DibbleGrowing hot peppers: from seed to harvest
Chilies need even more heat than sweet peppers. Start seeds indoors about 10 weeks before planting out, and transplant into warm soil once nights stay warm.
Planting dates for hot peppers by zone
| Zone | Start seeds indoors | Sow or transplant | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 3 | March 30 | June 8 | August 30 |
| Zone 4 | March 23 | June 1 | August 17 |
| Zone 5 | March 14 | May 23 | July 26 |
| Zone 6 | March 9 | May 18 | July 28 |
| Zone 7 | February 24 | May 5 | July 8 |
| Zone 8 | January 30 | April 10 | June 15 |
| Zone 9 | January 14 | March 25 | May 23 |
| Zone 10 | February 9 | April 20 | April 22 |
| Zone 11 | October 12 | December 21 | March 13 |
Each date is the start of the best window from the same climate engine the Dibble app uses, run at typical places in each zone. Dibble tunes them to your garden's own location and lets you adjust frost dates for your own yard.
Companion plants
Good neighbors for Hot Pepper:
Better kept apart:
Family and rotation
Hot Pepper is in the nightshades family. Heavy feeders and disease-prone. Rotate so nightshades don't return to a bed for 3 years. Learn about crop rotation.
Related crops
Tomato
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Questions
When should I plant hot peppers?
It depends on your zone. Hot Pepper is a tender crop, so the timing follows your last spring frost. Look up your zone in the table below for exact start, sow, and harvest dates, or open Dibble and set where your garden is to get your own calendar.
How long does it take to grow hot peppers?
About 80 days from transplant to the first harvest, with a picking window of roughly 70 days after that.
What grows well with hot peppers?
Good companions include Basil, Onion, Carrot, Marigold. Keep it away from Fennel, Bean (bush).
Plant at the right time this season
Dibble builds your calendar in under a minute. Free to start, no account needed.