How To Sow Chilli Pepper Seeds For Maximum Germination

Growing your own chilli peppers at home is one of the easiest ways of beating the supermarkets at their own game. With a noticeably extended shelf life, a significantly lower cost and countless varieties to taste, growing home-grown chillies is a no-brainer.

You can grow chilli peppers from seed at home by sowing the seeds shallowly into a loose, free-draining seed starting mix in small two inch cells or pots. Then cover them to trap humidity and maintain soil moisture, before placing them in a warm location for up to two weeks to germinate

To successfully sow chilli pepper seeds you’ll need to:

1. Find a suitable container (e.g. a 2 inch pot)
2. Fill the container with seed starting mix
3. Make a small hole in the soil surface, about 1/4 inch deep
4. Place the seed in the hole and cover with more mix
5. Water the soil (ideally by bottom watering)
6. Cover with a lid or cling film to maintain humidity
7. Place in a warm location for two weeks

In this article and the video below, I’ll give you a step-by-step for sowing chilli pepper seeds so that you can get the best germination rates and the quickest germination possible for your seeds. And, yes, this method will also work on sweet peppers.

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When To Sow Chilli Pepper Seeds

Chilli peppers take a long time to grow. In cold or temperate climates with restricted growing seasons, you’ll want to start plants early. In Zones 7-9 (which covers most of the UK), you want to sow chilli pepper seeds from January to March to give them the best chance of ripening.

Of course, the exact sowing window in your location strictly depends on your last frost date and when overnight temperatures reach 10°C/50°F or warmer. With a last frost in May and an ambitious plan to plant out in June here in the East of England, I start my pepper seeds in January and February.

You can check these maps to find your last frost date in the UK or worldwide.

Pepper seedlings can be slow to grow, so you can usually place them by a windowsill until the outside temperatures are warm enough. But if you want to get growing earlier, you could sow seeds in December if you have bright enough grow lights or move them to a greenhouse after your last frost.

What Chilli Pepper Varieties Can I Grow?

The best thing about growing such a popular fruit is that there are so many different colours, flavours and spice levels to chose from. Each variety will have different growing habits and require a different amount of heat and length of time to grow.

I like to grow varieties such as:

• Portugal (Premier Seeds, Amazon)
• De Cayenne (Premier Seeds, Amazon)
• Habanero (Premier Seeds, Amazon)
• Jalapeno (Amazon)
• Hungarian Hot Wax (Amazon)
• and even chocolate coloured peppers (Amazon)

You can also grow some of the hottest chilli pepper varieties from seed, including Bhut Jolokia (the Ghost Pepper), the Carolina Reaper, or you can grow a mixture of the hottest peppers from a variety pack and find out which is which the old fashioned way.

Choose wisely and, for legal reasons, entirely at your own risk.

Should I Soak Chilli Pepper Seeds?

Soaking chilli seeds in water or tea overnight is meant to speed up germination by making the seed absorb water and swell up and degrading the outer seed coat. This is called seed priming and improves hot pepper germination in industrial settings.

Absorbing water is what happens when the seed is in the potting mix, why not speed it up at home too by cutting out the middle-man?

Results are reportedly mixed. Some people claim other germination methods are faster and it is possible to soak the seed for too long. I soak all my pepper, tomato and aubergine seeds in black tea for 24 hours but I’ve not (yet) run a comparison experiment to test if there is any benefit.

However if your soil is not optimal then some studies have found an improvement in germination rates.

What Type Of Soil Is Best For Germinating Tomato Seeds?

Chilli pepper seeds like wet, loose, airy soil so they can take on moisture and still access oxygen and fresh air. A specifically formulated seed starting mix, a compost with added perlite or sand, or coconut coir are all suitable growing media for sowing chilli pepper seeds.

If the soil is too thick or becomes compacted and remains wet for long periods, you risk promoting anaerobic conditions and creating conditions for damping off which can be fatal for the seed. The soil will be the biggest factor in getting good germination rates and it needs to be just right.

I sow my seeds in a blend of an organic seed compost with added coconut coir and perlite. I tend to find near-perfect germination rates and never suffer from damping off. If you want to create a similar blend, read this article for an explanation of why this mix is so good, the results of my germination tests and a recipe that you can follow at home.

Increase Germination Rates By Making The Best Seed Starting Mix

How Deep Should I Sow Chilli Pepper Seeds?

Chilli pepper seeds should be sown very shallowly — anywhere from 0.5 cm (1/5th inch) to 2 cm (1 inch) should be close enough to the surface for the seed to sprout and reach daylight without getting trapped or rotting in the soil.

When I sow my chilli pepper seeds I fill a seed tray with a seed starting mix and then make a small depression in the surface of the soil, aiming to go o further than halfway up my fingernail. I place the seed at the bottom of the hole and then cover with more mix.

Because we want to keep the seed near the surface, it’s safer to bottom water your cell tray or pots than it is to spray water over the surface as it reduces the risk of burying the seeds. To do this, fill a tray with water and then return the cells or the pots to the tray and allow the soil to soak up the water for an hour. Then empty the tray (so the soil isn’t sitting in water) and return the pots or cells to the tray.

How Many Chilli Seeds Should I Sow In Each Pot?

Seeds with high germination rates like chilli peppers can be sown one seed per pot or per propagator cell and you would expect to produce one seedling in almost every container.

You could sow more and thin them out but chilli seeds are quite expensive. And you could sow multiple seeds per cell and transplant them while smaller, but if you grow one per pot then you can wait until the plant is stronger and less delicate. You’ll also reduce the amount of work you’ll need to do in what will be an already busy April.

Where Should I Leave Chilli Pepper Seeds To Germinate?

This is a plant that originated in the tropics – chilli peppers come from central & south America. Naturally, chilli pepper plants prefer heat and require warm temperatures to germinate. You should try to sprout seeds in a warm location that’s at least 21°C / 70°F and ideally above 25°C / 77°F.

You can sometimes germinate seeds in cooler conditions but it will take a lot longer, you’ll compete with the rotting process, and you’ll still need brief spells of higher temperatures to activate germination. Placing seeds by a windowsill and relying on the sun to heat the soil (particularly under a humidity dome or propagator lid) can sometimes help with this.

Using a humidity dome or propagator lid will help trap the sun and heat the soil & seed, but it will also help trap humidity and prevent the soil from drying out. This is essential during the early phases of germination as the seed needs to soak up water. Alternatively, check on your seeds regularly and water the soil as needed to ensure it is moist to the touch just below the surface.

How Long Do Chilli Pepper Seeds Take To Germinate?

Chilli pepper seeds can take anywhere up from 7-14 days to germinate, depending on the variety and germination conditions.

If you soak your seeds, place them in a warm location and maintain the ideal moisture levels around the seed, you could see germination of your chilli pepper seeds within a week.

You can also follow these other guidelines for speeding up germination rates.

What To Do If Your Chilli Pepper Seeds Haven’t Germinated

If your chilli seeds haven’t germinated after two weeks and there is no sign of sprouting, it is sometimes worth trying to gently dig up the seeds to diagnose the problem.

Sometimes simply disturbing the soil and repositioning the seed as you do this is enough to create more favourable conditions. An attempt to diagnose the failure may accidentally turn into a success a few days later.

However when you do turn seed detective, be on the lookout for soil that is too wet and heavy – if air can’t get to the seed or if the seed is soaked, you’ll promote rotting processes. If you can’t even find the seed, it’s possible this has already happened. If you do find the seed a little deeper and wetter than you expected it, try replanting it a little higher and above some new seed mix. Don’t water (unless the soil really is bone dry) as the new mix will take on water from the old soil and (hopefully) balance out any issues.

And when you do this, try to be very very gentle. If you break the root, it’s game over. And at 50p a seed in some cases, who can afford to waste chilli seeds in this economy?

What To Do After Your Seeds Have Germinated

As soon as your chilli pepper seeds have germinated and you have some leaves poking through the soil, you should place your seedlings in a bright location to stop them from going leggy. Their job right now is to find light and they will grow spindly if they don’t find enough of it soon.

A bright and sunny windowsill might do the job in lower latitudes or later in the year. But if your house is east-west facing (like mine) or your house is partly shaded (like mine) and you sow seeds in January (like I do), then you should turn to grow lights to provide the necessary light.

The trick to successfully growing seedlings under grow lights is to ensure that the lights are full spectrum and that they provide enough light intensity onto the plant’s leaves to grow healthy seedlings. This comes down to finding the right bulbs, the right power ratings and, most importantly, not placing the light too far away from the plants.

If you get the distance right, you’ll find that even the cheapest lights can stop tomato seedlings from going leggy (and tomato seedlings have similar light requirements to chilli peppers). You can read this article to find out how far away you can safely place your seedlings and, as always, happy gardening.

Are Cheap Grow Lights Bright Enough For Tomato Seedlings?