How to Grow Cayenne
This article is part of our “How to Grow Herbs” series. If you would like to learn more about how to work with herbs after you harvest them, please refer to our Herbal Aromatherapy Certification Program™ here.
Cayenne is a spicy pepper that is commonly used to add flavor and heat to foods in different countries around the world. It also has value in the apothecary, both for internal and topical remedies. I like it because it packs a punch but is not as spicy as some of the stronger peppers. Still, very little of it is needed in food or herbal recipes to be able to taste it or feel its effects.
Growing Conditions
In tropical areas, pepper plants like cayenne can be grown as perennials. In those conditions, the plants can grow quite large over time. For most of us, though, they need to be grown as annuals and stay a bit smaller.
The plants are not frost hardy, so seeds are generally started indoors with supplemental heat and light around the time when we start our tomato seeds, if not before. They can take longer to sprout than tomato seeds and really need warmer soil temperatures to do well. You can place a seedling heat mat underneath your seed tray to help speed up the germination process. Cover the seeds with a light layer of soil and water them in. Keep the soil in the tray evenly moist and under lights until germination occurs.
Once all danger of frost has passed and the seedlings have developed some true leaves, they can be planted outdoors in full sun in well-draining, amended soil. I like to start them off with a bit of starter fertilizer to help encourage them to put on growth, as they can be a little slow at first.
If you have a longer growing season, 18-24” spacing between plants will work well. The plants may benefit from having a supporting stake or tomato cage around them, particularly if pepper plants tend to do really well in your region. If you live in an area with a short growing zone, you might need to grow your peppers in a greenhouse year-round to extend the season long enough to be able to harvest ripe fruit from the plants. The peppers can take up to 3.5 months or so to fully ripen.
Once planted outdoors, plants tend to start flowering quickly and by mid- to late summer, you should start to see cayenne peppers ripening into a beautiful, bright red color. Harvest them as they ripen and string them up in an area with good air circulation to dry for apothecary or spice use throughout the year.
Learning More
If you would like to learn more about how to work with herbs, particularly aromatic plants, I hope you will join me in our Herbal Aromatherapy Certification Program™ here at Floranella! In it, I teach students how to safely and effectively work with over 100 different herbs as well as their applicable essential oils and hydrosols from the garden to the still to the apothecary. I hope to see you in class one day!
About the Author
Hi there, I’m Erin! I am the main instructor here at Floranella. I am a clinical herbalist, aromatherapist, artisan distiller and organic gardener based in the Pacific Northwest. Here at Floranella, I teach people how to work with plants safely and effectively from the garden to the apothecary. Thanks for being here! I’m glad you stopped by.
