I'm new to farming peppers... Where should I start?

If you're talking about growing peppers, and you like hot, the AG Jalapeno kit is always a good start.  I got off to a rough start with them, but once I started treating them right, they can be excellent producers.  I have one plant that's over a year old, and still producing lots of peppers.

I'm not so clear on the other hot peppers that Aerogarden sells.  Their purple super-hots... I don't even know what those are.  Their "thai" peppers, as close as anyone can tell, are actually Numex Twilights, an ornamental.  A VERY pretty plant when it comes to colors, but the peppers it produces seem hardly worth the effort.

mike, Shawn and I seem quite enthusiastic about growing all varieties of peppers, usually from seeds purchased from vendors other than Aerogarden and usually have quite the success.  One wonderful feature is to be able to add to your diet forms of peppers, both hot and sweet, that you'll never find in the super market.

And if you're going to grow tomatoes or peppers, you'll probably want to get some Calcium-Magnesium additives to add to your regular nutrients.  The others here like something called Moocha Stash (I think), and I'm generally happy with CaliMagic.  Of all the things I've tried, this makes the biggest difference.

And Welcome!  Check out everyone else's gardens to see what they're growing and everyone's happy to give tips and even send samples of seeds to share in the fun.

One other point is that Aerogarden kits have you plant three or more pods in one garden.

That's too much. At most two pepper plants in one large garden. In fact, one can easily fill a machine.

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I just got the ones that Mike suggested (along with Kale, cilantro, and habaneros) for my Farm Pluses. I can't wait to see it all come together :-)

To add to the tips to grow peppers, I'll add shaking the plant when it flowers. Pepper plants can self pollinate, however they need a little bit of help. So if you are growing your plant and you notice flowers dropping off without fruits being formed, shake the plant. Alternatively, airflow from a fan can help as well. 


I noticed in some rare occasions, when I was growing super hot chilies, that some plants can't self pollinate. (When my 3y old plant is flowering again, I'll take a picture so that you can see how flowers look like that can't self pollinate.) This means that even though you are shaking the plant, no fruits will form. In these situations, I'll use a flower from another plant (which is producing fruits by itself) to pollinate the plant that is lacking the ability. You could also use a cotton swab to transfer pollen from one plant to the other. I usually use the whole flower as most of the time there are plenty of flowers and my pollination success rate is higher, but that can just be me lol.
The variety of the donor plant does not matter. The fruits will stay the same. The offspring, however, can have traits from both plants. Which can cause some interesting hybrid plants.