Hot Peppers: Growing A Hot Pepper Plant In Your Garden

I grew up with a love for eating hot peppers at an early age, and this craving still continues today. Last year was my first time trying to grow a hot pepper plant in our garden. I love the idea of growing fresh herbs, vegetables, and fruit in your own backyard, and then picking them and using them for one of your recipes.

 

Scotch Bonnet Hot Pepper from our garden

So, here's what I did. I started collecting seeds from hot peppers I thought had a good color, flavor and texture. Last spring, I planted the seeds in a large pot just to see what happened. Many of the seeds germinated and I ended up with a potful of plants. Unfortunately, I did not replant the larger plants in separate pots, and when our hard freezes came in Gainesville, Florida last winter, all the plants died. 

                                                                                             

I decided to wait until this spring and to see what would happen. I waited with patience and then one day, I saw some leaves coming out of the soil. As the leaves continued to grow, I realized that it was one of my hot pepper plants that had survived the harsh winter. This is what my hot pepper plant, featured in the photo above, looked like today when I took these pictures. There is only one pepper on the tree, but I noticed that there are several more buds coming out.

I think that this year, if we have any hard freezes, I will bring my hot pepper plant indoors to protect it. Please note that growing this plant did not take any special skills or equipment. I just scattered the seeds in a large pot with some good potting soil. The seeds were buried only about 1/2" in the soil. We have an irrigation unit in the pot which is set to water the plant twice a week. When the weather is very hot, I water an additional one to two times a week.

The main thing I'd like to convey is that you can try a very small garden which does not take a great deal of time or effort to maintain. When I first started gardening, I didn't think I could do it, but I tried anyway. All you need is patience, and never give up even though your plants die from a hard freeze. More often than not, they will bloom again in the spring, for this is the cycle of life.

                                                             

                          YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT CAN HAPPEN UNTIL YOU TRY!