Talking Plants

Jillian Patrie | University of Minnesota Yard and Garden Extension

Some like them hot, hot, hot! Others prefer the sweet and mild flavor of peppers for frying & stuffing. Whether you’re in camp spicy or camp mild, here are a few tips on the best peppers for salsa, frying, eating fresh and everything in between.
Peppers come in all shapes, sizes, colors and spicy levels and all play a part in the foods we eat daily. Here are a few things to consider while choosing what pepper varieties to grow in your garden this year.
What are you using them for?
Sweet peppers are often used for frying, fresh eating and adding into sauces. These include bell peppers, Italian frying peppers, snacking peppers, stuffing peppers and paprika peppers.
Fun Fact: the different bell pepper colors (green, red, yellow & orange) are attributed to their level of ripeness).
Chili peppers are often used for salsa, sauces and seasoning. These include Jalapeno, Cayenne, Poblano, Habanero, Serrano, Carolina Reaper & Ghost Pepper. There are several levels of heat that you may want to consider when choosing peppers for the garden. Carolina Reaper and Ghost pepper rank among the hottest peppers with Scoville heat units of 1,641,300 SHU and 1,000,000+ SHU respectively). Check out this article if you want to see where other spicy peppers fall on the Scoville heat scale https://www.nist.gov/how-do-you-measure-it/health-and-nutrition/how-do-you-measure-heat-pepper.
If you are starting peppers from seed, there are a few things to keep in mind. Pepper seeds prefer a consistently warm soil temperature (around 80-90℉) for proper germination. Using a heat mat and a humidity dome will keep the soil warm and moist until the seeds emerge. Once the seeds have germinated a soil temperature of 70℉ is best. Use a seed starting mix for best results (avoid coco coir as a base ingredient in your seed starting mix as it has shown to reduce pepper seedling germination in some cases). Bright overhead light is best, remember to move the light up as the seedlings grow (6-8” distance between the light and seedling). After seeds have established a few roots, thin out the sprouts as needed. Gradually expose them to outdoor wind and light once the weather permits. Remember to bring them inside if the temperature is going to drop below 55℉ or if it is a windy day which can set back or kill small seedlings. For more information on starting peppers and growing them in the garden check out this UMN Extension page https://extension.umn.edu/vegetables/growing-peppers.
Picking varieties that are best for our northern climate can be tricky, especially when we have a short growing window for plants to produce fruit for us to harvest. Ace Sweet Bell Pepper is a well-adapted pepper for northern climates with 55-70 days needed for fruit production. Lunch Box sweet peppers are mini-sized sweet peppers, perfect for snacking, 75-80 days to maturity. Early Jalapenos are great for the northern gardener and perfect for salsa, with 70 days to maturity. Shishito is a mildly spicy pepper that is perfect for stir-fry or sautés, 60 days to maturity. If you want to try your hand at some of the spiciest peppers in the world, you will need to start them NOW (mid-late February), as they take 100-120 days to mature (Ghost Pepper). Carolina Reaper takes 90-100 days. Some local nurseries will carry these varieties as seedlings if you want to skip starting seeds.
There are many other great sweet and spicy varieties available for northern gardeners. Days to maturity is the biggest factor in whether you will get a good harvest before the days shorten and cooler temperatures arrive. 70-90 days is ideal (around three months). Most peppers produce best when daytime temperatures are between 70-80º and 60-70º at night.
There is still plenty of time to get your pepper seeds and start them inside for this growing season!
For questions about this article or local assistance please contact Clay County Extension Educator Jill Patrie at 218-299-7338 or by email at patri350@umn.edu.