Jalapeno Pepper Basics: Growing Jalapenos 101
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Growing jalapeno peppers can be done by starting them from seed or by purchasing from a nursery. Of all the hot pepper varieties, jalapeno peppers are most popular. The seeds are named after their place of origin in Mexico and are one of the most important cash crops in this country. Hotness of these peppers lies anywhere between 2,500 to 10,000 Scoville units. For comparison, the heat index of common sweet green peppers is zero, while the hottest peppers measure around 300,000 Scoville units or more.
Steps to Growing Jalapeño Peppers
Begin growing jalapeno seeds indoors in pots or in a propagator by January. Use sterilized potting soil to fill the containers about 3/4 full, drop one to three seeds in and cover them with a light layer of soil. Allow plenty of air ventilation to prevent fungal rot. It generally takes between 3 to 5 weeks to germinate chili pepper seeds.
The seedlings should be exposed to light for up to 16 hours a day; therefore, place them in an area that receives indirect sunlight from a window. If you don’t have a good spot, build a frame and hang grow lights positioned 2 to 4 inches above the plants, or purchase a fluorescent growing light setup.
Replant seedlings in larger pots after they have at least four leaves to ensure that they have enough room to continue to grow. After two more weeks and after the last potential frost, you can move the jalapeno plants outside and place them in 2 gallon containers, or plant them directly in the ground 16 to 18 inches apart.
Outdoor Jalapeno Plants
Outdoor plants should get at least 6 full hours of sunlight each day. Jalapeno peppers grown in temperatures between 80F to 90F degrees yield maximum fruit. A standard 10-10-10 NPK fertilizer can be used to feed plants, but take care not to use too much so that you do not burn the plant. Further, organic matter, such as manure, is ideal for giving peppers the boost they need to thrive and for preventing weeds. Lastly, jalapeno plants do well with an inch of water each week, but don’t let the soil become too waterlogged because this is detrimental to the health of the plant. Watering peppers is tricky due to peppers being subject to damping off, but you can use a moisture meter or try the bottom-watering technique to make this task easier. Depending on the variety, the size of the peppers varies from 2 to 3.5 inches and the color of the fruit is typically red or green during ripening.
Handling Jalapeno Peppers
These peppers may irritate the skin because of their capsaicin content. While cooking, consider wearing latex gloves, or else keep the dish soap nearby!
This year I’m going to grow like crazy! Jalapeno peppers everywhere.
When do you know to pick the peppers. red or green and then how to preserve them ( refrigerate them, leave them on the counter to dry out.?)
Either green or red is fine to begin picking jalapenos, but you want to make sure that they are shiny, firm to the touch and come off easily from the branch. When you pick them depends more on your preference. If you want to use the chillies for salsas, for example, pick them when they are green, but, if you plan to dry them, harvest the jalapenos when they begin to turn red.
As for preserving, there are numerous ways to this. One quick and easy solution is to freeze your jalapenos. After washing and drying them first, lay the peppers on a flat surface and stick them in your freezer until they are frozen. Double bag your frozen chillies in freezer bags and they will stay good for approximately 9 to 12 months.
A great resource that covers both of these topics is The Complete Chile Pepper Book: A Gardener’s Guide to Choosing, Growing, Preserving, and Cooking.
Thanks for your questions!
If jalapeno plants freeze over the winter will they sprout again in spring?
Your jalapenos should sprout again, but it depends on how often they were subject to frost and the low temperatures that they were exposed to. Ideally, you should winter your pepper plants by digging up in-ground chillies and placing them in 10-inch pots. Leave your plants outside for a couple of days and water them to allow them to get used to the new environment. Cut back any dead vegetation and inspect the branches and leaves for insects before bring your peppers inside. If you don’t have room in your house, leave the chile plants in the garage. You can put your pepper plants back out when spring comes.
I grew several types of hot peppers but none of them were hot. Grew them in containers with mostly compost and potting soil. The soil here is pH 8-9 and heavy clay and hardly will grow weeds. WHAT do I need to do for my peppers???
Hi Peggy, peppers need to be stressed out once they’ve gone past the seedling stage to produce a hotter flavor. This means water your chillies less. Also, what types of peppers are you growing? Some varieties of jalapenos, such as the NuMex Primavera, are pretty mild compared to the more traditional jalapeno. Further, peppers in the chinense family, like scotch bonnet and trinidad scorpion, are extremely hot so you may have better luck with them. Hope this helps!
do you replant pepper plants every year like you do with tomatoes?
Hi, peppers don’t need to be replanted every year. Chile plants typically last between 10 to even 15 years. Thanks for your question.
What is the lowest temp for growing Jalapeno?
I believe the lowest temperature would be about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, but that’s really pushing it. For the best germination rates and plants that yield maximum fruit, try to give your chillies at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Hope that helps!
We just bought some jalapeno plants that are very tall and leggy. Can, or should I pinch the tops back to promote more branching?
Hi Fran, thanks for your question. If your jalapeno plants are leggy, you definitely can pinch off the lateral branch tips with its top two leaves. This practice promotes a bushier plant so the jalapeno isn’t so top heavy.
If you grow your peppers from seed and provide a grow light when they germinate, this bypasses the need for pinching because they won’t become so leggy. Some growers prefer to pinch anyway, but it’s dependent on your preference. Hope this helps.
This is my first year to grow jalapenos and they are all pretty short (~2 inch). I’ve let them sit on the branch hoping they might grow longer but no luck. Could it be because I grew them in a pot? Thanks!
Hi Jen, congrats on your first jalapeno-growing journey! The size of your jalapenos is dependent on the variety you are growing; some are much smaller than others. The ones in the grocery stores are often hybrids, which is why they are sometimes larger than what we grow on our plants. And no, growing your chillies in a pot shouldn’t affect how large the fruit gets. Hope this helps!
This is my first season planting a garden and everything is rockin and rollin, but on of my jalapeños on the bottom tip is discolored and for lack of a better term “soggy”. The whole pepper is a beautiful green color then the last inch is brown and soft. I cut it off the plant to inspect and I didn’t want this pepper stealing nutrients from the other healthy fruits. What causes this and is there any way to avoid this happening??
Hi Mike, sounds like your jalapenos might be suffering from blossom end rot (BER). The best way to avoid this is to give your plants a calcium supplement such as Cal-Mag. Cal-Mag is great because its designed to feed the roots of your plant and it also gives your peppers an essential magnesium boost as well. Try this and see how your chillies respond. Good luck!
Plants growing & flowering like crazy but only one pepper has survived past flowering.
This is my first year growing jalapenos in my garden. Plants are doing great and each one is producing a good yeild. I’m a little confused on the harvesting though. It seems that, once they reach a good length, they are the bright green color that is recommended for havesting. Then they turn a dark green. Do I need to harvest before they turn dark green?
Many Thanks
Hi Jim,
Honestly, it totally depends on your preference. I would pick the jalapeno at different stages to taste them and make a decision from there. Some people pick them at the bright green stage, others wait until the pepper displays “corking,” which appears as small, brownish marks along the body of the chile and others even wait for the pepper to turn red.
I hope this helps and congratulations on healthy plants! My first jalapeno plant died so I’m happy to hear of your success. =)
this is my first time growing my own peppers (for POPPERS). They have done very well since we first planted them but…my question is: once you pick the peppers do they “grow back” in the same place they were previously picked? Also – I live in missouri is it “safe” to leave the plants outside for the winter and Hope they come back next year? Thanks!!
Hi Angie, great questions. It’s hard to answer the first one because I’ve had chile plants behave different; some peppers grew back in the same spot, while other varieties didn’t. The best way to know is to just pick your chillies and watch closely to see what happens. As for the winter, I wouldn’t leave the pepper plants out if you want them to survive and continue producing next year. I’m working on a new article about overwintering, but basically, you want to move your plants indoors before it starts regularly getting below 50 F. What I do is prune the plant, put it in a container (if it’s in the ground), and fill the container with new soil. I then move the containers to an indoor area like a garage and wait to move them back out only when the last threat of frost has passed. I hope this helps and good luck!
First year growing them hard to find a constent supply so I have way enough plants of diffent varieties to start with ,Seems like its taking forever to get any start of fruit though is this normal?
Hi Del, did you sow your Jalapeno seeds, or did you purchase the plants? This variety can take between 75 to 90 days or more to produce fruit, depending on the type you are growing. I hope this helps!
hallo all its my first time growing chilli of any kind. I am growing jalapenos now they say it takes roughly 70 days to bear fruit. Mine is now a month old and has just started to grow true leaves. My question is are mine on the rite track? im growing Telica Jalapenos.
Hi,
Congratulations on growing your first hot peppers! It sounds like your Jalapenos are right on target. I know it can be hard to way for the chillies; they sure take a long time compared to other plants.
Have fun and keep those questions coming.
Hi, I am also a first time planter, I planted the Jalapeno seeds mid June and now it is August the plants all look pretty healthy, but none of them have produced fruit or even shown signs of producing fruit. When should i expect the Jalapenos to begin to appear?
Hi,
Depending on the variety, Jalapenos take 75 days or more to start growing chillies. So, if you sowed seeds in mid June, I’d guess you might start seeing flowers in mid to late September. It’s a good thing that you don’t see any fruit appearing yet because the plants are taking their time to build a strong structure to support lots of fruit.
Good luck!
I have a plant bought from a nursery aprox. 2-3 months ago. It has flowered numerous times, but no peppers. Also, the lower leaves have a white pattern on them, kind of wavy. No bugs that I can see. I am growing it in a pot on the patio. Will I ever get peppers?
Hi Julie, oftentimes, chile plants will flower many times over before they begin producing peppers. Your plants will produce eventually. Also, the wavy lines could be the result of leaf miner insects. I would prune away any infected leaves and then apply Neem oil – an organic oil – or install yellow sticky traps to catch them.
Good luck!
I’ve been growing cayenne peppers for a long time, but this is my first time growing jalapenos in pots. From my prior experience with hot peppers, I do know that the roots of cayenne and jalapeno pepper plants tend to grow deep. Exactly how much depth should i allow for the roots to grow to their full potential in a pot?
Hi Stephen, 10 to 12 inches is usually sufficient, which is typically a five to seven gallon pot. If you’re growing a smaller chile variety, such as the white habanero, you can go with a 2 gallon container. Hope this helps!
Hey,
I have about 5 Jalapeno plants and I have had success before with nice smooth shiny chillies…but this time around they seem to be ‘corking’ is this normal? how do i stop it from happening?
Hi, yes, corking is normal and is just a sign that your Jalapenos are mature and ready to be picked. You can’t stop them from corking, but you can pick them before they reach this stage. Also, you can grow Jalapeno varieties, such as the El Jefe, that are less prone to displaying these crack marks. Thanks for your question.
My jalapeno plant has been growing indoors and is a sturdy plant that has grown to a height of nearly 3ft. I has a couple of branches. I am worried it is getting too big and I wanted some advice on whether I can cut off some of the branches and replant them. Is this possible or am I going to kill the plant.
Hi Amjad, yes, you can replant a pepper branch. Just make sure your cutting device is sterilized first to avoid transferring pathogens to the plant. Hope this helps!
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