Interested in growing your own hot peppers? Dr. William Terry Kelley, Henderson County Extension director for North Carolina Cooperative Extension, says hot peppers are grown in a similar way as bell peppers and offers the following tips on growing them.
See more: North Carolina Growers Cultivate Hot Peppers
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Growing Hot Peppers 101
- Start the plants inside, and then transplant them to the garden, field or pot. They do not require staking, but it can be beneficial as many will produce fruit prolifically and will bend the plant over.
- Peppers should be grown in full sunlight and shouldn’t be planted outside until the danger of frost has passed.
- Pepper plants should be spaced 2 feet apart in rows that are 3 to 4 feet apart. Place the transplants into a well-tilled seedbed, and fully cover the root ball.
- Peppers are medium feeders and require about 3.5 pounds of a 10-10-10 analysis fertilizer for every 100 square feet. This should be applied half at planting and half about four weeks after planting.
See more: How Hot is a Hot Pepper?
Has anyone ever considered using these hottest peppers in some natural form to control fire ants? I live in Rowan County and we seem to be getting more and more fire ants mounds every year. I have spent a good bit of money on ant bait that has very limited affect on control.