All types of chillies do well when grown in pots whether outdoors or indoors. To grow chillies successfully, they need light, heat, moisture, and humidity.
Outdoors it is easier to allow the natural elements assist in providing the chillies the necessary conditions to produce a good harvest.
Green chilli peppers (capsicum annuum) are milder in their flavor, allowing them to be used more widely in a variety of dishes.
Hotter pepper varieties tend to be more of a condiment or addition to add some spice and heat to an already prepared dish. Green mild chillies in cuisine are a popular reason to decide to grow them in pots at home.
Green chilli peppers are relatively simple to grow in the home or garden if they are provided the right conditions. Grown in the garden, green chillies need a long, warm growing period. Growing chillies indoors, the needed conditions can be replicated to produce the same wonderful harvest. You can even grow chillies indoors in colder months with the right conditions.
How to Grow Green Chillies in Pots at Home
Green mild chillies need a warm, sheltered spot indoors with at least six hours of sun to grow chillies with success.
Full sun or partial sun exposure during the day, provides better conditions for the plant and the peppers maintain the heat, moisture, and humidity they need for harvesting.
Without enough light exposure, peppers may not grow to their full potential.
Provided the right conditions, chillies can grow very well in containers inside the home.
Most mild chilli varieties are not difficult to grow but they do vary slightly with having unique needs from other edible crops grown indoors. One benefit of growing green chillies indoors is that the seeds need more warmth to germinate.
Once the plant is growing well, it also needs warmth so that it does not sit in wet soil.
Green chilli plants need moist soil but they should not be sitting in water all the time.
Allowing the growing soil to dry out slightly ensures that the chillies are not being overwatered and will not lead to root rot or fungus.
Starting Seeds
Knowing how to grow green chillies in pots starts with the seeds. S
tarting green chillies from seed, it is best to plant the seeds in a well-draining, organic soil mixture. Chillies need warmth to germinate and good light to grow into healthy seedlings.
If growing chilli seeds for outdoor gardening, you can typically start your seeds indoors ahead of time to get a jump start.
Depending on the growing zone, green chilli seeds can be started indoors two months (four to six weeks) prior to planting outdoors in the garden.
Light Exposure
In learning how to grow green chillies indoors, the amount of light exposure is essential.
If growing green chillies indoors, access to a warm, full sun exposure area such as a window can help. If there is not enough sunlight for the chilli plants, grow lights can be used to assist in light exposure.
Grow lights can ensure that full spectrum light is given to expose the plants to six to eight hours of light each day. It is also important to recreate night-time as well. If grow lights remain on, they could lead to dry soil.
If growing green chillies in the garden outdoors, depending on how hot the temperatures get, providing partial sun may be a good option to prevent burning the plant leaves or the chillies.
Moisture and Humidity
Water the growing medium well before sowing – then try to water as little as possible until germination. Excessive watering can wash the goodness out of the seed before it germinates.
Generally, attempting to maintain growing temperatures between 77 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit (25 to 30 degrees Celsius).
Chilli seeds need warmth and humidity. Using a pot or container where a transparent cover can be added, can help control the moisture and humidity levels.
Check periodically to make sure the seeds under the lid are not too hot or mold may start to grow, destroying the chance of sprouting seeds.
Once the seeds have sprouted and have a little bit of a stem, they can be planted in a larger pot.
If chili plants are tall and tend to fall or lean over, replanting them with some of the stem under the soil is a promising idea. Planting part of the stem will not harm the plant.
Fertilizer
One of the final steps to learning how to grow green chillies in pots at home is to give plants a boost with fertilizer.
When starting green chili seeds and young plants, it is best to use a general plant or vegetable fertilizer such as Miracle Gro.
If growing green chillies in the garden, they pair well grown next to or near tomatoes. Tomatoes benefit from a fertilizer that contains nitrogen, phosphorous, calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Green chillies can benefit from the same type of fertilizer.
Another fertilizing additive you can provide once per month is a spoonful of wood ash.
This provides another useful source of minerals for developing the green chillies. A high potassium feed is good for fruiting chillies as the potassium will help the plants produce chillies.
Green chillies also benefit from organic matter, compost or manure added to the soil. If growing chillies indoors, be mindful that organic matter, compost, and manure may attract insects and produce unpleasant odors.
Issues to Avoid and Solutions
There are some issues that can be avoided when learning how to grow green chillies in pots at home or in the garden.
One issue that individuals have found is planting several types of peppers near each other can create cross pollination. Cross pollination will only affect the seeds of the resulting chillies if you try and use the seeds for growing more plants.
Another issue to avoid is being inconsistent with watering. Inconsistency with water means periods where the soil is allowed to dry out or providing too much water at once to fix a dryness issue.
One solution for minimizing issues with inconsistent watering is to use mulch or drip irrigation.
Over fertilizing or using too much nitrogen is another common issue that can be avoided when growing chillies in pots.
Fertilizer is trapped in pots and is not able to distribute itself among a larger area when in a pot.
Remember that chilies benefit from potassium to help the chillies grow.
If growing green chillies outdoors, if the area gets heatwaves or hot summers, providing more shade can help avoid sun burn or excessive dryness.
One of the benefits of growing green chillies in pots is that you can move plants to more shaded areas when needed.
Final Words
Learning how to grow green chillies in pots can be a fantastic opportunity to have fresh chillies to add to a wide variety of cuisine.
Allowing chillies to be grown in pots provides flexibility of moving plants indoors and outdoors as well as altering the amount of sun exposure.
Green chillies need moisture and humidity to grow well in addition to at least six hours of sunlight.
Providing many types of fertilizers, especially one with potassium will help green chillies develop.
It requires some special considerations to learn how to grow green chillies indoors.
Mastering the techniques needed to grow green chillies can provide year-round harvest.
References:
Growing Green Chillies in Pots (Mirchi) – A Full Guide | Gardening Tips
How to Grow Green Chiles (sfgate.com)
