Cultivating pepper plants doesn’t consume too much time but is an art in its own right.
It’s not like many plants where you can grab a decent soil and throw in a blender, water, and sun and get any productive value.
The best soil for chilli plants is soil that breathes, loose yet stable at the same time. A good quality potting soil that, when dry, doesn’t clump up, isn’t too dense, and also drains moisture rather than retaining it.
They also need a lot of sunlight, warm temperatures of about between 70°F and 90°F, and plenty of water.
Water, however, is where it gets a little tricky when comparing it to other plants, as we don’t want to oversaturate our pepper plants and cause root rot, but we do want to make sure we quench the plant’s thirst.
Chili plants are thirsty and love a lot of sun and warmth – this is why soil choice is very important.
Whatever you end up going with, it should be something that you can spray frequently, but it shouldn’t retain too much standing water at the bottom.
Soil Add-Ons For Your Chili Plants
At this point, we’ve covered that you need a nice potting mix, plenty of heat from sunshine, and a water source that is frequent, but not too wet. Then add soil amendments.
If you really want the best soil for your pepper plants, then it’s not just about buying quality potting soil, or accounting for “just” quality potting soil.
Trailing each of those things you also want to add quality amendments like compost, Perlite, and Vermiculite.
Vermiculite
Vermiculite is a mineral frequently utilized as a soil amendment and expands when heated.
It is a great additive because it helps the soil retain essential water, nutrients, and minerals for plant growth.
It also provides aeration of the soil, which is something chili plants enjoy. Chili peppers natuarally do not grow well in tight or compacted soils.
If adding vermiculite, try to keep a ratio of vermiculite to potting soil at 1:10 or 10%. If you want to add vermiculite to 48ounces of potting soil, then aim for about 5 ounces.
Again, be sure to mix it well because the aeration aspect of vermiculite is not fully utilized unless it is well-distributed in the entire potting soil product.
Perlite
Perlite is a beneficial additive to consider because of how it allows for a moisture density level for chili plants in the soil.
While vermiculite aids in keeping the soil aerated and retention, Perlite aids because it adds a level of porousness to the soil allowing for no buildup of moisture, which can create root rot conditions.
If you are adding compost – which is highly recommended – it tends to make the soil too dense and compact.
Perlite assists in balancing the compost and adding aeration to the vermiculite with enough to allow for the retention of nutrients, minerals, and moisture, without retention of too much.
When you are adding perlite, you will either add it by itself to a quality mixture of potting soil or you will add it with having already mixed in vermiculite. In either case it will be part of the 10% mix and should be added proportionally.
Like the vermiculite, mix it in well and even throughout. One of the best ways to mix the soil additive or to throw in soil additives is to dump the potting soil into a wheelbarrow.
Then, onion your vermiculite and perlite at 10% with your hand mix before planting it into the garden or pots.
Compost, Bone Meal, and/or Epsom Salt
Organic compost is packed full of minerals and nutrients to kick-off plants’ growth and support it throughout the entire lifecycle.
Compost is especially beneficial in new gardens when you are starting a garden for the first time.
In terms of mixing compost, you will want to add it pre-planting as you did both the perlite and vermiculite a 10% mix. However, compost is not a solution in all cases especially if you are growing indoors.
Instead of using compost try Epsom salt and bone meal. If you are a vegetarian and do not want to use bone meal – you can simply use Epsom salt on its own or add phosphates in with the Epsom salt.
Epsom salt gives you phosphorous and magnesium, two of the more prolific nutrients on the list of productive nutrients measured for chili plants; especially magnesium since chili plants are voracious for magnesium.
Bone meal is crushed and powdered animal bones and bone meal is high in phosphorous, nitrogen, and potassium.
The added bonus of bone meal is that it is a slow-release fertilizer. Including bone meal mixed into a potting soil mix will adds another component for time lapse and longevity.
Maintaining The pH Level
Chilies develop best at a pH of anywhere between 5.5 and 6.5. It is very important to know this as the greatest contributor to a reduction in pH is rainfall.
Rain leaches the minerals and nutrients needed for the chili plant to successfully grow and produce peppers.
This is why using quality potting soil, perlite, vermiculite, and compost/bone meal/ Epsom salt are also important. Quality fertilizers can help minimize a retention of excess water while at the same time helping to not lose too much water.
You will only be able to put lime into your garden or pot if it gets too low.
The type of lime you add (granulated, powder, hydrated, and pellets) will determine how quickly the acidity of the soil will get reduced.
In general, fine powder will reduce acidity quicker and pellet will reduce it a little slower.
If the pH increases too high, you can use aluminum sulfate and/or sulfur to reverse it.
Aluminum sulfate is a fast-response chemical that will quickly increase soil acidity and sulfur will do it relatively slowly to allow you to control the increase until it reaches a normal level.
How Often Do Chili Plants Need To Be Watered?
Now that we’ve determined the best combinations of soil and fertilizer for both retention and drainage, it’s time to understand the water needs for what is, ironically, a hot and spicy food!
Chili pepper, like most peppers, is happiest when it is receiving every bit as much water as it is sunlight, and chili peppers need plenty of sunlight.
That said, you do not want to over-water it, but regularly water and maintain the soil in a consistent moist state every other day.
Overwatering is a recipe for root-rot, since the water gathered on the bottom is over-saturated and doesn’t get to the root before it starts to neutralize and rot where it sits.
The best method is to provide water every other day and constantly check to see if the soil is moist but not saturated.
You may find this somewhat challenging because the fact that chili peppers like lots of direct sun has the unfortunate downside of evaporating the water.
But stick with it, until you hit the happy medium of getting the water in the soil rather than soaking it.
Final Word
It may feel highly structured and quite time-consuming, but the best soil with good fertilizer ratios and enough water ultimately does most of the work for you.
You’ll discover melting the sun and consistently watering your chilies usually results in a healthy, growing pepper for you, your friends, and your family to enjoy.