Would you love to know how to grow chilli plants faster?
In this article we are looking at all things chilli plant, including how to start them off right, how to care for them properly and how to get them zooming up at speed ready to positively gush with fruits and delicious crops.
Keep reading if you want to know how to grow chilli plants faster:
Why Grow Chilli Plants?
There are a few reasons that growing chilli plants is a great idea.
Primarily, you get to grow your own fruits and when you know how to grow chilli plants faster, you get those yummy fruits sooner!
You can then do all sorts with the chillies including: pickling, making hot sauce, whipping up a chutney or using them in everything from curries to guac.
Growing your own then saves you money, and enables you to benefit from the numerous health benefits of chillies with ease.
It’s also important to understand just how phenomenal gardening is for you, no matter what it is you grow. Sure, it is fun knowing how to grow chilli plants faster, to get those spicy fruits and cook up a storm with your crops.
However, the process of growing plants itself is such a worthy activity. It is proven to help you; build strength, stay a healthy weight, keep your memory in check, boost your mood and it can even help beat loneliness.
Lastly, chilli plants are suitable for anybody who wants to grow. You can get bigger plants that need to grow outside like the Hungarian Black or Yellow Scorpion, or more compact chilli plants like a Thai Dragon or Zimbabwe Bird which are perfect for a sunny windowsill.
Many are incredibly easy to nurture, and you can squeeze at least one plant in your home somewhere. Chilli plants really are perfect for everybody.
How To Grow Chilli Plants Faster
If you have decided to give growing chilli plants a go, the great news is that there are lots of things you can do to learn how to grow chilli plants faster.
By learning these tips and putting them into action, it means you get some healthy and happy chilli fruits sooner, which is fantastic news for your cooking plans!
Here are our top tips to help you grow chilli plants faster:
Pick The Right Seeds
Overall it can be assumed that the hotter the chilli is, the longer it will take to grow and then develop, eventually ripening to its spiciest self.
If you choose a milder chilli like a jalapeño, serrano, yellow hot wax pepper or a cayenne you’ll likely get them sooner than your hotter chillies like the habanero and the scotch bonnet.
Invest In The Plants/ Seeds
When you consider how to grow chilli plants faster you might just buy the first seeds or plants you find, thinking they all have an equal chance at strong, speedy growth.
Cheaper seeds and plants are actually more likely to struggle with disease or growth issues, and weak seeds might not even germinate at all.
If you pay a little more for the best possible plants and seeds won’t just grow chilli plants faster, but you’ll also avoid losing your crops and wasting your time on seeds that come to nothing.
Soak Your Seeds (scarification)
One way to get your seeds to germinate faster is to soak them in cold black tea to soften the case that protects the seed. Doing this for about 24 hours before planting your seeds should get them off to a really great start.
Snuggle Your Seeds
Snuggling your seeds in warmed compost will encourage them to germinate faster. You can use a heated propagator for this, or if it is sunny, leave your compost out in the sunshine for a few hours before planting.
Don’t Over Water Early On
When your seeds are working hard germinating they are sensitive to overwatering. They do need moist soil to swell and pop open, but too much water will encourage rot, which could kill your chilli right off.
Consider Grow Lights
One of the key tips when you’re wondering how to grow chilli plants faster, is using grow lights.
Many people swear by grow lights to encourage germination, and to help chilli plants grow faster.
You can get setups that are really cheap and they need to be about 450-495nm in wavelength to help promote early germination and nice healthy root growth.
As the plant grows it will need 680-750nm in wavelength to replicate late summer light. You can get fluorescent lighting, high intensity discharge lights or LED’s that are designed for growing chillies.
They often have easy switches and directions to help you choose the right wavelength for the plants to grow strong and at speed.
It is also worth mentioning that some of the most expensive options do end up being cheaper to run, like LED setups.
This is worth bearing in mind as it can be a bit of a sting to setup a grow light only to receive a hefty electricity bill in exchange for a few beautiful, but very expensive chillies.
Pot Your Chillies On As Soon As You Can
As soon as your chillies have five pairs of leaves they can be potted on, which will help your chilli plants grow faster. Their roots can stretch out and grow, creating a strong system of support for the above soil part of the plant.
Be Careful With Nitrogen
You might be into feeding your chilli plants to help them grow faster, but this can actually inhibit their growth.
Too much nitrogen actually stops a chilli plant fruiting naturally, so it is important to hold back to prevent slowing down those yummy crops coming through.
Do Feed Your Plants
Feeding chilli plants properly helps them to grow big and strong and can help chilli plants grow faster. Do your research and try to use a chilli specific product where possible, or listen to the advice of experts. We like this Youtube video with a secret chilli fertiliser mix recipe.
Water Regularly
Watering your chilli plants as needed, regularly, will prevent stress, which can inhibit growth. If you want to help chilli plants grow faster you have to both avoid them drying out, whilst also keeping the soil moist.
Ideally, the soil is dry for the first couple of inches (with a finger test) when you water it.
Trim & Top Your Chilli Plants
When you wonder how to grow chilli plants faster you might not automatically assume trimming them is a good idea. That’s cutting away that precious growth right?!
Well, it is true that trimming the plant does take it back a few steps, but the results will be better airflow, boosted growth and better, bushier growth.
You can see exactly how to trim and top your chilli plants in this handy video.
“Gardens are not made by singing ‘oh how beautiful’ and sitting in the shade” – Rudyard Kipling
Hopefully you now feel confident that you know how to grow chilli plants faster.
With the tips and tricks above, you are sure to have plenty of healthy, juicy, spicy chilli crops sooner rather than later, for endless yummy dishes out of your home kitchen.