🌶️ When to Plant Peppers

Peppers love heat even more than tomatoes. Both sweet and hot varieties need warm soil and plenty of sun.

Recommended Varieties

Peppers split into sweet and hot, and within each, days-to-maturity is the lever for short seasons — the early types ripen before a cool-zone summer runs out.

• Sweet bell — California Wonder is the classic blocky, thick-walled bell (~75 days).
• Sweet specialty — Lipstick is a fast, thick-walled pimiento with outstanding flavor (~53 days); Corno di Toro is a horn-shaped Italian frying pepper, excellent roasted (~68 days).
• Hot — Early Jalapeño is bred for northern gardens and reliable in short seasons (~65 days); Hungarian Wax is a productive medium-heat banana type that does well in cool summers (~65 days); Cayenne Long Red Slim is thin, tapered, prolific, and the best cayenne for drying (~75 days).

Short-season or cool-summer zones should lean on the early, cool-tolerant picks — Lipstick (~53 days), Early Jalapeño, Hungarian Wax — while long, warm zones can ripen the slower bells and cayenne with ease.

Top Growing Tips

• Wait until soil is 65°F+ before transplanting
• Don’t over-fertilize with nitrogen — it produces leaves over fruit
• Pinch first flowers to encourage bushier plants
• Peppers prefer slightly acidic soil (pH 6.0-6.8)
• Harvest regularly to encourage continued production

Companion Planting

Good companions: tomatoes, basil, carrots, onions

Avoid planting near: fennel, kohlrabi

Harvest Timeline

60-90 days from transplant