Chili peppers are easy to grow, they simply need a pot, some sun and some water.

One of the great things about growing chili peppers is that the squirrels and chipmunks leave them alone. It's near impossible for me to grow tomatoes on the deck, but chili peppers – no problem at all.

So if you like spicy food, here is what you need to know to grow and store a years worth of chili peppers and more, very easily.

Planting the Seeds
Now is the time to start planting the seeds.

You need to do this indoors and have a sunny spot to keep them in.

I use those Dixie cups (little card board cups that belong in the bathroom for gargling purposes).

Fill them to near the top with potting soil, and put 2 or 3 seeds in each one.

Bear in mind, each plant is going to give you between 6 and 60 chilies this year alone depending on variety, sun levels, when you plant them, how much you water them.

Water often. You will soon see the little green shoots coming up.

Preparing to take them outside
Have some larger pots or a sunny spot planned for them. Also have some good soil, whether you have some compost or need to go out and buy some. Some natural plant fertilizer is also a great idea.

Pots are really the way to go rather than the garden for a number of reasons.

When ever, in your zone you can plant annuals, this is the time to take them outside and put them in their permanent home.

Maintenance
Chilies do not like the cold much at all, so if it’s going to be a cold night bring them inside, even if a frost is not expected. (Reason 1 why pots are better).

A trick to reducing watering requirements is as follows:

1. Water them regularly – I actually seal the bottom of my pots, and put small rocks in the bottom, then put soil in.

2. The pots are plastic and I have a few holes in the side a few inches above the base.

3. The holes stop the plant from flooding in heavy rain, however the water does get to collect in the bottom so if you are going a way for a few days, you can water the plant with a whole watering can and it won’t dry out in the sun.

Aphids like chili plants. Give the leaves a quick wash in soapy water if the problem gets too bad. They don’t attack the actual fruit, but you often find some of the leaves get covered in them on the underside. If it loses to many leaves, it reduces to plants ability to use sunlight and this goes on to reduce your crop.

Watching them Grow
Small white flowers begin to appear on the plant, for me, around June, when the flowers fall they are replaced by a small bud that grows into the chili.

The chilies grow surprisingly quickly! so give the plant a check over for ripe chilies when you go to water it.

Taking scissors with you is a good idea, snipping them off rather than pulling them off reduces risk to the plant.

Harvesting Chilies
Now, they are great fresh, but trying to keep them all fresh is impossible depending on how many you have going ripe at the same time.

So here are some storing ideas:

Long red chili varieties
- Cut them off the plant
- Thread a needle and thread and pierce them through the green top of the chili
- Leave them in a sunny dry spot for a few days to a week, until they are completely dry.
- Then pack them into a container with a tight fitting lid and keep them in a dark cupboard.

Scotch bonnets and other varieties (and the long red chilies for a 2nd option).
- Double bag them in freezer bags and pop them in the freezer. I have had some since last summer in my freezer and they look at taste perfect.

Buying baby plants rather than seedlings
If you don’t have the time or space to grow the seedlings yourself, buy a couple of young plants from your local garden center and pop them outside once the weather is warm.

I have done this a number of years, and an advantage is that I picked up one of each variety I was interested in.

Keeping the plant for next year
Once the days start drawing in at the end of the year, bring the plant inside. (Reason 2 why pots are better). Mix a little washing up liquid and some cool water and literally wash the plant. Inspect it again in a couple of days for aphids, and wash it again if required.

Chop any remaining chilies or flowers off. The plant now needs to sleep!

Leave the plant in a fairly bright spot in your house and water it approximately weekly – do not let it totally dry out. Remove any flowers that grow as it puts too much strain on the plant to produce over winter. Typically it will quickly stop growing flowers as the days get shorter.

Around March the next year, start watering it more and feeding the plant with fertilizer, ready for its next year on your deck.

I managed to keep a chili plant for 3 years before it died – in its final 2 years I probably picked a 100 chilies off it each year.

I had so many chilies that I ended up drying them and then putting them through the blender and storing them in a huge jar – they lasted me a couple of years!

So if you can get it to survive the winter, then next year’s crop is going to be even better.