Growing Guide
How to Grow Jalapeño Peppers
A comprehensive, step-by-step resource for growing jalapeños — whether you are starting from seed for the first time or looking to improve your harvest. Select a topic below.
It's March — seedlings should be sprouting!
Keep seedlings under strong grow lights 14-16 hours per day. Begin hardening off in late March if frost has passed. Read the guide →
Starting from Seed vs. Seedlings
A guide to starting jalapeño peppers from seed indoors, hardening off, and deciding between seeds and nursery transplants.
5 min read
Soil, Watering & Sunlight for Jalapeños
The ideal soil mix, watering schedule, and sunlight requirements for growing healthy jalapeño pepper plants.
4 min read
Container vs. In-Ground Growing
Pot sizes, raised beds, in-ground tips, and which method suits your space best.
4 min read
Fertilizing Jalapeño Peppers
NPK ratios, organic vs synthetic options, and when to feed your jalapeño plants at each growth stage.
5 min read
Companion Plants for Jalapeños
Which plants grow well alongside jalapeño peppers and which to avoid for a healthier, more productive garden.
4 min read
Jalapeño Pests & Diseases
How to identify and treat common problems including aphids, blossom end rot, bacterial leaf spot, and more.
6 min read
Harvesting & Storing Jalapeño Peppers
When to pick jalapeños (green vs red), proper harvesting technique, and how to store and preserve your harvest.
5 min read
Overwintering Jalapeño Plants
How to keep jalapeño pepper plants alive through winter for an earlier start and bigger harvest next season.
5 min read
Scoville Scale & Jalapeño Heat Levels
What Scoville heat units mean, where jalapeños rank on the scale, and how growing conditions affect pepper heat.
4 min read
Suggested Reading Order
New to growing jalapeños? Follow this path from seed to harvest.