We all love chili. Chili is one of the most important and most used ingredients of our everyday dishes especially curry. We use chili as powder and as green unripe chili.
In this post, I will explain how to grow chili plants from seeds. Follow these easy steps to grow your own organic chili in your kitchen garden.
Health Benefits Of Green Chillies
1: Help You In Losing Weight
Green chillies help you in managing weight in two different ways. First, they have no calories, so you can use them in your dishes without worrying about the addition of calories. Plus chillies after eating will speed up your metabolism for a few hours. Increased metabolism is good for weight-conscious people.
2: Iron Deficiency
Chillies contain tons of iron in them. If you feeling tired or dizziness, you may have an iron deficiency. Iron in chillies can help.in getting active and beating tiredness.
3: Cancer Treatment
Green chillies have a good number of antioxidants in them. These antioxidants are great to fight against cancer cells in the body, especially in the prostate area of the body.
4: Cold And Sinus Infections
Chillies contain capsaicin. This chemical is great against common cold and sinus infections. Capsaicin stimulates the blood flow in the nose and sinus areas, that make mucus secretions thin. Thinning of mucus is great against common cold and sinus infections.
5: Vitamin C
If you want vitamin C shoots, chillies are your answer. Vitamin C in chillies will help your body in combating eyes, skin and immune problems. Fresh Green chillies have more vitamin C than chillies that exposure to heat, light and air.
6: Green chillies reduce pain and improve mood by releasing endorphin.
7: Chillies can help you in balancing the blood sugar level.
8: Green chilies reduce bad cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood and improve cardiovascular health.
Note: Wear gloves before working with chili fruits or plants and wash your hands immediately after work or you can hurt your eyes or other sensitive areas of your body.
How To Extract The Seeds Of Chili From Chili Fruit?
Yes! You can buy the seeds of chili from stores and grow them. There are hundreds of varieties of chili are available in the market and I encourage you to try every one of them. By trying the majority of varieties, you can find the best variety that works for you.
But if you are a beginner, you should try to grow the most popular variety in your area. Now, here is the method to extract the seeds of chili from chili fruits.
If you already have plants of chili and fruits on them are ready (red in color), you can extract the seeds from that ripen fruits. Or you can buy red chili fruits from the supermarket and extract seeds from them.
The seeds in fully ripen fruits are matured and can grow very well. Just cut the fruit with any kind of sharp knife and extract the seeds from it using your hands. Seeds of chilies are very small, so collect them on a plate or small container.
Keep your kids away during this process.
How To Sow The Seeds Of Chilli?
After the collection of seeds, now its time to sow them. You can go with any container you have or use a seed tray to sow the seeds. Make sure, drainage holes are there.
First, you need to make the soil for the germination of seeds. The topsoil of the garden is not very suitable for growing seeds. For seeds, multipurpose compost can do the trick or you can use a potting mix of 60% coco coir and 40% organic compost.
Here are a few guides for you to make special soil.
- How To Make Compost At Home Using Kitchen And Garden Wastes
- How To Make Potting Soil At Home For Container Gardening
- How To Make Your Own Multipurpose Compost
After making the soil, fill your container or seed tray with that soil recipe. Water the soil to increase its moisture level. Sprinkle the seeds of chili on the wet soil and avoid overlapping of seeds.
After sprinkling the seeds, cover them with the same soil. Do not burry them too much, only a then layer of soil is enough. Sprinkle water on seeds using a water shower. Keep your container of seedlings under a semi-shady place, that receives indirect sunlight.
Transplanting Seedlings Into A Bigger Pot
Seeds will germinate in 8 to 12 days. Make sure the moisture level of the soil is a little bit high during the seedling stage. Water them with a sprinkle and close to the soil.
When your seedlings have 3 to 4 true leaves (after 25 to 30 days), its time to transplant them in a bigger pot or grow bags. Grow bags are excellent to grow chili plants. They are cheap, environmentally friendly and have different sizes.
Here are a few beautiful looking containers and grow bags to grow chili plants in them.
Before transplanting seedlings into a bigger pot or container, make your soil recipe. You cannot use the topsoil of the garden, as this kind of soil has low drainage and low soil nutrients. You can use potting soil in containers.
Potting soil is very cheap or you can easily make your own potting soil. Read this guide to make your own potting soil at home.
After filling your container with potting soil, gently take out the seedlings from the seed tray with the root ball. Always transplant seedlings early in the morning to save them from transplant shock.
Make a hole in the potting soil of the container with your hand any gardening tool. The hole should be a little bigger than the root ball of the seedling. Plant the seedling and firm the soil around it. Give them water to save them from transplant shock.
How Many Chili Plants In A Single Container or Grow Bag?
The answer to this question depends on the size of your container or grow bag. You can transplant multiple seedlings in a bigger pot. Keep the distance of 6 to 7 inches between each plant.
If the pot is small, only one plant. But keep the plants together. Keeping the plants together has a secret benefit.
Also Read: Everything You Need To Know About Growing Tomatoes In Grow Bags
Sunlight Needs Of Chili Plants
After transplanting the seedlings into bigger pots, do not keep them in direct sunlight. Keep them in indirect sunlight for a few days, until they start to grow.
After a few days, plants will start to produce new leaves. Now its time to keep give them direct sunlight (5 to 6 hours).
Read More: How to Grow Lettuce from Seed At Home
Extra Tips To Take Care Of Your Chili Plants In Containers
- When Seedlings are 6 to 7 inches tall, pinch the top leaves. That will promote the side branches. More side branches are equal to make fruits.
- After a week or two, each plant of yours will have 10 – 12 side branches that make them bushier.
- Fruit-bearing plants will always require extra nutrients. If your soil is good, you may not need any kind of fertilizer. If the leaves of plants are getting yellow, it means they require extra nutrients.
- Most of the plants require extra nutrients at the stage of flowering and setting fruits.
- You can organic compost, animal manure (fully decomposed) and all-purpose plant foods. Try to use organic source for your plants. Once or twice a month will do the trick.
- Always check the soil of pot before watering. Stick your finger in the soil about 2 to 3 inches. If the top feels dry, water them. In containers, plants require more water as compare to land plants.
- Overwatering can cause several problems for your plants like pests, fungal infections, other diseases, and flower dropping.
- Bees can help these plants in pollination. But the good thing is these plants are self-pollinated. So gentle sake of leaves can be a huge help in fruit set. Keep your single potted plants close, so they can help each other in pollination.
- Keep the weeds away from your containers as they can be a big competition of soil nutrients, space, and sunlight.
- One plant can produce 100+ chilies. With 4 to 5 plants, you can be self-sufficient in chili.
- Chili fruits are usable in both conditions i.e ripe and unripe. Just pick the fruits with your hands and use them in your curries.
- You can also dry the red chilies and they make the powder to make chili flakes or chili powder.
I hope you find this post helpful. Please share it with your friends and family.
