Many people think that growing chilli is a very complex process, but I bet you it is not. In my experience, if you select a suitable variety of chilli for your local region, growing a chilli plant at home becomes very easy. We often buy chilli seeds from online sources without even verifying whether they’re suitable for growing in our region or not.
Therefore, if you want to harvest organically grown chilli from your garden, try finding the right variety of chilli suitable for your region. How can you do that? Where should you look?
Don’t worry much, I also failed at growing this plant in the beginning, just like you. Thanks to the leaf curl virus, which adds an additional problem — but not when you select a perfect variety. I found out that instead of buying chilli seeds online, you can visit a nearby farmer seed store and ask them to give a suitable variety for your region.
Do not forget to check the temperature and soil requirements on the label. Once they match your local region, bring the seeds home to start germinating them.
How To Grow A Chilli Plant From Seed
To grow a chilli plant from seed, you should have chilli seeds of a suitable variety for your region, cocopeat, vermicompost or cow dung manure, a germination tray, a watering can, and a polythene cover sheet.
- When To Sow Chilli Seeds: You can sow chilli seeds from January to March and again from June to October.
- How To Sow Chilli Seeds: To sow chilli seeds, prepare a potting mix with 50% cocopeat and 50% vermicompost, and fill your germination tray with this mix. At the center of every cell in the germination tray, prepare a very small hole on the surface of the potting mix using a long, rounded object like a pencil, and place 1 to 2 seeds in each hole. Then, cover each hole with a thin layer of the potting mix.
- Watering: After sowing the seeds, spray water gently over the tray to avoid displacing them. Also, avoid overwatering — just make sure that the water is evenly distributed throughout the potting mix.
- Covering: To speed up the process, save water, and provide adequate moisture, you can cover the germination tray with a transparent polythene sheet. This will help retain moisture in the medium and prevent it from drying out quickly.
- Germination Time: Chilli seeds typically germinate within 7 to 21 days, but some varieties can take longer.
- Transplantation: You can start transplanting chilli seedlings when they are about 2-3 inches tall, have developed 2-3 sets of true leaves.
For best results, you can also try the pro tray nursery technique to grow chilli plant from seeds.
How To Care For A Chilli Plant
To care for a chilli plant, you need to take care of the potting mix, sunlight, watering, fertilizers, and pest and disease management. If you follow all these points carefully, you can achieve intense flowering and fruiting in your plant.
- Potting Mix: To transplant a chilli plant, prepare a potting mix with 40% garden soil, 20% cocopeat, and 40% vermicompost or cow dung manure. You can also add a handful of neem cake fertilizer, 2 to 4 tablespoons of bone meal, and half a teaspoon of micronutrients to the mixture for best results.
- Selection Of Pot: To transplant chilli seedlings, select an earthen pot with a diameter of at least 8 to 10 inches. You can also choose a larger pot depending on your requirements. Make sure the pot has at least one to two drainage holes at the bottom for proper drainage.
- Sunlight: A chilli plant requires at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight daily for robust and healthy growth. That’s why you should keep your plant in bright, direct sunlight — not in the shade.
- Watering: A chilli plant thrives best when the soil is neither too moist nor too dry. Make sure to keep the potting medium slightly moist, while ensuring good aeration and drainage in the pots.
- Tipping: To make your chilli plant bushy and achieve a good harvest, you need to remove the tips of secondary branches from time to time. Pinch off the primary branch when your plant is 1 to 2 feet tall.
- Fertilizers: A month after transplanting chilli seedlings, start fertilizing. For the first month, apply two handfuls of vermicompost and one handful of neem cake fertilizer per plant every 20 days. After 60 days from transplantation, apply two handfuls of vermicompost, one tablespoon of bone meal, and one tablespoon of mustard cake fertilizer. Following this schedule will help promote vegetative growth during the initial stage, and support flowering and fruiting as the plant matures.
- Common Pests Of Chilli Plant: Thrips, aphids, whiteflies, mites, and fruit borers are some of the most common pests of chilli plants. They can cause leaf curling, stunted growth, fruit damage, and even transmit viral diseases. Hence, to protect your chilli plants from pests, you can place one yellow sticky trap around each plant and spray neem oil once every 20 days.
- Common Diseases Of Chilli Plant: Anthracnose, powdery mildew, Phytophthora blight, Cercospora leaf spot, bacterial leaf spot, leaf curl, and mosaic are some of the most common diseases of chilli plants. Selecting a disease-resistant variety is crucial for promoting healthy growth.
If you have any queries, ideas or suggestions, then please comment below. You can also connect with Agriculture Review on Facebook, Instagram, Koo and WhatsApp Messenger.
