How to grow Chillies

Chillies are easy to grow. Their primary requirement is warmth, particularly at the early stages.  Chillies originate from the tropics, which is why they need warm conditions.  

Chillies are ideal to grow in containers, and just a couple of plants will keep you well supplied.  You can grow Chillies outside if you have plenty of sun and sheltered conditions. In less favourable conditions, and at the beginning/end of the growing season they are best under glass. Early in the year it will be too cold in an unheated greenhouse or poly tunnel for seeds or a young plant. Chillies are best kept indoors until the later in the summer and definitely do not plant out until the risk of frost has passed. 

As soon as the plant start to flowers, this is a signal to start weekly feeding. Recommended is a feed high in potash such as tomato feed, which is ideal. Also, when the plant comes into flower, pinch out those early flowers so that the Chilli plant will throw out more shoots, bush and produce a better crop. 

If the leaves of the Chilli plant turn yellow, or drop off, the likely cause is over-watering. The general rule is to water Chillies sparingly.

 There is a gardening debate about whether you can over winter chilli plants. It is true to say, especially in northern climates, Chillies are best treated as an annual. Even if you persuade the Chilli plant through the winter, the ensuing plant will be less vigorous, if not feeble, and you may not get much by way of fruit.

Equally, for the cost of a chilli plant, you can compost it and buy another each year, or grow from seed, they are still great value cropping from one small chilli plant maybe 40+ chillies   

The image left shows the flowers on a young chilli plant and on the right the chillies forming from the spent flower.  The good news is that chillies, unlike say tomatoes, are self pollinating, which means the plant will pollinate itself. This makes chillies easier to grow as there are fewer problems with a lack of pollination or pollinators, which can be a problem in cool summers for outside grown plants, such as courgettes. Another reason chillies are a green wheelbarrow plant.

Most varieties of chilli will grow well in a container provided the growing conditions are correct.

In 2006 The RHS undertook a wide reaching trial of chillies including sweet and spicy chillies. Commonly grown varieties with the AGM include 'Demon Red' which is very hot, 'Hungarian Hot Wax' milder and very easy to grow, and 'Summer Heat' a Jalapeno type. The full list of varities which have the Award of Garden Merit as a result of the trial, full details on  this link.

The RHS also undertook a trial of chillies to determind those most suitable to grow in containers. Suggestions are: 'Riot' a long thin chilli, moderately hot; 'Krakatoa' a thicker cone shaped red chilli hot; 'Spike' a thin, very hot chilli. These are all short compact chillies suitable for container growing in a warm spot bearing in mind chillies are H1 hardy which is 5-10 degrees.

There is a  new trial being undertaken in 2023.

You do not need a garden to grow chillies. They are ideal to grow in containers, on windowsills and balconies, and make a great veg plant where space is limited. There is a range of vegetables which can be grown in containers, for more information about growing vegetables in containers.