Different Types of Peppers to Grow Indoors

Different Types of Peppers to Grow Indoors

Wondering about the different types of peppers you can grow indoors? Read on to learn all about the types of peppers you can grow right in your kitchen!

Imagine plucking a beautiful pepper, slicing into that freshness, and tossing it in the frying pan to simmer. What better incentive to start an indoor garden?

But before you can enjoy the fruits—or peppers—of your labors, you have to choose the type of pepper you want to grow. Some of this choice comes down to the taste you crave. Do you want something sweet, like a bell pepper? Or something with a kick that belongs on a hot pepper identification chart like a jalapeño pepper, chile pepper, or even a habanero pepper? It's also helpful to consider which peppers can thrive best in an indoor garden.

We'll explore which peppers grow best indoors, as well as introduce you to some of our favorite pepper types, so that you can pick the ones that make the most sense for you. Next up, the indoor garden of your dreams.

What Are the Easiest Peppers to Grow Indoors?

If you've ever tried an easy recipe recommended by an experienced chef—only to find yourself in over your head—you know that "easy" is often in the eye of the beholder. The same holds true for gardening. A pepper that's easy to grow in dry California might prove harder in humid Florida.

To find a pepper that's easy for you to grow indoors, consider your resources in the following areas:

Space – Peppers tend to grow smaller inside than they do outside because they often don't have as much space in an indoor garden setup. If you're working with limited space for your indoor garden, consider trying smaller peppers, such as habaneros, pequins, Thai peppers, or chiltepins (which you might recognize as those small, round green peppers).
Humidity – If you live in a climate with high humidity, you'll probably find habaneros and Scotch bonnets easier to grow. If, on the other hand, you live with more moderate levels of humidity, ornamental chili peppers might prove a better fit for you.
Watering can skills – This might sound silly, but peppers can require a precise amount of watering. For example, accidentally watering bell pepper leaves can lead to fungal disease for your peppers. If you have trouble remembering when to water your plants (and when to let them enjoy a dry day), try growing in an indoor gardening system that simplifies how often you have to feed and water your plants.

All that said, if you want to make your indoor peppers as easy to care for as possible, it's not actually about choosing the easiest peppers—it's about choosing the easiest indoor pepper plant growing method.

For simplicity and ease, it's hard to beat indoor hydroponic gardening. Each pepper seed pod sold for use in hydroponic gardening is already designed to grow and thrive in those conditions. It can help take some of the guesswork out of gardening, so that you can enjoy having fresh plants in your home and fresh peppers on your table.

What Is the Best Type of Pepper to Grow Indoors?

Once you've determined the indoor gardening system you want to use—and what peppers can flourish in those conditions—the next question becomes, "What type of peppers do I want to eat?"

Often, that comes down to how sweet or hot you prefer your peppers:

Low heat – If you prefer sweeter, low-heat peppers, consider trying bell peppers, banana peppers, shishito, anaheim peppers, or poblano peppers.
Medium heat – If you enjoy a medium heat, you might want to try jalapeño peppers, purple super hots, or red fire chilis.
High heat – For peppers with more kick, consider growing cayenne peppers, Thai chili peppers, or Ghost peppers.

Ultimately, "best" means what's best for you. Maybe you want to grow decorative peppers. Maybe you only want to grow different types of green peppers. Whatever you prefer, knowing how you plan to use and grow your peppers can help you decide which ones are best for you.

What Time of Year Do Peppers Grow Best?

If you're growing indoors in an AeroGarden, any time of year is best for growing peppers! However, if you're thinking about growing peppers outdoors, the best time of year to grow peppers depends a great deal on the growing conditions. If you're growing peppers outside, pepper seedlings tend to grow best when planted during the spring. However, that can vary depending on the type of pepper you're growing and the climate where you live.

For example, if you were growing bell peppers in a traditional outdoor garden in a moderate climate, your gardening timeline might look like this:

Start growing your pepper seedlings indoors about ten weeks before the last frost of winter.
Plant your seedlings outdoors about two weeks after the last frost, or when the ground has warmed to at least 65 degrees Fahrenheit
Wait two to three months for your plants to finish growing and begin producing delicious, crunchy peppers

If you're growing indoor peppers, however, there are no such limitations. You can start growing your peppers at any time throughout the year. And if you're growing your peppers using indoor hydroponic gardening, you can expect them to grow about five times faster than they would if planted outside in the soil.

An indoor garden comes with other benefits too, including:

No need for herbicides
No need for pesticides
No frosts or heat waves damaging your carefully cultivated plants

Indoor gardens can also prove an easy, fun gardening option if you don't have space for an outdoor garden—or if you like having fresh, fast peppers on your countertop all year long.

Different Types of Peppers & Their Characteristics

We sell an extensive variety of peppers, and that can be overwhelming when trying to figure out which type you want to grow. We decided to break it down for you, explaining their characteristics, flavor profiles, and heat levels, mildest to hottest. From sweet to hot peppers, everything is available for purchase in our Seed Pod Kits section and because many of them are considered tall plants, they do wonderfully in the Bounty and Farm Plus or Farm XL model AeroGardens.

Bell Pepper

Characteristics: One of the most commonly bought peppers, bell peppers are relatively large in size, crunchy with a thick, fleshy textured pod and have a sweet but peppery flavor. The peppers start green with a slightly bitter flavor, then as it matures, it turns bright red and becomes sweeter. You can also find yellow, orange, white, pink, and even purple varieties. With their high water content, bell peppers will add moisture to any dish and also add great color.

Scoville heat units: 0

Banana Pepper

Characteristics: Banana peppers, like their name, are a bright yellow hue. As they ripen, they turn orange or red. They have a mild heat and tangy finish that adds a great kick to meals such as pizza or sandwiches. They tend to get sweeter the longer they are on the vine and are popular pickled in jars, adding more of the tangy zing.

Scoville heat units: 0–500

Shishito

Characteristics: Harvested while still green, these thin-walled peppers can be pan-seared and eaten on their own. The thin skin allows them to blister and char quickly, which accentuates the aroma and flavor. When the pepper ripens, they turn red and tend to be more spicy, but we have noticed in the AeroGarden that they actually get sweeter when red.

Scoville heat units: 50 to 200

Anaheim Pepper

Characteristics: This long pepper is relatively mild and very versatile, being one of the most common chili peppers in the United States, and are used in many foods and recipes. When mature, the Anaheim turns deep red and is referred to as chile Colorado or California. Once red they can be strung together and dried to make ristras.

Scoville heat units: 500 to 2,500

Poblano Pepper

Characteristics: Somewhat large and heart-shaped, the poblano is commonly found in Mexican dishes. A fairly mild pepper with two main varieties, red and green. The green is more common, while the red is hotter. At maturity, the poblano turns dark red-brown and can be dried, which is referred to as an ancho or mulato. Anchos have a rich, raisin-like sweetness. The high yield of flesh to skin makes anchos great for sauces.

Scoville heat units: 1,000 to 2,000

Jalapeño Pepper

Characteristics: The jalapeño pepper, the less intense cousin of the serrano pepper, is a medium-sized chili pepper typically plucked from the vine while still green. Once ripened, they will turn red and take on a slightly sweeter flavor. Jalapeños are a tasty ingredient commonly used in certain spicy foods like salsa and sauces. When dried, a jalapeño is called a chipotle.

Scoville heat units: 3,500 to 8,000

Purple Super Hots

Characteristics: Another pepper that is grown more for their ornamental appeal than for harvesting, the small round peppers sit above the foliage and start with a deep purple color, then as they mature go through pale yellow to bright orange and red. We have created a hot sauce using these, which has a spice that lingers but a great peppery taste.

Scoville Heat Units: 4,000 – 8,000

Red Fire Chili

Characteristics: Originating in South America, a beautiful red pepper with multi-colored fruits, maturing from green to orange to red, that tend to sit above the plant’s foliage to truly draw the eye. Beyond the ornamental beauty is a surprising heat that can catch you by surprise. Chilis grow two to three inches in length, with a thin cayenne-like profile, kick off a lot of heat, and have a hint of fresh pepper flavor.

Scoville heat units: 5,000 to 30,000

Cayenne Pepper

Characteristics: Skinny, long and tapered, Cayenne is probably most familiar in its dried, ground powdered form, known as cayenne pepper. A main ingredient in many dishes, that adds a nice kick, as well as some health benefits.

Scoville heat units: 30,000 to 50,000

Thai Chili Peppers

Characteristics: Yet another plant grown for its beauty, its smooth skin turns from bright green when immature to a vibrant red hue when fully mature. Its flesh has a meaty texture and encases many tiny seeds. It offers a potent, lingering heat that is well known across the globe for the spice and flavor it lends to Southeast Asian cuisine.

Scoville heat units: 50,000 and 100,000

Ghost Pepper

Characteristics: In 2007 The Ghost Pepper was certified as the hottest Chili Pepper on the planet in The Guinness Book of World Records. These wrinkled peppers with a tapered end come in a variety of colors, the most common being orange and red. Ripe peppers measure 2.5 to 3.3 inches long with a red, yellow, orange, white, peach, purple or chocolate color. If you have the bravery to eat the world's hottest pepper, you will notice that the first flavor is an intense sweet chili flavor, then after about 30 seconds the burning sensation kicks in.

Scoville heat units: 800000 to 1041427