How to Grow Jalapeño Peppers in an Organic Kitchen Garden

Grow Your Own Jalapeño Peppers

If you're a fan of Mexican cuisine or Tex-Mex, you've probably encountered your fair share of jalapeño peppers served fresh or pickled or even used as a garnish. Jalapeños are becoming increasingly popular around the world and are often easy to find at the grocery store. That being said, there's no beating the fresh flavor of homegrown peppers.

Jalapeño peppers are high on many beginner gardeners' to-grow list. And it's easy to see why. The plants themselves are attractive, they don't take up too much space in the garden, and because they're smaller, you don't have to wait as long to harvest them or face the same issues as you might growing a larger fruit like bell peppers. Plus, you can get a ton of peppers off of just one plant, and they're very forgiving about over- or under-watering. If you think you can take the heat, it's also fun to watch the peppers change colors over time.

Jalapeño vs Serrano Pepper

Both the jalapeño pepper and the serrano pepper (pictured above) are similar in color and flavor, but the serrano tends to be a bit smaller and is definitely hotter. On the Scoville scale, a jalapeño pepper typically measures between 2,500 and 5,000 heat units, which places it between a poblano and a habanero, while a serrano can measure between 10,000 and 23,000 Scoville heat units.

If you're looking for something more mild in flavor, I recommend trying shishito peppers, which are also really fun to grow in the kitchen garden.

Is a jalapeño a fruit?

This pepper might be the very last thing you want to toss into a fruit salad, but a jalapeño pepper is a fruit, at least botanically speaking. It is, after all, the fleshy produce of a plant that contains seeds and can be eaten. Peppers grow from the flowers of a pepper plant and contain seeds all along the pith.

The fact that peppers are fruits is important for gardeners to know because fruiting plants tend to prefer similar conditions. Let's look at the preferred growing conditions of a jalapeño pepper plant.

How to Grow Jalapeño Peppers

Jalapeño peppers are relatively easy fruiting plants for the home garden, but it's best to grow them under their ideal conditions if you'd like your plant to be as productive as possible.

SEASON

Peppers grow best in the warm season and have zero frost tolerance. That means you can’t put them outside until all threat of frost has passed. Air on the side of caution and wait at least a week after the last expected freeze in the spring to plant seeds or move a transplant outdoors. If colder temps return, add a floating row cover or frost cloth over your pepper plants to give them some much-needed protection. Overall, though, peppers will germinate and grow better if you wait until the soil temps reach 65 degrees and nighttime temps are above 60 degrees.

You'll need to harvest all of your peppers before the first frost of your next cold season arrives.

For most of you, that makes peppers the perfect plant to grow in the summer. If you have a long warm season, you can start peppers by seed directly in the garden. If, however, you only have a couple months in between your frost dates, it's best to either start your pepper plants by seed indoors or buy a healthy plant from a local grower, farmer, or CSA. Pepper plants take a long time to grow from seed, and by the time you can sow the seeds in your garden after your last frost, you could already have a plant growing indoors, ready to take full advantage of the great outdoors as soon as the weather warms. (Learn more about indoor seed starting here.)

For those of you with hot summers, even hot peppers can use some afternoon shade. If temps are regularly over 95 degrees, consider using shade cloth over your peppers to protect them from the heat.

SPACE

Peppers are medium-size plants that will grow about two feet tall and span 15 to 18 inches across, so give them a bit of space in the garden (at least one square foot each).

The minimum depth of your raised bed or container should be 12 inches to give the roots plenty of room to dig down deep. If you're growing jalapeño peppers outside of a raised bed, look for a pot, planter, or grow bag that's at least 12 inches across and that has good drainage holes in the bottom. Peppers really don't want their roots sitting in water for too long. If your selected container doesn't already have holes, you'll need to drill some.

Plants in the nightshade family, like peppers, often grow too tall to hold themselves and need support to prevent falling over during a big storm or heavy wind. I like to either grow my plants close to my obelisk trellis or use garden stakes and twine to hold my plants upright (preferably starting before they get established so the stakes don't disrupt their roots). This protects the branches from breaking and ensures you’ll get as much production as possible.

Wherever you're growing your pepper plant, add a 2- to 3-inch layer of fresh compost before planting and make sure to bury the seedling slightly deeper than its crown (where the roots meet the main stem) to help your plant establish a strong root system.

SUN

Peppers need long days of sunshine to help them form and mature fruit, so make sure your plant receives a good eight to ten hours of sunlight each day.

How to Care for Growing Jalapeño Plants

Your three main tasks while you're waiting for fruits to form will be feeding your hungry pepper plant, maintaining consistent watering, and protecting from pests.

Fertilizer

Give your peppers food by adding a little bit of extra compost around the base of your plants every couple of weeks while they’re starting to grow. This also supports their root system and gives them a nice, strong foundation.

When you notice the first flowers appear, you can either continue feeding with compost or add an organic fertilizer high in potassium and phosphorus to help the plant form and ripen fruits.

Water

You'll need to water your pepper plants at least every other day or so for the first six to eight weeks after they're transplanted to the garden, unless the weather has been wet. Once they're established, you can switch to one deep watering per week. That's about one inch of water aimed at the roots (never the leaves) per week. If you're growing in a container, you'll most likely need to water more frequently, as the soil will dry out faster. Water when the soil one inch down feels dry.

Protection

Seedlings are particularly vulnerable to pest pressure. Cover your pepper plants with garden mesh draped over hoops for the first couple of weeks after they're transplanted to the garden space. Remove this cover once the plants are established to give pollinators access to the flowers.

Prune your plants regularly to prevent disease, remove pest-affected leaves, and promote more fruit growth.

When to Harvest Jalapeño Peppers

Jalapeño peppers typically take about 80 days from planting to mature. Once the first fruits develop, your plant will continue producing fruits for another 30 to 45 days if conditions stay optimal.

Beginner gardeners might be unsure when to pick jalapeño peppers. You really can't go wrong as long as the fruit has had time to fully mature; after that, the only difference will be in the color of the fruit and the amount of capsaicin inside, depending on how ripe the fruit is. Leaving fruits to ripen for longer on the plant and turn red has advantages and disadvantages.

Red peppers that have been given more time to ripen will contain more capsaicin than green peppers, which means they will typically be hotter and also a bit sweeter than their younger counterparts. Those red peppers will also have more vitamins and antioxidants, though, of course, green peppers are still good for you.

Most gardeners prefer to harvest their jalapeños when they're still green, typically once they've turned from light to dark green and grown about 3 to 4 inches long. By harvesting fruits at the first sign of ripeness, you free up the plant's energy to form new peppers. You'll reduce your overall fruit yield if you leave peppers growing for too long since they drain resources from the plant.

How to Harvest Jalapeño Peppers

Use a clean pair of pruners or scissors to clip the stem above the jalapeño fruit, leaving about one inch of stem attached. Avoid pulling fruit from the plants, which can damage the branches.

Continue harvesting peppers weekly to encourage more fruit production.

Each jalapeño plant will likely produce around 25 to 35 peppers. Eat as many peppers fresh or cooked as you can. Store remaining peppers unwashed in a loosely covered container in the fridge for up to a week. To store peppers from your garden long-term, freeze them or dry them.

How to Harvest Pepper Seeds

Once you've harvested the fresh fruits, you can save your own seeds if you'd like. Wear a pair of gloves or wash your hands immediately after handling the seeds so that you don't touch your eye or broken skin with the oil from the seeds on your hands, unless you really like to feel the burn!

To harvest jalapeño seeds, cut lengthwise down the pepper and use a butter knife to gently scrape the seeds from the pith. Spread the seeds out on a clean towel or plate and let them dry out for a couple of weeks. They're ready to store inside a seed envelope or paper bag once you can pinch the seeds with your nails without leaving an indentation. Keep seeds in a cool, dark place for your next growing season.

Grow Your Own Jalapeños

That’s about all there is to growing tons and tons of jalapeño peppers right in your own garden.

I hope you find delicious culinary uses for this flavorful pepper that packs a spicy punch because you’re about to be harvesting your own bushel!

Thanks for helping me bring back the kitchen garden, one pepper plant at a time!