When to Plant Hot Peppers
Start hot peppers indoors 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost, then plant them out 2 to 4 weeks after your last frost.
Hot peppers at a glance
- Start indoors
- 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost
- Plant out
- 2 to 4 weeks after your last frost
- Time to harvest
- 70 to 100 days from planting out
- Harvest lasts
- about 14 weeks
- Spacing
- 1 plant per square foot
- Frost
- Tender: frost kills it
Growing hot peppers
Hot peppers grow like sweet peppers, and many take even longer to ripen, so an early start indoors pays off. They need full sun and warmth all summer. Compact kinds do well in pots on a sunny patio, where the soil warms quickly. Heat ranges from mild poblanos and jalapeños to fiery habaneros, and the hottest kinds are usually the slowest to ripen.
Dates by hardiness zone
Typical dates for each zone; your ZIP code gives your own.
| Zone | Start indoors | Plant out | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 3a | Mar 19 – Apr 2 | Jun 11–25 | Aug 20 – Sep 14Pick a fast variety. |
| Zone 3b | Mar 8–22 | May 31 – Jun 14 | Aug 9 – Sep 25 |
| Zone 4a | Mar 3–17 | May 26 – Jun 9 | Aug 4 – Sep 28 |
| Zone 4b | Feb 27 – Mar 13 | May 22 – Jun 5 | Jul 31 – Oct 1 |
| Zone 5a | Feb 22 – Mar 8 | May 17–31 | Jul 26 – Oct 5 |
| Zone 5b | Feb 20 – Mar 6 | May 15–29 | Jul 24 – Oct 10 |
| Zone 6a | Feb 18 – Mar 4 | May 13–27 | Jul 22 – Oct 16 |
| Zone 6b | Feb 12–26 | May 7–21 | Jul 16 – Oct 22 |
| Zone 7a | Feb 5–19 | Apr 30 – May 14 | Jul 9 – Oct 15 |
| Zone 7b | Jan 25 – Feb 8 | Apr 19 – May 3 | Jun 28 – Oct 4 |
| Zone 8a | Jan 18 – Feb 1 | Apr 12–26 | Jun 21 – Sep 27 |
| Zone 8b | Jan 6–20 | Mar 31 – Apr 14 | Jun 9 – Sep 15 |
| Zone 9a | Dec 22 – Jan 5 | Mar 16–30 | May 25 – Aug 31 |
| Zone 9b | Nov 23 – Dec 7 | Feb 15 – Mar 1 | Apr 26 – Aug 2 |
| Zone 10a | Nov 23 – Dec 7Nights are still cool before mid-February, so this starts a little later. | Feb 15 – Mar 1 | Apr 26 – Aug 2 |
| Zones 10b–11b | Frost is rare here, so hot peppers can go in from late winter, and again in late summer for a fall crop. | ||
Questions about hot peppers
How do I handle hot peppers safely?
Wear gloves to cut them and keep your hands away from your eyes until you have washed them. Most of the heat sits in the pale ribs inside the fruit rather than in the flesh.
Can I dry hot peppers?
Yes. Thin-walled kinds such as cayenne dry well on a string in a warm, airy room or on a tray in a low oven. Thick-walled ones like jalapeños are easier to freeze or pickle.
