How to Grow Peppers With Indoor Lighting

Set the pepper pot in an area that receives at least six and preferably eight hours of direct sunlight daily. An area near a south window may provide enough sunlight for indoor growing.

Supplement the sunlight with a fluorescent grow light if you don't have a suitable window. Set the pepper plant beneath the light so the top of the plant is approximately 6 inches beneath the bulb. Leave the light on for 16 hours a day, turning it off at night.

Keep the temperature in the growing room at 80 degrees or warmer during the day. Pepper plants need warm temperatures to flower and set fruit, though they can tolerate slightly lower temperatures at night.

Water the plant when the top inch of soil feels dry, which can be as little as once or twice a week for indoor plants. Avoid standing water in or under the pot, and empty the drip tray beneath the pot if it fills with water.

Mix a balanced soluble fertilizer in with the water each time you irrigate the plants. Add ¼ the amount of fertilizer to the water as recommended on the fertilizer package.

Pollinate the pepper plants by shaking the stem lightly when the flowers are open. Outdoors, peppers depend on wind and insects to pollinate the flowers so they can set fruit. Indoors, you must shake the plant so the pollen is loosened from the flowers.