Soil can affect vegetable harvest and plant growth in seemingly endless ways. How well a plant grows the fruits, leaves, or stalks that people want to eat depends a lot on the pH (a measure of how acidic or alkaline the soil is). A lot of the food culture in the San Francisco Bay Area (and northern California in general) comes from Latino, Southeast Asian, and Indian cuisines, which all use hot peppers. Unfortunately for gardeners, growing spicy peppers in the Bay Area may be more difficult than in other regions.
According to SFGate, many Bay Area soils are clay-heavy making them alkaline rather than acidic. Soils in the area may need to be treated to lower their pH, which means they need to be more acidic, in order to grow peppers well. Pepper plants may need to be planted in neutral soils close to a pH of seven in order to get the right amount of spice when they fruit. According to another article from SFGate, acidic soils help your plants grow healthy peppers while also making the peppers they make hotter.
Do you love spicy food but find your homegrown hot peppers lack that tongue-tingling kick? While pepper heat depends largely on variety, you can coax more heat from your chiles with these 10 growing tips:
Choose Naturally Hot Varieties
Select naturally hot pepper varieties if you want spicy results. Some good bets:
- Habanero
- Ghost pepper
- Carolina Reaper
- Trinidad Scorpion
- Jamaican Hot
- Cayenne
Avoid “sweet” versions like habanana or heatless habanero
Get Seeds from Reliable Sources
Ensure you’re getting seeds for genuinely hot varieties Reputable suppliers accurately label heat levels. Avoid seed swap mixes of unknown parentage
Site in Full Sun
Give peppers at least 6-8 hours of direct sun daily Morning light is crucial Dappled shade won’t suffice for good flower and fruit set.
Space Plants Generously
Avoid crowding. Give peppers ample room for airflow and light penetration. Bush types need 18-24 inch spacing. Staked plants can be 12-18 inches apart.
Use Balanced Fertilizer
Too much nitrogen causes leafy growth over fruits. Aim for a balanced fertilizer like 10-10-10. Organic compost also provides a complete nutritional profile.
Stress Plants Moderately
Letting plants wilt slightly between waterings stresses them, increasing capsaicin production. Don’t overdo it or yields will suffer.
Harvest at Maturity
Allow fruits to fully ripen on the plant to reach maximum spiciness. Premature picking gives disappointing heat levels.
Check for Pests
Borers, aphids and other pests can weaken plants, reducing pungency. Keep peppers vigorous to withstand assaults. Remove damaged parts promptly.
Prevent Disease Issues
Bacterial and fungal diseases decrease plant vigor and fruit quality. Improve airflow and avoid wet foliage to reduce disease pressure.
Monitor Watering and Weather
Too much or too little moisture stresses plants, as do extreme temperatures. Aim for consistent soil moisture and protect against severe weather shifts.
With the right growing conditions and practices, you can coax impressive heat levels from your favorite fiery varieties. Just give your peppers what they need, and be patient for pods that pack the perfect punch.
Why Peppers are Spicy
The chemical capsaicin gives peppers their heat and pungency. It’s produced by plants as a defense against fungi and other threats. Capsaicin levels vary widely between pepper varieties, determining their position on the Scoville scale. Sweet bell peppers have no capsaicin, while super-hots like Carolina Reapers top 1.5 million Scoville units.
Key Timing for Stress and Harvest
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Start stressing plants only after fruit begins forming, around 10 days post-flowering. Earlier drought stress reduces yields.
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Capsaicin content peaks around 40 days after fruit set for most varieties. Maximal heat levels decline if left on the plant too long.
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Check individual pods – spiciness can vary, even between fruits on the same plant. Some will pack more punch than others.
Ideal Conditions for Hot Peppers
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Minimum 6 hours direct sun
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18-24 inches between plants
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Consistent moisture, not overly wet or dry
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Loamy, well-draining soil
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pH between 6-7
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Daytime temps 75-85°F
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Nighttime temps above 50°F
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Low humidity
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Protection from wind and harsh sun
Common Reasons for Mild Peppers
- Insufficient sunlight
- Overcrowding
- Excess nitrogen fertilizer
- Overwatering
- Harvesting too early
- Cool weather
- Disease or pest damage
- Age of plant (declining yields)
- Variety not naturally spicy
With the right growing methods, you can optimize conditions for hotter pepper harvests. Pay close attention to sun exposure, spacing, soil fertility and moisture. Select naturally fiery varieties, harvest at peak maturity and prevent disease issues. With a little luck from Mother Nature, your peppers will have that tongue-tingling spice that makes gardening them so rewarding.
Testing Garden Soil Acidity For Growing Peppers
You can find soil testing kits online and at gardening centers, including all SummerWinds Garden Center locations. These kits will help you figure out how acidic your soil is. If you want to grow a certain type of pepper, write down how far the pH is from the ideal range and which way it is going. If it’s too high, you’ll need to acidify the soil.
Take a bunch of samples from 6 inches below the surface of your soil to get an idea of its average pH. Mix them together in a solution with water and dip a pH test strip in. Many soil kits provide other testing materials, such as essential nutrient or mineral tests. It can be tempting to jump into testing every aspect of soil once you get started. But you should always start by checking the soil’s acidity or alkalinity. This will give you a general idea of what you can plant right away and what changes you’ll need to make to the soil.
Ideal Soil Acidity Ranges for Hot Peppers
Different pepper species – and even varieties of the same species – require different levels of soil acidity. According to SFGate Homeguides, here are the ideal pH ranges for some of the most common hot peppers:
- Jalapenos: 6.0-6.8
- Ancho/poblano: 5.5-7.0
- Habaneros: 6.0-6.8
- Hot cherry peppers: less than 7.0 – slightly acidic
- Cayennes: less than 7.0 – slightly acidic
- Thai chilis: 6.0-6.5
How To Grow Hotter Peppers (Harvest Spicier Pods)
FAQ
How do you make peppers spicier?
How do I get more hot peppers?
How can I make my jalapeños hotter?
Why are my hot peppers not spicy?
How do you make peppers hotter?
The formula is about a teaspoon of Epsom salt to a quart of water. Some gardeners also apply liquid seaweed about three or four times over the growing season. Match heads contain sulfur, and that sulfur is especially good for pepper plants – typically leading to hotter chilies.
What are the benefits of eating hot pepper?
Scientific evidence suggests that hot pepper helps with nasal congestion, speeds up metabolism, decreases migraines, relieves arthritis, and may have benefits in fighting cancer.
How to grow hotter peppers?
One tip on how to grow hotter peppers is to not overwater the plants. Indeed, the gardener might be a bit stingier with the water than usual and give the plants a drink only when the leaves start looking a bit droopy. This works best when the plant is just setting fruit. It’s almost as if too much water puts out the fire!
What makes a pepper hot?
When it comes to the heat and pungency of a pepper, it all comes down to the levels of capsaicin in the pods. Capsaicin is the chemical responsible for how spicy a pepper will be. You may have heard that the heat of a pepper is in the seeds.
Does sulfur make peppers hotter?
It is believed that sulfur makes peppers hotter. The solution is simple. Put a strike anywhere match in the planting hole and the sulfur in the head of the match will make peppers hotter. Sulfur does add an acrid flavor to things like onions, so maybe people associate this with being hot? Or they think a hot match will make peppers hot?
Why do peppers get hotter when attacked?
Wild populations of peppers get hotter when attacked by insects and a fusarium fungus. They respond by producing more capsaicinoids which slows down microbial growth, protecting the seeds. Maybe a few insect chew marks on your peppers will heat them up?