5 Pepper Growing Mistakes to Avoid

EDIT: MISTAKE 1 IS...A MISTAKE! Flavor isn't affected in the pepper from crossing, but the seeds will be hybrids. So you can plant sweet and hot together if you don't plan on saving seeds.

Growing peppers is extremely rewarding due to the sheer variety of flavor, shapes, sizes, and colors. There's something for everyone! But there are some unique mistakes you can make when learning how to grow peppers that can hamper your success. We discuss 5 of them in today's video.

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The video has a Spanish dub by Unilingo.

DISCLAIMER

[epicgardening]

EVERYONE I AM WRONG about the crossing...I anecdotally noticed this in a batch of my beds then didn't completely research. You are generally OK to mix sweet and hot, unless you want to save the seeds and replant, THEN you should definitely space them very far apart.

[c.d.]

I once overwintered a jalapeno plant for several years. I live in Wisconsin, so that meant keeping it inside for the hard winter months. After three years or so, the plant was huge, and had to be overwintered in a big, ugly plastic pot, so I decided to just leave it outside and let it go.

It was out there all fall, with weather getting into the twenties, but refused to die. I kept seeing the temps going down and down, and on several mornings thought I'd go out and find out my little jalapeno had moved on to spice the food of the angels. But nope, it refused to die. Finally, one day in early December, it got down to twenty and the plant still didn't die. I gave up in sheer admiration and brought that hulking pepper and its ugly plastic pot back in the house for the rest of the winter. It made a ton of peppers the next year.

[AsiaLee]

0:55 placement
1:59 improper watering
2:51 over-fertilizing
3:48 not overwintering
5:03 temperature control
6:06 bonus tip for harvesting

[imtheone]

My dad once told me once you’re getting ready to pick the plant if you skip one day of watering it will scar the jalapeños and what he called “pissing them off” which made them really spicy

[glitter._.goblin]

The real important thing I got from this video is to start referring to all my stretch marks as my corking.

[epicgardening]

If you like this format of mistakes to avoid, let me know what plant I should cover next!

[linusstick]

I’m on year two of a cayenne pepper plant that I put in a grow tent during the winter. It literally has bark on the stem and I’ve gotten pounds of peppers off that beast already

[fenderman]

It’s funny because where I live, I don’t worry about overwintering since it never drops below 32. Instead, I “oversummer” and bring my peppers indoors during the heat because it gets to 115+.

[billgalbreath]

I love how you get attached to your first over-winter pepper plant. I can’t wait to create such an attachment and have bought pepper seeds!

[TheGreatConstantini]

I grow about 30 plants a year and have had one amazing cross pollination. My large Sweet Maroni bred with an Calabrese hot. The result were these huge hot grilling peppers!

[crail]

I have a piquin pepper plant that I've been growing in a pot for almost twenty years. The poor thing doesn't produce peppers much any more and it looks kind of funny, but it is still growing after all these years. Thanks for the tips. Great show!

[fritzlawson]

You are a quintessential teacher; very well done! I'm jumping head first into growing Chimayo red chile (New Mexico). I have 55 juveniles and couldn't figure out for the life of me how to gift them to friends/neighbors... and here you go with these grow bags! Keep it up brother!

[icouldjustscream]

We grow lots of peppers. Mango salsa: mango, red bell pepper, sweet onion, cilantro, lime juice, pinch salt. I can live on this.

[meemo]

Love it Kevin, but cross pollination only effects the seeds that are produced

[alyssamercer]

I found this video a few months ago (winter) when I was considering making my own hot sauce over the summer, and since then your channel has inspired me to start a raised bed garden this summer! I can't wait; I never thought I'd have a green thumb because of my arachnophobia. Thanks for all the knowledge and inspiration 💐

[Argethebarge]

You and self sufficient me are my two faves when it comes to gardening on youtube!

[jennyc]

stoked you posted on peppers!! just made my hubby a plant daddy for fathers day by gifting him pobalo, habanero, and a roma tomato plant so we can get our salsa and guac on point this summer!!

[fallfey]

You got to be kidding me! Again a video with perfect timing, I just bought a pepper to grow today.

[Treviiii]

Advice from my Indonesian wife: 1) you can eat the leaves of chilli plants; 2) when picking the chilli fruit keep the little stem it grows from attached to the chilli and brake the stem off at the main branch (this allows the chilli plant to produce more chillis than if we leave that little stem attached to the main plant.

[codylujan]

I accidentally "overwintered" my chili pepper plant and it literally grew three times as big the second year. I was in complete shock. Went from a small little 3" plant that produced one pepper, died, then shed all its leaves 😂. I thought it died for good but didn't bother taking it out and throwing it away. Literally just kept the stem in the pot. I now have a 5' pepper plant that is a powerhouse of fruit. help.

EDIT: Don't throw then away if they "die". Just cut it back all the way to stem and leave maybe a 5" stem and watch it grow twice as big the next season. Crazy.