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Growing Birdseye Chili Peppers in the Vegetable Garden
To grow your Birdseye Chili peppers, prepare your seed starting trays and plant the seeds. Start the process about 6-8 weeks before your last spring frost date. Prepare your trays with either a well-draining soil or a seed starting mix like Minute Soil Coco Clair. Plant those seeds about 0.25 inches deep into the soil and keep it nicely moist, but don't drown them! A handy trick is to stick your finger into the soil - if it feels dry, give the seeds a drink, but if it's wet, wait for a bit for the soil to dry out. Keep your peppers in a warm spot, ideally between 80-90 F, and if it's a bit chilly, a grow light can be a great help for helping your seeds germinate. Once the plants are about 6-8 inches tall, you can start the process to harden them off by moving them to a cooler area, around 70 F, to prepare them for being outside! Choose a nice sunny location in your garden or in pots for your plants. You should plant the rows about 2-3 feet apart, and the individual plants should be about 12-18 inches apart. Make sure to cover the roots completely!
Taking good care of your plants will ensure that you end up with a great harvest of Birdseye Chili peppers! Make sure to water them consistently. Sprinkling mulch around the base of the plant can help retain moisture and can also help with suppressing weeds. Make sure to support the plants with stakes or trellises, which will help them grow upright and will support the plant as they grow fruit. To help your plants grow, you can try giving them fertilizer full of phosphorus and calcium. Be sure to follow the instructions on your fertilizer and not over-fertilize them. Keep an eye out for pests or diseases and make sure to address them immediately if you see signs.
Harvesting Birdseye Chili Peppers
As they mature, Birdseye Chili peppers will turn from a green to red. This variety will be ready for harvest about 120-140 days after transplanting. Since these are hot peppers with some heat, they're tasty both when fully ripe or premature - as they ripen, they’ll become a bright red color. To harvest the pepper, you can cut the stem with garden shears of a knife. Make sure to be gentle and not damage the plant so it can keep producing fruit! Because this is a hot variety, make sure you wear gloves and wash your hands immediately after harvest.
About Birdseye Chili Pepper Garden Seeds
Birdseye Chilis are native to Mexico, but have been cultivated across Southeast Asia.
Birdseye Chili peppers are a popular hot pepper used in Asian, African, and Spanish cooking. They are green when immature, and become red when fully mature, although both colors of pepper are usable.
These peppers need some support, so they’re not a good fit for hanging baskets. They grow well in garden beds, greenhouses, or raised beds.
Tips From Our Gardeners
"Birdseye Chili peppers can be eaten fresh or cooked, and are often dried and stored or ground into chili powder."
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- Chelsea Hafer, True Leaf Market Writer
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Other Resources
Birdseye Chili Pepper Seeds Per Package:
- 500 mg packet - Approximately 90 Seeds
- 0.25 oz - Approximately 1,250 Seeds
- 1 oz - Wholesale - Approximately 5,000 Seeds
- 4 oz - Wholesale - Approximately 20,000 Seeds
- 1 lb - Bulk Seeds - Approximately 80,000 Seeds
Non-GMO Birdseye Chili Pepper seeds are available for Fast Free Shipping on qualifying orders.
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