If you’re a pepper geek like me, you start to anticipate the homegrown pepper harvest as soon as the seedlings are planted in the garden. Pepper plants start off slow and you may wonder how to make peppers grow faster so that you can start picking hot and sweet peppers as soon as possible. In this article you’ll get tips on encouraging quick growth from your pepper plants as well as an early harvest.  

Why it’s important to know how to make peppers grow faster

Whether you live in a region with short seasons like me or one with long hot summers, you’ll want to maximize the homegrown pepper harvest. Providing ideal growing conditions and proper care is the best way to ensure healthy, vigorous plants that yield plenty of peppers. Using these below strategies when growing both sweet and hot peppers can help prevent stress to the plants which could impact the timing of the harvest. 

How to make peppers grow faster: 12 proven strategies

1) Pick early maturing varieties

Of all the tricks for making peppers grow faster, the most effective is to select early maturing hot and sweet varieties. My favorites include Pot-a-Peno, Early Jalapeño, Ace, and Gypsy. This gives me a huge head start on the harvest, which used to begin for me in early September, but now starts in late July. To pick the earliest maturing varieties read seed catalogs carefully to learn the ‘days to maturity’. For example, the first fruits from Early Jalapeno are ready to pick just 60 days from transplanting. For Ace, an extra-early sweet bell pepper, the green fruits are ready 50 days from transplanting or fully red ripe 70 days from transplanting. 

For more expert tips on how to make peppers grow faster, watch this video:

2) Sow pepper seeds indoors at the proper time

Once you’ve picked the earliest pepper varieties, you’ll want to start peppers indoors at the best time. Pepper plants need a long growing season and should be started indoors in late winter or early spring. Sowing the seeds too early results in overgrown plants that may not transplant well. On the other hand if you start the seeds too late the plants may not have time to grow, flower, and fruit by the time summer comes to an end. 

So what is the best time to start peppers? The seeds of most types of sweet and hot peppers are sown indoors 8 to 10 weeks weeks before the last frost date. The exception to this are superhot pepper varieties, like habanero, which are slower to germinate. I start these 10 to 12 weeks before the last frost.

I use a grow light to supply 16 to 18 hours of light each day. I’ve also found a seedling heat mat is helpful for successful germination. And it can speed up germination – helping you get that harvest a little sooner. This is because bottom heat prompts quicker sprouting. Warm temperatures also increase germination rates so more of the seeds sprout. Expect most types of pepper seeds to take 7-21 days to germinate. 

3) Transplant pepper seedlings at the right time

Don’t be in a rush to get pepper seedlings into the garden too early. If the weather is still cold or unsettled, the plants won’t thrive. It’s best to wait a week or two after the last frost has passed. Those with short seasons can pre-warm the soil before planting with a sheet of black plastic or set up a mini hoop tunnel overtop the bed to protect the small seedlings. More on protective covers below.

4) How to make peppers grow faster? Plant in pots or raised beds

Over the years I’ve grown peppers in an in-ground garden, raised beds, and pots and fabric planters. I’ve found peppers planted in pots or raised beds do best because the seedlings are transplanted into warm soil. Raised beds warm up much quicker than in-ground gardens The earth in an in-ground garden can be slow to warm in spring. To overcome cold soil, pre-heat the bed by laying black plastic on the soil surface 7-10 days before you intend to transplant.

For potted peppers, you can use containers, fabric planters, or buckets that hold 3 to 5 gallons of growing mix. Drainage holes are essential, so if you’re using an item with no holes, like a 5 gallon bucket, you’ll have to add holes before planting. I plant one seedling in each 5 gallon pot, but in larger pots you can plant two peppers or more. Black plastic pots heat up quicker than white or other colored containers and can further help encourage fast growth. 

5) Give pepper plants ideal growing conditions

Heat-loving peppers are sun worshippers and need a spot in the garden with 8 to 10 hours of direct sunlight each day. Sites with too much shade impact plant growth and flower and fruit production. This will delay the pepper harvest. If you don’t have a lot of sunny garden space, plant hot and sweet peppers in pots on a sunny deck, patio, or even along a driveway. 

Gardeners know that healthy soil is the key to healthy plant growth and when it comes to peppers, it also helps ensure a bountiful and prompt harvest. Pepper plants grow best in moderately fertile soil with good drainage. Aim for a pH of about 6.5. If you don’t know the pH and general fertility of your soil, a soil test is helpful. I add an inch or two of organic matter like compost or rotted manure to the garden bed prior to planting. Peppers have high calcium and phosphorus needs so I also incorporate a slow release organic fertilizer at this time.

If growing in pots or planters, fill the containers with a 50-50 blend of a high quality potting mix and compost. You can also add the above mentioned organic fertilizer to the growing mix to ensure high fertility. 

6) Use garden covers if you want to know how to make peppers grow faster

Newly planted pepper seedlings can be set back by fluctuating spring temperatures. Protect plants with garden covers like mini hoop tunnels or row covers, or if you have a greenhouse, use it to speed up the pepper harvest. If using mini hoop tunnels or row covers be sure to remove them or open up the ends on sunny days to allow good air flow. After a couple of weeks the spring weather should be more reliable and covers can be removed and stored for the summer.

I have a greenhouse and plant several dozen pepper plants in this structure in mid-spring. It’s been a game changer in ensuring a very early pepper harvest. I use the raised beds inside the greenhouse as well as pots along the middle of the structure. These sheltered plants crop at least 6 weeks earlier than garden planted peppers. 

7) Water smart

Let’s now talk about moisture and how much water peppers need to thrive. Pepper plants don’t want to be too wet or too dry. The growing medium should be kept lightly most. Drought stressed plants drop flowers, are prone to blossom end rot, and overall production declines. It’s therefore important to consider watering. 

I use a long-handled watering wand to deliver moisture right to the root zone of the plants. I also mulch the soil with straw mulch to conserve water. An inch of mulch isn’t enough. It’s best to apply 3 to 4 inches of straw around the plants. Don’t pile it up around the stem, however. It’s best to leave the immediate 3 to 4 inch diameter area around the stem free of mulch. 

8) Fertilize pepper plants

Pepper plants have moderate nutrition needs and that means it’s important to follow a fertilizer schedule. When the plants have a steady supply of nutrients, they can grow as fast as possible and crop early. As noted above, I use a slow release organic fertilizer product at plating time. I follow this up with a liquid organic fertilizer formulated for tomatoes or flowering plants. These types of fertilizers contain less nitrogen and more phosphorous and potassium, which are important for flowering and fruiting plants. Too much nitrogen produces lots of lush leafy growth but few peppers. I use the liquid organic fertilizer every 2-3 weeks during the growing season.

9) Support pepper plants

Most pepper plants are relatively compact plants growing 1 1/2 to 3 feet tall. And while they can be self-supporting, there are many benefits to staking or caging peppers. The branches of pepper plants are brittle and high winds or the weight of the maturing fruits can cause them to snap or break. This will set your plants back, reduce the harvest, and potentially introduce disease pathogens. 

Keeping the plants upright also ensures the leaves are exposed to maximum sunlight and good air flow. This is essential for promoting vigorous, healthy growth. So, if you want to know how to make peppers grow faster, I advise inserting stakes or cages at planting time. If using stakes, tie the new growth to the support every few weeks. This isn’t necessary if you’re using cages.

10) Prune pepper plants

Many food gardeners prune their tomato plants, but did you know that pruning your pepper plant can both speed up and increase the pepper harvest? It’s not essential to prune, but if you want to understand how to make peppers grow faster, it’s a good skill to have. Depending on your goals, you can prune pepper plants in late spring, mid-summer, or late summer. Early and mid summer pruning improves plant branching, encourages good air flow, and reduces the risk of diseases. It’s the late season pruning, however, that speeds up the ripening of peppers to help them mature and color up quickly. 

The goal of late summer pruning is to remove leaves or branches that are shading the fruits. This allows increased sunlight to hurry up ripening. You can also top the plants in late summer or autumn, about a month before the first frost. This forces the plants to stop producing new flowers and focus on the peppers already on the plant. Learn more about pruning pepper plants with our in-depth guide.

11) How to make peppers grow faster? Stay on top of weeding

Look I get it. Nobody enjoys weeding, but it’s a necessary task to ensure that weeds don’t complete with pepper plants for sunlight, water, and nutrients. If peppers are crowded out by densely growing weeds they’ll struggle to grow and the plants may take longer to crop.

You can pull weeds by hand, but I prefer to use a shuffle or collinear hoe to give the bed a quick weed every 7 to 10 days. Just be careful to avoid damaging the pepper plants. Mulching is also a good idea. You can also apply an organic or plastic mulch to the soil surface to reduce weed growth. 

12) Harvest at the right time

In answer to the question of ‘How to make peppers grow faster’, I highly recommend picking peppers when they’re the right stage or color. If you leave overmature fruits on the plants, fewer new flowers and fruits will be produced. That will slow pepper production and reduce the overall harvest. 

In fact, I often pick the fruits when they reach the ‘breaker’ stage. This is the point when the immature fruits start to show streaks of the mature color. If harvested at this point and brought indoors they will continue to ripen over several days. A helpful hack if you want to know how to make peppers grow faster.

For more information about growing peppers, be sure to read these articles:

• How to grow cayenne peppers
• How to overwinter pepper plants
• The best pepper plant spacing
• Companion plants for peppers
• When to harvest jalapeño peppers