How Long Do Hot Peppers Take to Grow?

Varieties

• Most hot pepper cultivars require long growing seasons. Red chili peppers require 85 days to reach maturity, while jalapenos need 70 days and cayenne peppers require between 70 and 73 days from the time of planting to the date of ripeness.

Factors

• Hot peppers are warm-season plants that won't grow in cold soil. The best time to plant peppers outdoors is after the nighttime soil temperatures remain above 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Planting the peppers outside too early can result in stunted, poor growth. Gardeners who live in climates with short growing seasons can start hot pepper seeds indoors, germinating them in seed pots about six to eight weeks before the last anticipated frost. Hot peppers usually germinate and sprout within 10 days of planting. Starting seeds indoors allows the hot pepper plants adequate time to grow into hardy seedlings before planting them outdoors.

Harvesting

• Although hot pepper plants generally require more than 70 days to grow to maturity, you can harvest the peppers before they ripen. Harvesting hot peppers at the red-ripe stage provides the most vibrant color, but harvesting while the chilies are still green supplies the green chilies that many culinary recipes require. Most chilies also go through a yellow or orange stage, a consideration in harvesting fruits for color considerations. Cutting, rather than pulling, the unripe fruits from the stems reduces damage to both the fruit and the plant.

Storing

• While fresh hot peppers are best for some recipes, you can store fruits that mature too early for their intended purposes. Storing the peppers for up to three weeks in a cool, moist environment allows you to accumulate the fruits for a period of time, an important consideration in growing peppers for canning purposes. Hot peppers often continue producing fruit for a period of three to four weeks after reaching maturity.