nitrogen fertilizers later in the season to avoid this. Learn more about Pepper Pollination »   12. Pepper HarvestingMany peppers are harvested at an immature stage such as the traditional bell pepper – it's harvested green, even though most varieties will mature to red, purple, orange, or yellow. Chile peppers can be harvested at any stage of growth, but their flavor doesn't fully develop until maturity. We encourage you to taste one pepper, if it still tastes green, let it ripen for another week or so before trying another pepper for the desired ripeness and flavor. Many chile peppers' flavors are intensified by roasting!Learn more about When to Pick Peppers »    Find lots more tips below:How To Grow Peppers »   Growing peppers from seed is very rewarding! Sandia Seed sells all sorts of easy-to-grow Hatch chile seeds, green chile seeds, super hot pepper seeds, hot pepper seeds & sweet pepper seeds.   Grow peppers in pots! Peppers grow wonderfully in containers. One great reason to grow peppers in pots is that they are cold-sensitive plants, so if you have a late spring frost or an early autumn frost, you can bring in your potted pepper plants to a warm sheltered location to keep them from being frozen. All peppers can be grown in pots, be sure to use good potting soil with 5-gallon+ containers that have good drainage holes. The larger the pot, the better, as the peppers can grow larger root systems and they won't dry out as quickly.Here are some of the best peppers to grow in pots.

Check out all of our other blog posts about growing peppers: 

Can seedlings get too much light?

Can peppers survive 40 degree weather?

Why didn't my pepper seeds germinate?

How to Grow Carolina Reaper

How Often to Water Pepper Plants in Pots

Best Peppers to Grow in Containers

Container Size for Peppers

How to Prune Pepper Plants for Maximum Yield

Fresh vs Dried Pepper Names

Hatch Chile Seeds

What is a Hatch Chile?

Are Hatch Chiles Heirlooms?

What are the best peppers to grow indoors?

Best Peppers to Grow

 

Pepper Plant Companions

Composting for Peppers

List of Peppers by Heat

When to Pick Peppers

Best Peppers for Containers »

Pepper Plant has Flowers but No Peppers?

This is not uncommon, and is actually normal when pepper plants are young. It can also be caused by temperature extremes such as too cold: under 60˚ F, or too hot: over 90˚F. If your plant has no flowers at all, you may be feeding it with too much nitrogen which causes bushy growth but no flowers.Read more about peppers with flowers but no peppers »Young pepper seedlings love growing in a warm bright indoor location with plenty of supplemental light. A sunny windowsill is usually not enough light for good growth.

Once you're successful at growing peppers, it's time to make delicious hot sauces, salsas and other recipes with your harvest. Check out our favorite Chile Recipes »Happy growing!! 

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from 1385 reviews Buck Dharma approved!

So, as a life long BOC fan and an avid gardener who loves the quality of seeds I’ve always received from Sandia Seeds. I just had to have this shirt. It rocks! I ordered a couple more for some fellow BOC fans as well. Great quality and the graphic is outstanding!

Jens Pedersen 12/27/2025 Don't Fear the Reaper T-Shirt Very Productive and HOT!!

I'm going to grow these every year, they are HOT!! They make great poppers and salsa. Very productive, easy to grow, quick germination and fast growing plants. Thank you for the stellar seeds.

Samuel 10/17/2025 Jalapeño Orange Spice NuMex Seeds - Ultra-Hot and Flavorful Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

I planted several cultivars from wholesale seed. These were prolific. See all that RED (and green)?!? Looking forward to harvesting in a few days. Thank You Sandia Seed!

Josh F 10/17/2025 Hatch Red Medium - Joe E. Parker Chile Seeds - Popular Heirloom with Great Flavor Jalapeño M

I pretty much use Sandia seeds exclusively! A few years ago I just happened to order your Jalapeño M. To me it's the perfect Jalapeño! Really nice size! Perfect heat for what we like! Wonderful flavor with a meatyness that's perfect for many different uses! I make my own Sriracha so I wait for them to turn red. They're one of my base peppers for my sauce! I praise them to all my personal friends and to members of groups that I belong to!

Bill Kozma, Solvang, Ca. 10/15/2025 Jalapeño M Pepper Seeds - Popular Heirloom with Flavorful Heat Prolific pepper

Plants each produced dozens of beautiful peppers. Still going strong in October in Virginia

Mari Woehrle 10/13/2025 Big Jim Legacy Pepper Seeds - Flavor & Heat - A True New Mexico Chile High producers

Serrano Hidalgo Seeds fromSandia Seed produce even in the HOT drought of central Illinois this year! I love adding a little Mexican kick to my salsa but also tossing these on the grill! They have great flavor and produce all summer long!

Angela McCabe 10/10/2025 Serrano Hidalgo Seeds - Hot Mexican Peppers - Salsa & Pickling NH, USA in 5 gallon buckets

Quintessence of pepper flavor. Productive plant. Definitely will grow again.

M J Dubois 10/08/2025 Española Improved NuMex Chile Seeds - Robust Flavor and Early Maturity Dynamite xx Hot peppers, 4 heat lovers only!

I had looked high & low, and searched the web with many word combinations ‘looking’ specifically for my favorite chili, the Dynamite xx Hot… so I could grow my own. The peppers were sold in Colorado at select places during roasting season, but you couldn’t buy seeds for them… anywhere! Finally, as luck and persistence would have it, I discovered Sandia Seed Company. Thank you Sandia! I planted them and had a great crop this year. I plan on growing them every year as well as trying some of their other seeds,

Linda O 10/06/2025 Dynamite Green Chile Seeds - Extra Hot Variety at 12,000 Scoville Prolific Peppers!

There's just something fun about growing a jalapeno that is light enough in color that some people think it's a banana pepper. LOL! I picked these just for color variety, and I'm very pleased that my plants have been loaded with them all season! We donated about 50 lbs of mixed peppers this year from our garden and I still had enough to freeze some and can more jars of recipes than we'll probably be able to use before next season. All my peppers were from Sandia Seed Company. I've never had such great pepper production before using these seeds!!

Cmartcookie 10/06/2025 Jalapeño Jaloro Pepper Seeds - Disease Resistant and Medium Heat Big Jims

Excellent peppers, large and meaty. Easy to grow from your seeds.

S Latta 10/04/2025 Big Jim Legacy Pepper Seeds - Flavor & Heat - A True New Mexico Chile Tasty and prolific

This spinach germinated well, and produced way more spinach than I'd initially expected. It grew really well, was slow to bolt in the summer, and has a really nice mild flavor for salads or steamed.

Melissa B 09/29/2025 Spinach - Bloomsdale Spinach Seeds - Easy to Grow, Popular, and Nutritious Beautiful Reds

Love this Hatch variety chili, next best thing to living in New Mexico! Yep, they grow in Oklahoma too!

Buster Holzer 09/27/2025 Hatch Red Medium - Joe E. Parker Chile Seeds - Popular Heirloom with Great Flavor Awesome peppers!

This was my first time growing these and I will definitely be growing them from now on. Great germination and very sturdy plants that have withstood some really high winds. Huge long peppers that are excellent green or red, very easy to peel skin.

Dre Snow 09/25/2025 Hatch Green Medium - Big Jim Chile Seeds - Nice Heat & Great Flavor Wow! BIG JIM PEPPERS

Growing these in Florida, (Recent transplant of NM). Lovely peppers. Took a couple weeks is all and wow! I have several budding; 2 large enough to nickname. They're still in their infancy, but I can tell they are going to be great! Love the seeds!

BIG MARK 09/24/2025 Big Jim Legacy Pepper Seeds - Flavor & Heat - A True New Mexico Chile Excellent!

Prudens purple was huge, productive, and delicious. Very crack resistant. Amazing!

Jamie 09/24/2025 Pruden's Purple Tomato Seeds - Old Family Heirloom - Sweet Taste - ON SALE

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