Connoisseurs of any respectable hot sauce will sooner or later entertain the notion that they could possibly create a better concoction than is available at the local gift shop. The good news is that there are so many varieties of hot sauce that the possibilities are endless. All you need to get started is a great chili pepper and that can be the hardest part of the equation.
Luckily peppers are pretty easy to grow. I’m not going to pull your leg and tell you that they are as easy as fake house plants but they are not as tricky as orchids. I am going to skip over the seed germination part and move straight into the part where you put them in the ground or a decent sized pot. If you want to know how to germinate I will cover that in the future, so check back.
Planting in the Perfect Spot
Location is possibly the most important part of planting a pepper plant. You want it hot, sunny, and well drained. Some light shade in the peak of the day will be ok and help you avoid sunburn. If you are planing in the ground make sure that the soil is of good quality, full of nutrients and well drained. If you are planing in a pot any high quality soil will do the trick. Line the bottom of the pot with gravel, stones, broken pots, anything that will prevent the pot from clogging. A light organic fertilizer to help the roots with the transition will be good at this point.
Care and Cultivation
At this point, water 2 to 3 times per week, wetting the soil but not soaking. If you stick your finger in the soil and it feels damp skip another day, a little humidity is fine but you do not want the roots to rot. Once you start to see some good growth from the plant cut the first couple of inches off of the top to promote more growth below. Shortly after flowers will blossom die and turn into fruit. The peppers will start out green and slowly mature to red, orange, yellow, or some other color. You can harvest at any time even if they are green.
Perfection
This is where it gets interesting and where the finesse comes in, the longer you leave the fruit on the plant the hotter it gets. If this ripening happens to coincide with the hottest most humid time of the year because of blind luck or great experience, cheers to you. This will just make the chilies that much hotter. Off to the kitchen to brew the perfect spicy concoction