Want a hot pepper that pays you back fast? Jalapeños are ready to pick about 66 to 75 days after they go in the ground, sooner than a habanero and far sooner than a ghost pepper. You start the seeds indoors in late winter or early spring, set the plants out once the nights warm up, and pick them green through the summer. Timing’s what changes with where you live, so the planner below works your dates out from your zip code.
How hot they get and what they taste like is over in our jalapeño profile. This page is all about growing them.
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- Heat
- 2,500–8,000 SHU
- Start seeds indoors
- 8–12 weeks before your last spring frost
- Germination
- 7–25 daysIn soil around 70–85°F. Germination is faster in warm soil.
- Harden off
- 7–14 days before transplanting
- Transplant
- After last frost, once nights stay at 50°F or warmer
- First harvest
- 66–75 days after transplanting, for green fruitRed, fully ripe fruit takes longer.
- Plant height
- 18–24 inches
- Containers
- Does well in a container
Where these figures come from
- Start seeds indoors: Baker Creek, TAM Jalapeño; Pinetree Garden Seeds, Early Jalapeño
- Germination: Territorial Seed, Early Jalapeño; Baker Creek, TAM Jalapeño; Pinetree Garden Seeds, Early Jalapeño; University of Minnesota Extension, Growing peppers; Nebraska Extension G1879, Garden Peppers; NMSU Chile Pepper Institute, Special Seed Starting Instructions; Utah State University Extension, Peppers in the Garden
- Harden off: UC ANR, Growing Peppers; Penn State Extension (Chester Co. Master Gardeners), Growing Peppers; Nebraska Extension G1879, Garden Peppers
- Transplant: University of Minnesota Extension, Growing peppers; UGA Extension C1005, Home Garden Peppers; NMSU Chile Pepper Institute, Growing Tips
- First harvest: Territorial Seed, Early Jalapeño; Burpee, Jalapeño Early; Burpee, Jalapeño M
- Plant height: Territorial Seed, Early Jalapeño; Burpee, Jalapeño M; Burpee, Jalapeño Early
- Containers: High Mowing Seeds, Early Jalapeño
When to plant jalapeños where you live
Jalapeños can’t take frost, and they don’t do much in cold soil either. Plant them out after your last frost, once nights stay at 50°F or warmer and the soil’s reached about 60°F.
Type in your zip code and the planner gives you dates for starting seeds, hardening off, transplanting and your first harvest, all from NOAA frost data for your area. It’ll also tell you if your season’s long enough. For jalapeños it almost always is: they ripen before frost in 98% of U.S. counties.
Starting jalapeño seeds indoors
Start your seeds 8 to 12 weeks before your last spring frost. Don’t panic if they’re slow. Jalapeño seed can take anywhere from 7 to 25 days to come up, and it’s faster in warm soil, so keep the seed-starting mix somewhere between 70 and 85°F. Once the seedlings are up, give them bright light from overhead.
Got a seed packet that’s been in a drawer for a few years? Check how long pepper seeds last before you count on it.
A week or two before transplanting, start hardening them off. Set the seedlings outside for a little longer each day so they’re used to being outdoors by the time they go in the ground.
Planting jalapeños outside
Give them your sunniest spot. The University of Georgia recommends 8 to 10 hours of sun a day for peppers.
Space the plants about 18 inches apart, in rows 30 to 36 inches apart. There’s more on spacing in how much space pepper plants need.
Peppers like well-drained soil that’s slightly acidic to neutral, a pH of about 6.0 to 7.0. A soil test tells you where yours stands, and our guide to the best soil pH for peppers covers what to do about it.
Once the plants are in, mulch around them with compost, straw or wood chips. It keeps the weeds down and holds moisture in. Just keep it off the stems. Black plastic laid down before planting warms the soil, too.
Growing jalapeños in containers
Jalapeños do well in pots. Use a container of at least 5 gallons, which is enough for one or two plants, and make sure it’s got drainage holes.
Pots dry out fast. Once the plants are big and setting fruit, expect to water every day. There’s more in our guide to growing hot peppers in containers.
Watering and feeding jalapeños
Peppers want about an inch of water a week. If the rain doesn’t give them that, soak the soil thoroughly. Frequent light watering leads to weak roots, and uneven watering is tied to blossom-end rot. The planner above shows how much rain your area normally gets each month, so you’ll know when you’re on your own. Our post on watering pepper plants has the details, and if you think you’re giving them too much, here are the signs of overwatering pepper plants.
Don’t fertilize blind. Test your soil first, and unless the test says you need phosphorus, go with a low- or no-phosphorus fertilizer. Once fruit starts to set, a side dressing of fertilizer gives the plants a boost. Our guide to fertilizing pepper plants walks through what to use and when.
When to pick jalapeños
Most jalapeños get picked green. They’re ready when they’re full size, firm and dark green, about 66 to 75 days after transplanting depending on the variety.
Leave them on the plant and they’ll turn red. That takes longer, and it’s the same pepper, just fully ripe. If you’ve got green ones when frost is coming, you can ripen peppers off the vine.
Don’t pull peppers off the plant. Use shears or pruners. Pepper branches are brittle, and they’ll snap.
Picked a batch that’s barely hot? It happens, and here’s why your jalapeños might not be spicy.
Common jalapeño plant problems
- Blossom-end rot: a brown rot on the bottom of the fruit, tied to calcium and uneven watering. See calcium deficiency in pepper plants.
- Sunscald: see sunscald on peppers.
- Curling leaves: see pepper plant leaves curling.
- Yellow leaves: see pepper plants turning yellow.
- Aphids and spider mites: see aphids on pepper plants and spider mites on pepper plants.
- Plants that won’t grow: start with pepper plants growing slowly.
- A frost on the way: see will frost kill pepper plants?
For the rest, we’ve got a rundown of common pepper plant diseases and problems.
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Related reading
- The Hot Pepper List: Browse chilies by heat level and flavor to find your next one to grow.
- Saving Pepper Seeds: Keep seed from this year’s peppers for next year’s garden.
- Pepper Companion Plants: What to plant next to your peppers, and what to keep away from them.