How to Grow Hot Peppers in Pots Indoors

Fill a seed-starting flat, or several 2- to 4-inch pots with soil formulated for germinating seeds. Push two or three seeds down 1/4 inch into the soil in each pot. Mist the soil with water until it is moist, but not drenched.

Place the seed-starting flat or pots on a heat mat made for plants. You can purchase these at gardening centers or nurseries. Pepper plants need a lot of warmth to germinate, with soil temperatures of 80 to 90 degrees. Peppers are often slow to germinate, sometimes taking three weeks or more.

Set a fluorescent light over your seed pots, with the fixture 1 inch above the soil level. Your pepper seeds need around 16 hours a day of light, so you will need to attach a timer to the light if you are not available to turn the light on and off each day.

Transplant your pepper seedlings into 12-inch pots once the plants have two sets of leaves. Plant one seedling in each pot, using a soil mixture of half container potting mix and half perlite or vermiculite. Handle the seedling very carefully, holding it by the leaves, not by the stem. Plant the seedling so the roots are covered, but do not bury the stem or pile soil against it. Discontinue use of the heat mat.

Raise the fluorescent light so it remains 3 inches above your plants. Hanging the light fixture from a chain will enable you to easily adjust the height. Continue to provide 16 hours a day of light.

Water when soil becomes slightly dry. Overwatering will kill your pepper plants. Never allow the pots to sit in a tray full of water.

Fertilize your pepper plants with a balanced plant food marked 15-15-15. This ratio indicates the content of the nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Use a fertilizer that is a concentrate to be mixed with water, and follow package directions.

Harvest your peppers when they are shiny and firm. Ripe color will depend on the variety of pepper, ranging from orange to red, purple or brown. While peppers can be eaten at any stage of maturity, the deeper the color, the hotter the pepper. Depending on variety, your peppers should be ready to harvest within three to four months of transplanting.