Planting Pepper Seeds: Two Easy and Effective Methods

Planting pepper seeds isn’t difficult and is the best way to enjoy the diverse range of sweet and hot pepper varieties available through seed catalogs. There are several ways you can approach starting pepper seeds. The most common method is to sow the seeds in pots or cell packs filled with a seed-starting mix. The second option is to pre-sprout the seeds using the paper towel method. Both are easy and effective and the first step to growing a bounty of homegrown peppers. This article walks you through each technique and offers tips for success.

Gardeners who wish to grow peppers either buy seedlings from their local nursery or start seeds indoors. It’s quick to pick up a pack of sweet or hot pepper seedlings from a garden centre, but there are many benefits to planting pepper seeds yourself. The biggest one is that you can take advantage of the incredible diversity of peppers available through seed catalogs.

There are hundreds of types and varieties to choose from with peppers divided into two main categories: sweet and hot. For sweet peppers there are bell, snacking, Italian frying, and pimento cheese peppers. As for hot peppers, also called chili peppers, you’ll discover they can range from mildly spicy to super hot. I’m partial to medium-hot peppers like jalapeños and cayenne peppers, but perhaps you want to try growing superhots like Carolina Reaper or Ghost pepper.

Another reason for planting pepper seeds is that you can save money growing from seed. Buying seedlings, especially if you have a large growing space, adds up, but a seed packet of pepper seeds usually contains about 30 to 50 seeds and costs just a couple of dollars.

Peppers are a