How to Grow a Hot Pepper Plant Indoors from Start to Finish

Start your pepper seeds in a seed starting kit. Fill each starter pot with potting soil and add water. Pour the excess water out of the bottom tray after a few minutes. Use a pencil to make a 1/4-inch-deep hole in the center of each pot. Place a seed or two in each hole, and cover the seed with soil.

Place the plastic lid on top of the seeded pots to encourage germination by keeping the humidity high.

Use a heat lamp or a warming pad to keep the soil warm day and night. Pepper seed germinates best when the soil temperature stays between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Add warm water to the pots as needed to keep the soil moist, but not soggy. You can expect to see pepper sprouts emerge in 14 to 21 days.

Remove the plastic cover from the seed starting kit to allow for air movement around the seedlings. The peppers are less sensitive to occasional cool temperatures at this stage, so you don't need to use the heat pad or heat lamp anymore.

Shine bright light on the seedlings for about 16 hours each day. High output fluorescent lights provide the most appropriate light intensity for indoor pepper plants and should be positioned directly above the plants.

Prepare larger pots for each plant you plan to grow to maturity. The larger the pot, the more room the pepper plant has to grow. Fill the pots with enriched potting soil that contains food for fruit and vegetable plants, or use regular potting soil and add houseplant fertilizer.

Re-pot the pepper seedlings when they begin to look crowded in the seed starting kit. Squeeze the bottom of each plastic pot to loosen the soil and gently pull the pepper seedling out. Use your free hand to press an opening in the center of the new pot, and push the root ball and soil into the new pot.

Water the plants and place them back under the fluorescent lights or in a sunny location.

Ensure there is air movement around the plants as they grow so they develop strong stems. Create air movement with an electric fan when needed.

Promote flowering by providing high intensity light for 16 hours each day and uninterrupted darkness for eight hours each night. Pepper plants may begin to flower within 10 weeks of planting.

Pollinate the pepper flowers. Insects usually help pollinate pepper flowers, so indoors the gardener needs to hand pollinate for better fruit production. Use a cotton swab to lightly brush the faces of the open flowers. Use one swab, and visit every flower to transfer pollen from the stamens to the pistils.

Harvest the peppers as they reach a usable size. Do not hesitate to use small peppers -- sometimes a houseplant produces fewer and smaller peppers than you would expect from a garden plant.