Hot peppers are a firm favourite here on Livingseeds Farm. We have the largest private collection of chilli seeds in Africa and it is one of our specialties. Growing chillies is lots of fun with rewards that can be bottled, dried, and otherwise preserved.

It’s always best to start your chillies off a few weeks before you would generally plant them out. This gives you a jump on the season and can extend your fruiting period by a full month or more, ensuring that you get the most fruit from your bushes.

Hot and extreme chillies should be started off in seedling trays using a heating pad or old electric blanket to help raise the soil temperature. Raise the trays by 2 or 3cm above the heating pad to ensure that you do not cook your seeds. If bottom heat is not used, your germination will be slow and erratic at best.