Peppers and chillies are among the most rewarding vegetables to grow in your garden. With the right care and timing, even complete beginners can harvest an abundant, colourful crop bursting with flavour, that puts store-bought peppers to shame.
Last week, a friend waved away my suggestion to grow peppers this year, “Ah, peppers are too much trouble! I’ve given up on them; they never grew well in my garden.” I couldn’t agree less. That would be such a pity! Yes, peppers and chillies have a reputation for being fussy, but with a few key techniques, everybody—even those who have tried and failed before—can grow them successfully.
She laughed and said she’d be willing to give it another try this year if I showed her how to grow peppers and chillies from seed.
Well, if that’s the only obstacle, I’m happy to remove it! In this guide, I’ll show you everything I know about growing peppers and chillies — from starting seeds and creating the right growing conditions to harvesting an abundant, colourful crop.
Quick Overview
Stage
Key Requirement
Timing
Seed-starting
25 – 28 °C (77 – 82 °F) soil temperature
January / February
Germination time
10 – 15 days
Transplanting
After the last frosts
Mid to end of May
Sunlight
6 – 8 hours per day
All season
Nutrients
Nitrogen and potassium; phosphorus when blossoms form
Every 3 – 4 weeks
Harvest
When fully coloured
Late summer to early autumn
🌱 Stage 1: Understanding Peppers
Why Grow Peppers & Chillies?
So, why should we grow peppers and chillies in our gardens when we can easily buy them at the store?
Variety
There are more than 2,000 pepper varieties worldwide – and this list is growing. When you look at the selection in your local grocery shop, it looks meagre: there are usually red, yellow and green (sometimes even orange, if they’re hip) bell peppers and a green and a red variety of chillies.
But there is so much more out there! It’s a bit like with tomatoes: once you realise how many colours, sizes, forms and flavours of just THIS ONE vegetable there are, you can’t help wanting to try them. Or at least some.
Flavour
Peppers and chillies from the store already have a long journey behind them. They’re harvested only half-ripe, packed and shipped, driven to the store by train and truck until they finally land on the shelf.
Naturally, their flavour will never reach its full potential.
But bite into a freshly harvested, ripe pepper, and you’ll get quite a different experience. It bursts with flavour and its rich, fruity, tangy taste is nothing like that of its sad cousin from the store.
Sweet vs hot – you choose
My eldest son loves to add hot chilli flakes to many of his dishes (I once stole a forkful from his plate, and boy, it nearly blew my tongue out!), and he begs me every year to cultivate “some hotter chilli”.
You may have guessed that I’m more of a sweet-and-fruity pepper kind of person.
Nevertheless, I want some marginally hot peppers for making kimchi and other stuff.
And that’s the cool part about cultivating peppers and chillies in your garden: you can choose what flavours you want and grow multiple varieties to cover all your family’s preferences.
But before we dive into seed-starting, let’s first understand what we’re actually growing.
Pepper Basics — Understanding the Plants
What are Peppers?
Peppers are botanically fruits, but we use them as vegetables. They are all forms of the Capsicum genus and include both sweet (bell peppers) and hot (chilli peppers) varieties. Vegetable peppers have nothing to do with peppercorns. In fact, it was Columbus who made that mistake: thinking he was in India, he thought the hot and spicy plant he found was pepper.
Heat levels
When I was growing up, I only knew bell peppers in different colours that we used in salads, snacks, and dishes. When I accidentally bought a pepper seedling from the nursery, and I nearly ignited when I tasted one of its fruits, I learned about the Scoville Heat Unit Scale (SHU).
This scale rates how spicy peppers are. It goes from 0 to 16 million, with 0 indicating no spiciness (that would be bell peppers) and 16 million extreme pain. Although 16 million is only a value that exists on paper, at least up to now. The spiciest pepper to date is the variety “Pepper X” with an official SHU of 2.69 million.
Common pepper types
Here are the basic pepper groups from mild to insanely hot:
Sweet peppers
As the name indicates, sweet peppers are sweet with either no or just a tiny hint of heat. Bell peppers belong to that group, as well as banana and pimento peppers.
Mild to Medium Heat Peppers
These peppers have a clearly discernible spiciness and range from mild chillies like Poblano and Anaheim to hotter varieties like Jalapeño.
Hot Peppers
Hot peppers are clearly hot and range from Serranos, which are often used for spicy salsas, to Cayenne peppers and Thai chillies. Whenever you work with these peppers, wear gloves and avoid touching your face, eyes, or nose. It burns intensely!
Super Hot Varieties
When (or rather: if!) you eat super hot pepper varieties, you’ll pay at least with profuse sweating. Habaneros, for example, show between 100,000 and 600,000 Scoville. Bhut Jolokia, or “ghost peppers” as they are also called, even reach 1,000000 Scoville. Untrained chilli eaters were known to require medical treatment from ghost peppers. “Carolina Reaper”, the elder brother of “Pepper X”, can show up to 2.7 million SHU.
These peppers are not for beginners or the faint of heart! Even in handling the plant, you need to wear protective equipment such as gloves, a mask and safety goggles.
Peppers and chillies need at least 6 hours of sunlight per day, better 8 or more. Choose a spot in your vegetable garden that lies in full sun and is protected from harsh winds.
My garden, for example, is facing southwards and has no houses or trees on the east and west sides that could cast a shadow on the vegetable patches.
Normally, that would expose the garden to the west winds that usually blow here, but it lies in a slight hollow, which creates a microclimate that’s slightly warmer than the surroundings.
Water
Naturally, peppers and chillies need water to survive and thrive. Their roots are sensitive, rather shallow and fine, though, which is why the soil in which they grow shouldn’t be too wet.
While we water tomatoes sparsely but thoroughly, peppers and chillies must be watered more regularly but in smaller amounts.
Outside in the garden, I usually water them twice a week or, when it’s really hot and dry, every other day. To check if they need water, I poke a hole of about 2 -3 cm (1 inch) in the soil with my finger. If it’s still moist under the surface, I don’t do anything, but if it’s dry, I get the watering can.
In the greenhouse, where temperatures are usually higher, I water them every day or at least every other day.
In pots, watering daily is a must, especially when it’s hot outside.
No matter where you grow your peppers and chillies, though, it’s always better to water them in the mornings rather than in the evenings and avoid splashing water onto the leaves to prevent fungal diseases.
Garden vs containers
You can cultivate peppers and chillies outside in a garden patch, indoors in a greenhouse or even in containers on a balcony or patio.
I’ve tried all three methods and learned the following:
Peppers can grow well outside in a patch in your vegetable garden, but only if the summer is warm and dry. Unfortunately, last summer was quite rainy, and sometimes temperatures dropped below 20 °C (68 °F), which didn’t suit the peppers. They grew reluctantly and produced less fruit than in the year before, when the summer was very hot and dry.
For that reason, I like to grow some peppers and especially chillies in the greenhouse as well (chillies like it even hotter than peppers). There, I’m in control of watering, and temperatures are always a bit higher than outside. It’s important, however, to keep the greenhouse properly ventilated so that temperatures don’t climb too high.
Lastly, I also grew some peppers and chillies in containers on my balcony. I chose pots with about 10 L volume, which turned out to be ok. Ensure the seedlings get enough light while being protected from rain. When it gets too cold or moist outside, you can easily carry them in and pamper them there until the weather’s right again.
Soil
Peppers and chillies need nutritious, well-draining soil that’s slightly acidic to neutral (pH 6.0–6.8). To prepare your garden or greenhouse before planting, distribute compost on the patch and rake it roughly in.
Before you plant pepper and chilli seedlings, make sure the soil is warm, between 15 – 18 °C (60 – 65 °F). Otherwise, they’ll stop growing for quite some time.
If you grow peppers and chillies in containers, fill them with mature compost, mixed with rock flour, nettles and well-rotted manure or sheep wool. The nutrients in these components will slowly release into the soil, where they can be absorbed by the plants.
Spacing
As pepper and chilli plants grow, they become broader. It’s important, therefore, that we plant them with enough space between them and also between the rows so that they have enough space.
If we plant them too closely, they’ll not only produce less fruit but will also be prone to diseases and pests.
In the patch, the right spacing between pepper and chilli plants is 50 – 60 cm (20 – 25 inches) and 80 – 100 cm between rows (2 – 3 feet).
In the greenhouse, there’s usually not enough space for rows, and we have to plan a bit differently. It’s a tried-and-tested method to plant peppers (or tomatoes, for that matter) diagonally instead of in rows, making the most of the limited space.
That means, we plant one pepper at the front and diagonally offset at a distance of 50 cm (20 inches) at the back, then again, one plant diagonally offset at the front and so on.
In containers, logically, we put only one pepper or chilli plant. When they grow larger, we can easily pull the pots apart, creating enough space for our plant babies.
Now that we know the growing conditions for peppers and chillies, let’s start growing them from seeds!
🌱 Stage 3: Starting Peppers from Seed
Seed Starting Peppers and Chillies— The What, When & How
When to start pepper and chilli seeds indoors
Many guides tell you to count back 8 – 10 weeks from your last expected frost date to seed-start peppers and chillies. In Bavaria, the last frost is expected in mid-May, so that would allow a time window of beginning to mid-March for seed-starting.
In my opinion, however, that’s too late. While peppers can be started 8-10 weeks before the last frost, they’ll only begin producing heavily much later in the season — potentially not until September or October when cooler weather slows them down again.
Let me show you my calculation:
Peppers and chillies take about 7 months to grow from seed to harvest; some very hot varieties need even longer. For that reason, we have to start them indoors a good deal earlier than March.
If you missed that window, you can, of course, start peppers and chillies until the beginning of March. Harvest will be in September then, and – depending on your climate – could be less than peppers that have been started earlier. In that case, I’d recommend growing them either in a greenhouse or in pots on the balcony or patio. When it gets too cold outside, you can easily put the pots indoors and still get a good harvest.
If starting in March, focus on faster-maturing sweet peppers rather than super-hot varieties, which need the full growing season.
Preparing to Sow
Planting is a bit like cooking – only quality ingredients lead to great results. Make sure, then, to select high-quality seeds for the peppers and chillies you’re going to grow.
Heirloom seeds
Heirloom pepper and chilli varieties offer a huge diversity in shape, colour, size and flavour, and their origins sometimes go back hundreds of years!
They often have a very unique visual appearance, and can be as large as a forearm or as tiny as cherries.
Seeds from heirloom varieties can be harvested and used for the next season.
My favourite varieties are “Roter Augsburger” (pointed pepper), “California Wonder” (bell pepper), Yellow stuffer (tomato pepper), “Anaheim” (mild chilli) and “Joe’s Long” (peperoni)
F1-Hybrids
Hybrid varieties, indicated by the addition F1, are selected by plant breeders in a complex method. They also come in all sizes, forms and colours and produce great fruits. Unlike heirloom varieties, however, their seeds are not of pure origin and produce different varieties than the parent plant.
F1 hybrids are often more disease-resistant and produce more uniform harvests, making them reliable for beginners.
Widely used F1 hybrids are “Kostas” (pointed pepper), “Paladio” (bell pepper) and “Estino” (chilli)
Sowing Process
When you’ve chosen which varieties you want to grow, the next step is to get your equipment ready.
Containers
There are, of course, those mini greenhouses for seed-starting, which come with a transparent lid to create a protected micro-environment. They’re wonderful for growing seedlings of any kind. I have some of them myself and use them every year.
If you’re new to gardening, however, and don’t want to invest too much money, you can use almost any container:
Cut open empty milk or juice cartons (lengthwise or crosswise), clean them and fill them with soil.
Recycle old planting pots that are not too deep.
Glass jars (without lids) you’d otherwise throw out can also be of use
Egg cartons are a wonderfully recyclable way to start any vegetables
Make four cuts of about 2 cm (1 inch) in empty toilet paper rolls, fold the cuts inwards and fill the roll with planting soil.
To grow a large-ish amount of plants, you can use flat plastic boxes with lids.
Just look around your house, and you’ll find plenty of containers you can use for seed-starting peppers and chillies.
One word on water-logging: many guides tell you to poke holes in the containers to prevent it, and by all means, do that if it makes you feel safer. I don’t do it because, let’s be honest, it can be a real mess when water drains out of the holes. Once, I had to paint my living room wall anew because the (dirty) water ran across the windowsill and down the wall, where it left nasty smudges.
I, therefore, use the containers as they are and try to be careful not to water too much.
Soil mix
The best soil for seed-starting peppers and chilli is either store-bought cultivation soil or well-rotted compost. Seeds have all the nutrients they need for germination in themselves. A rich, nutrient-dense soil would only lead to spindly and weak seedlings.
Put the soil in the containers you want to use and make sure to distribute it well to the edges. Press it slightly flat and fill up more soil if necessary. There should be a gap of about 1 cm (0.4 inches) from the soil to the edge of the container.
Soaking (optional)
Some people swear by pre-soaking pepper and chilli seeds in warm water or tea for 12 – 24 hours. I’ve tried it and couldn’t see any difference in germination between unsoaked seeds. But that’s just my experience. Go ahead and try it for yourself.
Seed-depth and spacing
When the containers are prepared, I poke holes of 0.5 – 1 cm (0.2 – 0.4 inches) in them where the seeds go in. If I use containers where only one seed will go in, for example, small pots, egg cartons, or toilet paper rolls, I (naturally) make only one hole in the middle of the pot.
With larger containers like mini-greenhouses, empty milk cartons or larger plastic containers, I first draw several rows with my finger and then poke holes along these lines. The seeds should be about 2 cm (0.8 inches) apart. Later, when the first pair of seed leaves shows, they’ll be thinned out and planted in larger pots.
When all seeds are in the pots, water them carefully and cover them either with a transparent lid (if part of a kit) or just wrap them with cling film. That way, we create a greenhouse-like atmosphere that holds the warmth and moisture at a constant level.
It’s important to open the covering daily to allow airflow and prevent fungal diseases.
Temperature
Peppers and chillies are heat-lovers, and that shows already at seed-starting. To germinate, pepper and chilli seeds need a soil temperature between 25 and 28 °C (77 – 82 °F). That’s a temperature that cannot be reached with normal room temperature. Instead, you’ll need a heating mat or just a (not too) hot water bottle that you put under the pots.
If you don’t have a heating mat and prefer to use your hot water bottle for yourself, you could place the containers on a windowsill above a radiator.
With constant temperatures in this range, the pepper and chilli seeds will sprout in 10 – 15 days.
Light for Seedlings
When the seedlings show, you can remove the heating mat and put them at slightly lower temperatures, but you must ensure that the seedlings get enough light. Here, too, normal daylight isn’t enough, especially when we seed-start in winter. A plant lamp is a great solution. It shines on the plants with just the right light frequency that they need, and we can adjust the “light hours” with a timer.
Peppers and chillies need 8 – 10 hours of light. When they get less than that, or it’s too dark, they’ll become “leggy”. That means, they grow long, thin stems that reach toward the light but are too weak to hold themselves. Leggy seedlings eventually fall over.
Putting the seeds in the soil is one thing. Now we must tend to our plant babies.
Growing Strong Seedlings
Watering & Feeding Seedlings Indoors
Throughout the whole growing process, we must verify that the soil in which our seedlings grow is always moist. Now “moist” doesn’t mean “wet”. If you’re not sure, carefully feel the soil or even poke your finger in a little bit. If it’s moist to the touch, leave it as it is. If it feels dry, water it with measure.
When watering, only moisten the soil and check that water doesn’t splash on the leaves.
From water alone, however, plants can’t live. When the first true leaves are fully open, I mix a bit of fertiliser into the water. You can either use a ready-mixed tomato fertiliser, or you can use diluted home-made nettle manure, at best mixed with comfrey. As peppers and chillies are cultivated for their fruit, they not only need nitrogen and potassium but also phosphorus for fruit development.
Thinning Peppers and Chillies
When the seedlings have developed their first pair of true leaves (the seed leaves don’t count), it’s time to thin them out by transplanting them into larger pots. This not only provides them with more space for developing roots but also with more light and nutrients.
For thinning, I always get the new pots, which should have a diameter of 8 – 10 cm /3 – 4 inches, ready. Then, I fill them with compost and press the soil slightly. Next, I carefully loosen the seedlings in the tray or pot with the pointed end of a dibber. Holding the seedling by its stem with one hand, and helping with the dibber in the other hand, I meticulously remove the plant from the soil. Sometimes the roots get entangled with those from the neighbouring plant. Here also, the pointy end of the dibber comes in handy for cautiously “combing” them out of each other.
Now, I poke a hole with the round end of the dibber in the soil of the new pots and put the seedling in there. I always ensure that the seedling sits as deep as before.
Pruning & Shaping
Strictly speaking, pruning peppers and chillies is not necessary to produce fruits, but careful and regular pruning can bring even more harvest.
Why prune peppers and chillies?
Pruning encourages the plant to form new twigs and grow sturdier. A sturdy plant can bear more or larger fruits without collapsing.
With fewer leaves, the air can flow better through the twigs, drying off faster any moisture due to watering/rain or condensation faster. This reduces the risk of fungal diseases.
It also induces the plant to form more blossoms (more blossoms = more fruits) over a longer period of time (longer time = longer harvest).
At the same time, the sun can reach the whole plant, which induces the pepper and chilli fruits to become larger and sweeter.
How and when to prune peppers and chillies?
When the plant is about 15 – 20 cm (6 – 8 inches) high, cut off the tip of the main stem. Use a pair of clean gardening scissors and cut directly above a pair of leaves.
This first pruning makes the plant form more side twigs, leading to sturdy growth and more fruits.
When there are too many side shoots and leaves, thin them by thoughtfully cutting some of them off. Don’t remove too many leaves, though. The plants need them for photosynthesis.
This thinning improves the airflow and decreases the risk of fungal diseases, and the plants can also absorb more sunlight.
Always cut off shoots near ground level, little shoots that sprout out of the stem very near or even under the ground. They’re just side stems and only cost the plant energy.
King blossom
Many guides advise breaking out the king blossom, the first flower that appears at the Y-junction where the stem splits. I’ve tried doing just that, and I can’t say I saw any difference in yield, so I leave it on the plant. There’s one exception, however: when the king blossom forms on a seedling in the pot, it’s better to break it out, as it would cost the plant too much energy at that stage.
If the plants bear many but small fruits, I remove some of them. That way, the plants have more energy for the remaining fruits, which then grow larger and, in my opinion, yummier.
In addition to pruning, it’s always a good idea to support the plants by poking a stick into the soil and binding the stem loosely to it.
Hardening Off
Before we can release the seedlings into the wild outdoors, we have to harden them off. Start about a week before transplanting and put the seedlings outside for a couple of hours.
It’s important to monitor the temperature, as peppers and chillies are very, very fussy. Make sure it’s a warm day and put the seedling tray or pots in the shade so they don’t get too hot or even sunburnt.
Each day, prolong the time the plants stay outdoors, and after 3 days, you can start placing them in the sunlight (not around noon, that would be too much).
To make them accustomed to the wind, gently brush them with your hand, simulating wind movement.
After one week of hardening off, the peppers and chillies are ready for transplanting.
🌿 Stage 4: Transplanting & Early Care
Transplanting to the Garden or Containers
When the nights finally stay warm, it’s time to get our peppers and chillies outside.
I always transplant my seedlings on a cloudy day or in the late hours of the afternoon to reduce the risk of plant shock.
First, I lay the pots or carefully uprooted plants out on the patch so that I can adjust the distance between them. Remember: it’s 50 – 60 cm (20 – 25 inches) between plants and 80 – 100 cm between rows (2 – 3 feet). If you plant in large pots, you can skip that step, of course, as it’s only one plant per pot.
In each planting hole, I put a small shovel full of moistened, well-rotted manure and half a handful of rock flour as a long-term fertiliser. This provides my peppers and chillies with some quickly available nutrients (manure) and a long-term fertiliser (rock flour). More on fertilising in “Daily Care and Maintenance”.
Then I put the plants in slightly deeper than they were in the pots. I cover the hole with the soil I removed earlier and carefully press it down around the roots.
I water the seedlings properly after planting so that the soil settles around the roots, leaving no air holes.
When all my peppers and chillies are in the ground, I cover the soil between them with mulch. This could be hay, straw, pulled weeds, leaves, sheep wool, or wood shavings. If you plant in pots, mulch as well. Mulch helps reduce water evaporation, so you don’t have to water too often. It also reduces the growth of weeds, which I appreciate because weeding is not my favourite task.
If you live in a cooler climate and don’t have a greenhouse, you may want to consider foil tunnels around the plant rows. I wouldn’t use covers as they are too heavy and could eventually break the plants off.
🌶 Stage 5: Caring for Mature Plants
Daily Care & Maintenance for Garden Plants
Watering Routines
To check if my peppers and chillies need watering, I test the soil by touching the surface and even poking my finger into the ground. If it feels dry, it’s time to water.
I water the plants thoroughly, but ensure I don’t overwater them. With good drainage, either in the patch or the pot, that’s no problem.
Unlike tomatoes, which have deep roots, peppers and chillies grow shallower roots. For that reason, they need to be watered more often as they can’t get water from deep down.
Fertilising
Once your plants are thriving, the next step is to support them with the right nutrients.
Peppers and chillies are heavy feeders, which means they need a lot of nutrients. I prepare the patches in spring by adding compost and raking it in.
After the first fertilisation during transplanting (see above), I don’t feed the plants until the first buds show. Now they need phosphorus and potassium, and we can feed them with a tomato fertiliser.
Every 3 – 4 weeks, I add some nettle manure to the water and water my peppers and chillies with it. When the fruits start to change their colour, I don’t fertilise them anymore; it would only lead to watery, bland fruit.
After harvesting, however, another dose of fertiliser can be good for the plant, especially when it’s still early enough to expect a second (smaller) harvest.
Temperature control
We can’t control the temperature outside, of course, but we can monitor it in a greenhouse. I also had times when I forgot to open the windows of my greenhouse and only got there around noon or even later. Especially on sunny summer days, temperatures get high very fast in a greenhouse, and although peppers and chillies need it warm, hot is too hot and temperatures above 35 °C (95 °F) can stress plants and cause blossoms to drop.
The same goes for colder temperatures. Below 13 °C (55 °F), peppers and chillies will stop growing. When low temperatures are forecast, we just protect our babies with a foil tunnel or by closing the greenhouse windows.
If you cultivate peppers and chillies in pots, put them indoors when it’s too cold outside. If it gets warmer, you can always put them back out.
Pollination of Peppers and Chillies (For More Experienced Gardeners)
The blossoms of peppers and chillies have both male and female parts, which means they’re self-pollinating, helped by movement through wind or insects.
It’s never guaranteed, though, that the blossoms are pollinated, especially when you grow peppers and chillies in pots on a balcony. Pollination can also be an issue in small greenhouses where insects don’t get in easily. (My greenhouse is quite large and has huge windows, so pollination is not a problem.) Here’s how we can help the plants:
The right time for pollinating peppers and chillies is when the blossoms open in the morning. The high humidity and cooler temperatures make the pollen moist and sticky, which makes pollination easier.
Either use a soft paint brush or your finger to transfer the pollen. Gently brush over the open blossom to get the pollen stuck where it should, and repeat that action after three days.
Another, easier method is to tap the blossom a few times with your finger to make it self-pollinate or just to carefully (!) shake the plants. The movement will brush the pollen onto the female parts of the blossom.
Although pollination is mostly an issue with plants on balconies or in a greenhouse, it can be useful to help pollination with plants in the garden, especially when you want to harvest the seeds for the next season. By pollinating by hand, we remove the risk of cross-pollination. There won’t be any unforeseen cross-breeds, which could have negative effects on the peppers’ characteristics.
Companion Planting with Peppers and Chillies
The right companions can protect plants from pests and enhance growth, while wrong companions compete, for example, for space or nutrients.
Good companions for peppers and chillies help repel pests, attract beneficial insects, or have complementary growing habits:
Basil: Repels pests, attracts pollinators and promotes growth
Dill: Attracts pollinators
Cucumbers: Similar light and water requirements
Nasturtium: Attracts aphids away from peppers (trap crop)
Garlic: Protects from fungal diseases and aphids
Onions: Repel pests like white fly
Carrots: Loosen the soil
Parsley: Attracts pollinators
Calendula: Repels nematodes
Lettuce: Keeps the soil moist
Spinach: Keeps the soil moist
Avoid planting peppers near these crops, as they compete for nutrients or share diseases:
Potatoes: Same plant family, i.e. similar requirements and susceptibility to diseases
Tomatoes: Same plant family, i.e. similar requirements and susceptibility to diseases
Eggplants: Same plant family, i.e. similar requirements and susceptibility to diseases
Peas: Attracts aphids without drawing them away from peppers
Fennel: Inhibits the growth of peppers and chillies
Celery/Celeriac: Heavy-feeder
Protecting Your Peppers from Pests and Diseases
While peppers are relatively hardy plants, they can encounter a few common issues. The most frequent problems include aphids, spider mites, and blossom end rot (dark spots on fruit bottoms caused by irregular watering).
The best prevention? Healthy plants! Follow the care guidelines in this article—consistent watering, proper spacing, good air circulation, and companion planting—and you’ll avoid most problems.
But how do we know when peppers and chillies are ready to harvest? And how to harvest them properly? I’ll show you.
🍅 Stage 6: Harvesting & Storing
Harvesting Peppers and Chillies — When & How
Knowing When Peppers and Chillies are Ready to Harvest
Timing
As a rule of thumb, most varieties need 60 – 80 days from flowering to full ripeness. Depending on whether they grow in a greenhouse or outdoors, this is between mid-July and mid-August. Outdoors, it takes longer and larger fruit also take longer to get ripe than smaller ones.
Colour, firmness and size
Peppers and chillies are ready to harvest when they’ve developed their variety-specific colour. Ripe peppers and chillies feel firm and have a slightly glossy appearance. They have reached their expected full size (which you can check on the seed package), and the colour should be deep and uniform, not pale or patchy.
Green peppers are unripe, but can, of course, also be eaten. Their taste may not be fully developed, though, and they might taste less sweet and more bitter than ripe ones.
Harvesting green peppers can be sensible when there are (too) many fruits on one plant, increasing the risk of collapse. In fact, harvesting the first pepper, the so-called “king pepper”, when it’s still green, is often done to encourage the plant to form more fruit.
How to Harvest Peppers and Chillies Properly
Cutting technique
To harvest peppers and chillies, cut them off with a sharp knife or garden scissors. If you try to rip the fruits off the branch, you usually either rip off the branch or part of the fruit. I know this all too well, because there always comes that day, when I’m too lazy to grab my garden scissors, and I either damage the plant or the fruit in the attempt to tear it off. And just in case you think „I’ll just twist the pepper until it comes off“: Nope, that doesn’t work either.
The fruit stem, or at least part of it, should always remain at the fruit so that it stays closed. This is especially important when you want to store the fruit.
Harvesting frequency
I usually check my plants every 2 – 3 days during peak season and regularly harvest the ripe fruits. This encourages the plant to produce even more fruits. When you leave overripe fruits on the plant, that signals it to stop producing.
Hot Pepper Safety
When harvesting hot peppers and chillies, we MUST wear gloves. For some super-hot varieties, you should also wear safety goggles and a mask, as the capsaicin that causes burning is so strong that it can irritate your eyes and respiratory system.
After handling hot peppers and chillies, avoid touching your face, especially your eyes. Wash your hands thoroughly, even if you’ve worn gloves.
The hotter the pepper or chilli, the more irritating it can be.
Ripening indoors
When nighttime temperatures drop below 17°C (63°F), peppers will stop ripening on the plant. What should you do then when your plants are full of green peppers or chillies, but cold weather is coming?
You can either protect the plants with a fleece, but there’s always the risk that twigs or fruits break off.
Alternatively, harvest the unripe peppers or chillies and let them ripen on a sunny windowsill indoors.
Some guides recommend putting an apple or a tomato next to the unripe peppers on the sill. Both fruits emit ethylene, a gas that induces ripening in some fruits. With peppers and chillies, however, that doesn’t work.
Some gardeners even pull up the whole plants and hang them upside down indoors to let the remaining fruits ripen. I haven’t tried that, but go ahead if you have the space.
How to Store Peppers and Chillies
Short Storage of Peppers and Chillies
Fresh peppers and chillies should always be stored in a dry and cool place, optimally at 7-10°C (45-50°F). If your fridge has a vegetable crisper drawer, that’s ideal. Here, they stay fresh for up to one week, green fruits even longer.
Long Storage of Peppers and Chillies
There are several ways to store peppers and chillies long-term, from freezing to drying, fermenting and pickling. The longer we store the product, however, the worse its quality gets. It’s best, therefore, to use up stored peppers and chillies within one year.
Freezing peppers and chillies
We can either freeze peppers and chillies whole or cut in strips or squares. Wash the peppers and dry them thoroughly. Then put them whole or cut up on a baking tray or wooden board with parchment or baking paper, and put them in the freezer. It’s important to freeze peppers and chillies separately first, to prevent them from sticking together and getting damaged when we take them out of the freezer.
When the fruits are completely frozen, put them in a freezer bag, press out the air and label it. Labelling is important, even when you think you can always see what’s inside the bag. Let me tell you, as someone who wanted to add red pepper to a hearty stew. Turned out what I put (frozen) in the stew wasn’t peppers, and I ended up eating fruity rosebud soup instead!
Drying peppers and chillies
A different method of preserving peppers and chillies is drying, which is ideal to keep their full taste.
We can either dry them by cutting them into rings (or leaving them whole when they’re small), threading them on a string and hanging them in an airy, warm place for 2 – 4 weeks, depending on the humidity. It’s quicker, though, to dry them in a dehydrator or in the oven at 60-70°C (140-160°F) for 6-12 hours.
Store dried peppers and chillies in tightly closed jars or containers. Before doing so, you can also grind them finely.
Pickling chillies
Pickling chillies is less common than freezing or drying them, but no less yummy!
Make a brine from water, vinegar, salt, sugar and optionally herbs and spices to your taste. Boil that mixture until the salt and sugar dissolve. Pack the whole or cut up chillies in a jar, pour the hot brine in so that they’re all covered and immediately close the lid tightly.
Normally, they need about 24 hours to absorb the flavours of the vinegar brine, but I’d suggest letting them rest for 1 – 2 weeks before opening a jar. That way, the aroma is even more intense.
Store pickled chillies in the refrigerator for up to 3 months, or process in a water bath for long-term shelf storage.
Fermenting peppers and chillies
If you’d like to go one step further, chillies can easily be lacto-fermented. Wash them and dry them thoroughly, and cut them into pieces (I usually cut them into fine strips). Make a 3% brine from 30 g salt and 1 litre of water.
Pack the chillies in a jar and pour the brine in so that all chillies are under it. Now, cover it with a fermenting weight of any kind and loosely close the lid. Let the jar sit at room temperature but away from direct sunlight for 7 – 10 days. When bubbling decreases, store the jar in a cool, dark and dry place like a cool basement or the fridge.
Don’t throw away the seeds from your homegrown peppers and chillies. With the right plants and technique, you can save them for the next season.
🌱 Stage 7: Saving Seeds & Overwintering
Saving Seeds From Peppers and Chillies
What plants can be used?
Saving seeds from our own pepper and chilli plants is a simple method to preserve our favourite plants after harvest. It’s important, though, that we know what we’re doing: Only seeds from open-pollinated or heirloom plants can be used for saving. Seeds from F1-hybrids are not suitable, as their offspring will not be the same as the parent plant.
It’s equally important to make sure that the fruits from which we want to save the seeds have not cross-pollinated with other pepper and chilli varieties from our (or our neighbour’s) garden.
It’s easiest to hand-pollinate the blossoms when they’re not fully open. Break them open, pollinate them with your finger or a brush and – if you want to be 100 % sure – fix a finely-meshed cloth around the blossom with a rubber band or string. The resulting fruit is true-to-type. This is mainly necessary if you’re growing multiple varieties close together.
Always check that the fruits you take for seed saving are healthy.
How to save seeds from peppers and chillies
Take a fruit that’s a bit riper than those you’d normally harvest for eating. It should show its characteristic end colour and smell ripe. (Be careful, though, to check the smell of hot or even super-hot varieties as they can irritate the respiratory system. With them, you have to rely on colour and firmness as indicators for ripeness.
Cut the pepper or chilli open and cautiously remove the seeds without squeezing them.
Put the seeds loosely on a kitchen towel or plate and put them in a dark and dry place (not above a radiator) with adequate airflow.
Dry the seeds until they’re hard and rustle when you handle them.
Put them in a paper bag, label it and store the seeds in a dark and dry place.
That way, you can start peppers and chillies from seeds again next year without buying new seeds.
Properly stored pepper seeds remain viable for 2-4 years, though germination rates decline over time.
In my hardiness zone, I can harvest peppers and chillies until around the beginning to mid-October. After that, it gets too cold, even in the greenhouse. When the plants are in pots, you can put them indoors and prolong the harvest time until November.
Experimental – My Experience So Far
Strictly speaking, peppers and chillies are perennials, not annuals. Last year, I dug up some pepper and chilli plants from the greenhouse, planted them in pots and brought them indoors to overwinter. Unfortunately, they were infested by aphids and lost all their leaves. Two plants have survived so far (at least I think they’re still alive).
My first overwintering attempt taught me that overwintering peppers indoors is possible, but challenging — pests and low light are the main obstacles. I’m still experimenting with this and will share what I learn.
You’ve harvested a basket full of colourful peppers and chillies, more than you can eat right now. Some you might want to eat within the next few days, but the others you can preserve for winter.
🔧 Stage 8: Common Problems & Solutions
Troubleshooting
Why aren’t my pepper seeds germinating?
The Problem: The seeds have been in the soil for 3+ weeks, but haven’t sprouted yet.
Common Causes & Solutions
Temperature is too low – Pepper seeds need 25-28°C (77-82°F) to germinate. Use a heating mat or a hot water bottle to increase the temperature.
The seeds are too old – Pepper seeds lose their viability after 2-4 years. Always check the date and do a germination test with a few seeds on a damp paper towel first.
The seeds are planted too deep – Seeds should be only 0.5-1 cm (0.2-0.4 inches) deep. Deeper than this, and they won’t reach the surface.
The soil is either too wet or too dry – Keep the soil consistently moist, but not waterlogged. Check daily and mist if needed.
My seedlings are tall, thin, and falling over. What’s wrong?
The Problem: The seedlings are leggy and weak and can’t support themselves.
The Cause: Is always insufficient light. Pepper seedlings need 8-10 hours of bright light per day, especially when they’ve been started in winter.
Solutions:
Add a grow light immediately and place it 10-15 cm (4-6 inches) above the seedlings
Move to the brightest window you have (south-facing is best)
When transplanting, bury the leggy stem deeper to provide support
Going forward, start seeds later (February instead of January) when the natural light is stronger, OR invest in proper lighting from the start
Why are my pepper plants flowering but not producing fruit?
The Problem: Your plants produce lots of beautiful flowers, but they drop off without forming peppers.
Common Causes & Solutions:
Temperature issues – Peppers drop their blossoms when it’s too hot (above 35°C/95°F) or too cold (below 13°C/55°F). Provide shade in extreme heat and protect your plants from cold nights with fleece or bring the pots indoors.
Lack of pollination – Especially in greenhouses or on balconies without wind/insects. Hand-pollinate by gently tapping flowers or using a soft brush to transfer the pollen between blooms.
Inconsistent watering – Stress from drought causes blossoms to drop. Water regularly (every 2-3 days) and mulch to retain moisture.
Too much nitrogen – Overfertilizing with nitrogen-rich fertilisers produces lots of leaves and flowers but no fruit. Switch to a balanced or phosphorus-rich fertiliser instead (tomato fertiliser works well).
The leaves on my pepper plants are turning yellow. Is my plant dying?
The Problem: Yellowing leaves, starting from the bottom or throughout the plant.
Diagnosis depends on the pattern:
Lower leaves yellowing – Usually normal ageing OR nitrogen deficiency. Feed with a balanced fertiliser or nettle manure.
Yellowing between veins (leaves stay green along veins) – Magnesium deficiency. Add Epsom salt solution (1 tablespoon per 4 litres of water).
All-over yellowing + wilting – Overwatering or root rot. Let the soil dry out between waterings; ensure good drainage.
Yellowing + curling + stunted growth – Could be pests (check for aphids, spider mites) or a viral disease. See the pest and disease guide [link].
My peppers have dark, sunken spots on the bottom. Can I still eat them?
The Problem: Blossom end rot – dark, leathery patches on the blossom end (bottom) of fruits.
The Cause: Calcium deficiency, usually triggered by inconsistent watering rather than a lack of calcium in the soil.
Solutions:
Water consistently – This is the #1 fix. Water deeply every 2-3 days rather than lightly every day.
Mulch heavily to maintain even soil moisture
Remove affected fruits – They won’t recover, and removing them lets the plant focus energy on new, healthy fruit
Add calcium – Work crushed eggshells or bone meal into the soil for long-term prevention
Reduce nitrogen fertiliser – Too much nitrogen interferes with calcium uptake
The good news: Blossom end rot isn’t a disease and won’t spread. New fruits will be fine once you fix the watering.
How long does it take to get peppers after transplanting?
The Problem: Impatience! “I transplanted 3 weeks ago and still no peppers!”
The Reality: After transplanting outdoors in mid-May, expect:
First flowers: 3-4 weeks
First small fruits: 6-8 weeks
First ripe, harvest-ready peppers: 10-14 weeks (mid-July to August)
Bell peppers and larger varieties take longer than small chillies. Hot varieties often mature faster than sweet peppers.
Be patient! Peppers spend the first weeks after transplanting establishing roots and adjusting to outdoor conditions. Once they start producing, they’ll continue until frost.
Can I grow peppers successfully if I missed the January/February seed-starting window?
The Problem: It’s March or even April, and you want to grow peppers, but you feel it’s too late.
The Answer: Yes, but adjust your expectations and strategy.
Options:
Buy seedlings – Most garden centres sell pepper seedlings in April/May. You’ll skip the seed-starting challenge and still get a harvest.
Start seeds in March – You can still start seeds, but harvest will come in September, instead of July/August. Grow in pots or a greenhouse so you can extend the season by bringing plants indoors when it gets cold.
Choose fast-maturing varieties – Look for varieties that mature in 60-70 days rather than 80-90 days. Small chillies generally mature faster than large bell peppers.
Plan for next year – Mark your calendar to start seeds in January or February for best results.
Late-started peppers can still produce well, especially if you give them extra care and protection as autumn approaches!
FAQs – Questions and Quick Answers
✓ When should I start pepper seeds indoors?
In most temperate climates, January to mid-February.
✓ Why are my pepper seedlings leggy?
They got too little light. Put them under a plant lamp immediately.
✓ How often should I water pepper plants?
Check the soil and water when it feels dry. Outdoors, water regularly and deeply every 2 – 4 days.
✓ How long do peppers take to ripen?
This varies depending on the variety and may take between 6 and 10 weeks.
✓ Why are my pepper flowers falling off?
Temperatures are either too high (> 35 °C/95 °F) or too low (< 13 °C / 56 °F).
✓ Can I grow peppers in containers?
Absolutely, just make sure they are large enough (at least 10 litres).
✓ How hot is a jalapeño on the Scoville scale?
Between 2,500 and 8,500 SHU, depending on ripeness and growing conditions.
Why are my peppers not turning red?
It’s either too cold, they need more time, or your variety has a different end colour, like yellow or orange.
When should I transplant peppers outdoors?
After the last night frost, in zone 7b, that’s mid-May.
Wrap-Up & Seasonal Tips
Growing peppers and chillies from seed is absolutely manageable – even for complete beginners. The key is to start early, in January/February already, and keep them warm enough to sprout. When they’ve grown their first real pair of leaves, thin them and plant them in single pots.
Before transplanting them outdoors, harden them off properly and wait until temperatures are warm enough, even at night.
Consistent watering and proper feeding help them stay strong and healthy and produce an abundance of those peppers and chillies you like.
Start small if you’re new to this. Try 2-3 plants of an easy variety like ‘California Wonder’ or ‘Anaheim’, learn what works in your specific garden conditions, and expand from there.
I’ve been growing peppers for years, and I’m still learning new tricks every season. That’s what makes gardening so rewarding—there’s always something new to discover.
And my friend who “gave up” on peppers? She has already ordered new seeds and sown them in a container that’s now happily sitting on a warm windowsill.
Ready to get started as well? Your pepper-growing adventure begins now! 🌶️
Want more gardening guides? Check out these related articles:
When the days get longer in February, my fingers start to itch and I yearn to get them into the dirt. Alas, it’s still way too early to sow and plant outdoors. BUT: we can prepare for spring by seed-starting some of our vegetables indoors in February.
If you’re new to vegetable gardening, seed-starting may seem a bit daunting. After all, you can always buy seedlings at a nursery and plant those out in your garden at the right time. Seed-starting has, however, several advantages compared to buying plants.
Benefits of Starting Seeds Indoors
First of all, it’s cheaper. A seed package of tomatoes containing 10 seeds costs about 3 € now. A tomato seedling, ready for planting will cost at least 4 – 5 € per plant. Last year, I cultivated about 40 tomato plants, which would have amounted to 160 – 200 €! Just for the tomatoes! My inner Ebenezer cringes at the thought…
Another advantage of seed-starting is the variety selection. Most of the tomatoes I cultivated last year wouldn’t have been available as seedlings. I love tomatoes and what’s more, I love to try different varieties. Every season, I buy 4 – 5 new tomato varieties that I haven’t cultivated before and seed-start them together with my favourite varieties. You won’t get that range in a nursery.
Last but not least, seed-starting gives you a head-start for spring as the vegetables (and varieties) you like are ready for transplanting when the time and temperature are right, shortening the time until harvest by several weeks.
February seed-starting: What to grow
Although the list is not as long as in March, there are some vegetables you can seed-start now. Let’s start with warm-season crops:
Tomatoes
Seed-starting tomatoes in February is discussed controversially. As usual, it depends on your climate zone and where you intend to transplant the tomatoes. Wanna plant them outside in the open but can’t do so before May? Then, February is too early to seed-start tomatoes. They would only become too long and leggy and would be too weak to hold themselves up by the time you can transplant them. Tomatoes for the outdoors shouldn’t be seed-started before mid-March.
However, if you have a greenhouse, things are looking different. As you can plant tomatoes in the greenhouse in April already, now is a good time to seed-start them indoors.
I’ve talked about those two already in the January post, but if you haven’t found the time yet to seed-start them in January, you can still do so now in February.
Physalis
If you didn’t start physalis in January, February is your last chance. Sow several seeds into one pot and put it in a warm and bright spot. Temperatures about 25 °C (77°F) are ideal. Physalis grow slowly at the beginning and must be kept moist. Separate the plants when they are about three weeks old and plant them in single pots. Either plant physalis out after the last night frost or separate them again and put them into large pots that you put outside.
Physalis are perennials and can be kept indoors during winter.
Eggplants
Eggplants also need some time to grow and mature, so the end of January / beginning of February is a good time to sow them into small pots. When they’ve grown four leaves, transplant them separately into pots.
Artichokes
Put two to three artichoke seeds into a pot and repot them into separate pots when they’ve reached a good height. Artichokes usually build blossoms (that’s what we eat) in their second year, with a bit of luck and a good head start, even in their first year.
Sweet potatoes
Cut sweet potatoes in half or quarters and let the cutting areas dry for a few hours. Then, put the pieces with the cut end facing down into a pot or balcony box with soil so that only a centimetre (1/3 inch) looks out. Place the pot or box in a warm and sunny place. After some time, shoots will grow out of the sweet potatoes, which we’ll cut off later and put into water for building roots.
Fennel
I must admit that I’m not good at cultivating fennel. I either get no or only a minuscule harvest. Nevertheless, I’ll try it again this year, and although I’m not an expert with this vegetable, I know that seed-starting fennel will make the plants healthier and sturdier before we transplant them outside in April / May.
All these warm-season crops need a temperature of about 25 °C (77 °F) to grow well. A sunny window and maybe a heating mat will help them to thrive.
The following vegetables are all cool-season crops that grow best at a temperature of 18 – 20 °C (65 – 68 °F).
Early brassicas
Brassica is the name for the cabbage family. In February, seed-starting may contain early varieties of
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Savoy cabbage
Red and White cabbage
Kohlrabi.
I usually sow one to two rows of seeds into a large plastic container filled with earth and transplant them later into single pots. Remember to label the rows with some kind of marker where you note the kind of vegetable and its variety. Yes, that’s absolutely necessary because no, you won’t be able to remember what’s where or deduce it from the leaf shape. Been there, done it, definitely not recommendable.
Leafy greens
If not already done, seed-start leafy greens like
Winter lettuce
Iceberg lettuce
Swiss Chard
Arugula.
Sow the seeds into pots and separate the plants later by repotting them.
Onion family
Onions
We’re talking of sowing onions here, not putting bulbs into the soil. Sowing onions may be more time-consuming than planting the bulbs, but it shows advantages like healthier growth, more varieties and better storage capability. And it’s cheaper.
Sow the seeds into a tray or small single pots and place them in a bright spot at about 16 – 18 °C (60 – 65 °F) or colder (not below 10 °C / 50 °F).
Summer leak
Summer leek, that’s harvested in July / August, must be seed-started at the end of January / beginning of February. You can either sow the seeds in trays and transplant them later, or you can sow them into small single pots. Plant the leek outdoors when it’s about as thick as a pencil.
Root vegetables
Celery
Celery needs a long time to grow those thick, bulbous roots and therefore profits from being seed-started in February. Keep in mind that celery only germinates in light, which is why you shouldn’t cover the seeds with soil but only press them down lightly. Water the seeds very carefully and make sure that they aren’t washed off the soil.
Beetroot
Beetroot is normally best sown directly into the patch, but if you want to get a very early harvest and intend to put the plants out into a cold frame or a greenhouse, seed-starting now is a good idea.
Herbs
You can seed-start the following herbs indoors:
Basil
Parsley
Thyme
Sage
Garlic chive
Plant them outdoors after the last night frost; parsley and garlic chive can be transplanted in April already.
Common February Seed Starting Challenges
There are a few challenges every gardener who seed-starts his vegetables indoors will know.
In February, the days are already longer, but the natural light is still not enough for seedlings. For that reason, I always use a plant lamp which not only delivers enough light but also the “right” light.
Also, the air indoors is usually dry due to heating. To counter that, you can put bowls with water on the window sills. In the course of time, and depending on your indoor temperature, the water will evaporate and moisten the air. Additionally, make sure that your seedlings get enough water.
No matter how you heat your rooms, there is a natural temperature fluctuation indoors due to lower night temperatures and alternating day temperatures, especially when the sun is shining and heating up the temperature indoors.
To keep the soil and seedlings moist, it’s best to cover them with a plastic lid, which usually comes with seed-starting trays. If you use other pots, you can also use cling film or any plastic cover, actually, that is transparent enough to let the light through. It’s important, however, to open the door and check on your plants, making sure that the air can circulate and preventing the formation of mould or other fungal diseases.
Summary
As your seedlings thrive under grow lights, it’s time to look ahead to the bustling spring season. Your careful attention to indoor seed starting has given your garden a strong foundation, but the journey is just beginning. Keep monitoring your seedlings daily and adjusting care as they grow.
It’s so satisfying to see those first February seedlings transform into robust plants ready for the garden. That makes all the careful attention worthwhile! As spring approaches, you’ll be the envy of your neighbourhood with all those healthy, vigorous plants. And when later in summer you bite into your first homegrown tomato, you can say nonchalantly, “I knew them when they were just seeds!”
February is not my favourite month. It’s still cold outside, and some days it’s so foggy and gloomy that one could think Spring will never come. On the other hand, however, we can witness how the days become longer in February. Sometimes, temperatures are above zero, and although the melting water leaves the paths and patches muddy, the smell of thawing earth bears the promise of warmer days. That’s when I can feel the itch in my fingers to dig into soil! While we may not be able to plant outdoors yet, there are still plenty of garden tasks we should tackle in February.
Once spring has arrived, it seems that everything must be done right then and there, and we could easily get overwhelmed. Doing some of these tasks now can add 2 – 3 weeks to our growing season!
So, roll up your sleeves and let’s get started!
Overview of garden tasks in February 2026
Here’s a quick overview of all tasks and when to tackle them:
Task
Time
Turn compost heap
Any dry day
Soil preparation
When soil is no longer frozen and dry
Refresh container soil
When soil is no longer frozen
Check seeds
Anytime this month
Organise seeds
Anytime this month
Review and plan improvements
Anytime this month
Build garden elements
Anytime this month
Refresh your garden paths
Any dry day
Fruit tree and berry bush pruning
Before buds swell
Cleaning the greenhouse
Early February
Seed-start
Mid-to-late February
#1 Turn your compost heap
If you’re like me and have forgotten to cover your compost heap in late autumn, it’ll be a bit on the wet side by now. That’s why now, depending on your climate, can be a good time to turn up your compost heap. That way, dry and wet parts are mixed, the heap is aired, and microorganisms, as well as soil organisms, can start working again as soon as it becomes warmer.
When the soil– and thus your compost heap– is no longer frozen, turn everything out with a fork. Either you put it in a new compost heap or box right away, or you make a heap beside your initial compost heap.
If the compost is very wet, mix dry parts into it, for example, hay, leaves or even scraps of cardboard. In the unlikely case that your compost is too dry, water it after you’ve mixed it through and made a new heap.
When you’ve turned over the compost heap, remember to cover it so that nutrients won’t be washed out.
#2 Soil preparation
During winter, the soil in your garden has become dense, and we must loosen it up to prepare it for the first sowings.
As you may know by now, I don’t dig up my garden soil but rather loosen it with the help of a garden fork. When the soil is no longer frozen and has dried somewhat, prick the fork into the soil and jiggle it forward and backwards. That way, the soil will loosen, and air will get into the deeper soil layers. This air will help warm the soil up faster and transport oxygen to the deeper layers of our garden soil.
#3 Refreshing container soil
Garden tasks in February not only include preparing the soil in the patches, but also refreshing used soil for pot planting.
Soil that has been left in balcony trays or pots is pretty much leached out. Dump all this soil into a big container or bucket, add a bit (not too much!) of organic and mineral fertiliser (compost, horn shavings, rock powder, etc.). Now add one part of fresh soil to three parts of used soil. For example, if you have three buckets of spent soil in your mixing container, add one bucket of fresh soil to it.
Mix all the ingredients really well together, and you can use this refreshed soil for your planting pots again. By treating it that way, you not only add the nutrients necessary for healthy plant growth, but by mixing and adding new soil, you also bypass the necessity of crop rotation.
Crop rotation: An agricultural practice to cultivate crops from different plant families in the same place to improve soil health, repel pests and enhance nutrient levels. Click here for a detailed guide to crop rotation.
#4 Check your seeds
By now, you’ll certainly have a planting plan and know what seeds you’ll need. Check the seeds you may have bought or harvested from last year, and buy or trade seeds on local exchange platforms. That way, you’ll not only become a little bit more independent, but you’ll also get seeds that are perfectly adapted to your climate.
#5 Organise your seeds
For years, I bought seeds I already had, just because I had overlooked them in my chaos called the seed box. That only changed when I took the time to organise that box. I took a shoe box and divided it with cardboard into sections. Each section is dedicated to a plant or plant group, for example, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, spinach, etc. I put my seed packages in the appropriate section, and that way I can see at a glance what seeds I have and what I need.
#6 Review last year’s garden journal and plan improvements
Before long, we’ll be in the midst of seed-starting, planting, maintaining and harvesting again. Now is the short time frame where we have the opportunity to enhance our knowledge on gardening, review what went well last year and what didn’t.
For example, look what varieties performed poorly and find better alternatives.
Or maybe you realised that one of your patches is shadowed early in the afternoon by a big bush.
February is still a month of reflection and planning, and that’s why now is the perfect time to learn from our experience from the last season and plan improvements based on the lessons we’ve learned.
Here are resources for common issues you might be planning to address:
Have you longed for a cold frame? Now’s the time to build one. The same goes for insect hotels, trellises, raised beds and decorative articles you may want to have for your garden but haven’t found the muse to build.
These are perfect projects for rainy or cold days: Head to your workshop, grab your saw, screwdriver and screws and start building.
#8 Refresh your garden paths
I use wood shavings and chips on my garden paths and at the end of winter (that is: now), I add a fresh coat of them. It not only suppresses weeds but also prevents the earth from the beds from falling onto the path, as long as the layer of wood chips is as high as the soil in your beds.
Alternatively, build frames around your beds, either with planks, round timber, fences made from willow twigs, stone and so on. There are no limits to your imagination. Think it – build it.
#9 Fruit tree and berry bush pruning
Another important garden task in February is pruning. If you haven’t pruned your fruit trees and berry bushes yet, now is more or less your last chance. Here in Germany, we must be done pruning by March 1. After that date, it’s forbidden to cut back any trees or bushes so that the birds won’t be disturbed when they build new nests. Check your local regulations on that matter.
By pruning, we thin the tree crowns and bushes so that they become lighter and airier, and the fruits have more room to grow and ripen.
You can cut the twigs and branches with a wood chopper and use that material for your garden paths or as a mulch for your beds. Leave some sturdy branches and use them as a trellis for peas that you can sow later in spring.
#10 Clean your greenhouse
Over the winter, algae and dirt have collected on the greenhouse sides and windows. Like with every good spring cleaning, this must be removed so that your plants inside will get enough light to grow healthily.
Get a bucket of hot water and some soft soap, and clean the windows and walls from inside by brushing the dirt off with a brush or a sponge. Rinse off with clean water and marvel at how light it has suddenly become in your greenhouse.
Yes, I know, it’s still winter, but spring is already lurking around the corner, and we can do a lot of garden tasks in February to give our garden a head start for the upcoming season.
Don’t wait until March – by then, you’ll have missed the window for several of these tasks. Imagine stepping into your garden in late spring, when others are just starting to prep, and you’re already harvesting.
Remember that itch to get busy in the garden? Now channel that energy into these tasks – your garden is waiting.
Can’t wait to work in your garden?
Browse my complete gardening library for step-by-step guides on every aspect of vegetable growing, from planning to harvest.
These February reflections are part of a monthly practice of noticing what each season asks of us.
What does February ask of us?
In this article, I share how February urges us to slow down, find joy in simple tasks, embrace the garden’s quiet stirrings, and care for body, mind, and soul as we prepare for spring.
In January, I still experience the aftermath of Christmas with its festivity and enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the beginning of the New Year. But February? February makes me restless and sometimes a bit depressed. I yearn to go outside again without several layers of thick clothing – to walk in warm sunshine again. Instead, here in Bavaria, it’s wet, foggy and bleak outside, and it feels as if winter will never end. February is not my favourite month.
I feel a bit like a seed that’s been buried in the soil. The seedling has just broken through the hard outer shell of the seed in search of light and life – only to discover that it’s still surrounded by darkness. That isn’t quite true, of course – there is light up there, and it’s just a little way to reach it.
When I feel my mood drop in February, and the late-winter blues try to kick in, I take a look at the calendar: Candlemas, which we celebrate on February 2nd, marks the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox. That means winter is officially half over! Although it’s still some way to go, spring is near.
So, why not embrace that short time before we can go out again and dig in our garden soil without wearing a down jacket by finishing “winter work” and preparing for spring?
The garden is dormant.
But wait – is the garden truly dormant?
The garden in February has many faces. One day, it can be buried under a thick blanket of snow, sleeping deeply and peacefully.
Practically overnight, however, all that ice and snow can melt, leaving a mud bath. And sometimes, the sun comes out, and we hope that spring has finally arrived – only to discover the next morning that it has snowed again.
While it may still be too early to dig in the dirt yet, there are still some things we can do in our gardens, like pruning or building a bird feeder.
Also, it’s time to sow some vegetables indoors for the upcoming season. It’s not the same as actually working outside, but still a wonderful way to give our garden a good head-start. If you want to learn what vegetables you can seed-start now, check out my complete February seed-starting guide.
No matter the weather, we can still take strolls through nature and watch out for those tiny indicators of change. There is one place in the woods near where I live where snowdrops grow. Once a week, I check to see if they’ve emerged yet. And, oh, how gorgeous they are and so strong! Braving the winds, snow and rain and still blooming happily, whispering about the promises of Spring.
If bravery were a flower…
Later in February, we may even discover crocuses, which add colourful dots to the otherwise still colourless garden. It’s a bit like nature wants to contribute to Carnival season.
February Traditions, Celebrations & Seasonal Joy
But February is a month of transition and shows us that it holds both stillness and celebration at once.
It’s high-carnival season in February, with balls, parades and parties of all kinds. As an introvert, these events have always been too loud, crowded and chaotic for me, and I never liked being part of them. What I do like, however, are the yummy treats like Krapfen and Küchle that we eat during that time. It’s one of the few February traditions that I love to keep up!
And then, there’s Valentine’s Day. Even if you’re not into that whole hearts-and-flowers extravaganza, you can still have a nice evening with people you love. Who says Valentine’s Day is only for couples? Invite some friends over and have a good time.
Which you can do at any given time, by the way. You don’t need a special occasion to meet with people. After my retreat in January, where I took my alone-time to recharge my batteries, I can feel myself becoming more social again in February. If you’re feeling the same way, just get out there or invite some friends over; it’s always good to be surrounded by loved ones.
Spring Cleaning, Decluttering & Seasonal Reset in February
The word “February” comes from the Roman “Februum”, which means “purification”. While the Romans had their own purification rituals in mind, the concept appeals to me in a different way. Tidying up, throwing out things that no longer feel part of me and thus creating space for something new is just what I need right now.
By February 2nd, all Christmas decor has to be gone. Although I like our flat to be festively decorated, I now enjoy the minimalist, clean look without dry fir needles, golden baubles and paper stars.
The pantry is an example of what I usually tackle at the beginning of the year. I take everything out, wipe the shelves and sort it back in. That way, I can make sure that all my food is within its best-before date, and I don’t forget anything I ever bought and stashed away hurriedly. Here’s my complete guide to pantry organisation and rotation.
I also finish up craft projects like that shawl I started to knit shortly after Christmas, and which sadly lies in one corner of the couch right now, looking at me with reproachful stitches. I want to finish it before the end of the month, when I know I’ll be busy outdoors.
Self-Care in February: Winter Mindfulness, Movement & Nourishment
Before diving into specific practices, there’s one crucial mindset shift that makes everything else possible: accepting winter.
There comes a time, usually around the beginning of February, when I become restless and frustrated that it’s still cold and unwelcoming outside, and it still gets dark too soon, and everything just feels grey and stagnant.
However, when I reach the point where I can accept that winter will last a little while longer, I start feeling more peaceful again. Like the little seedling that’s still buried in the soil, I also need to go on to eventually break through and see the sun again.
Stillness doesn’t mean stagnation.
Although we can’t see a shoot yet, the roots are growing. Self-care now builds a base for our strength in spring.
So I try using the time in my favour, not against it.
February Self-Care for Body…
Spring cleaning is not only meant for our houses. While in January I enjoyed staying at home in “Gemütlichkeit”, I feel the need to move again in February. The walks I take get longer, and I also start doing light workouts again, which are not too exhausting but let me break a sweat. Sometimes I do Yoga and boy, have I gotten stiff!
After training, I enjoy treating my body with a homemade peeling or scrubbing it with this chestnut peeling soap, for example. A thick slather of shea butter and almond oil keeps my now stronger (ha!) and more flexible (well, a little more flexible at least!) body smooth and moisturised.
Like the seedling needs nutrients, I love nourishing my body by eating warming food in February, like roasted root vegetables, potato soup, or a hearty stew. Also, citrus fruits are in season now, and besides being delicious, they add a lovely brightness to the kitchen.
…for Mind…
Although the days get longer by the, well, day, it still gets dark rather early, and sometimes it seems to be one long, dull night due to fog and mist. On those days, I love to cuddle into my blanket on the couch, get myself a hot chocolate with homemade elderflower syrup and a good book. Right at the moment, I have several books on my nightstand and the coffee table. Depending on my mood, I grab either the cosy crime, the romance novel or some gardening book to beat the winter blues.
To keep my mind entertained, I now love to learn and do something new. Whether it’s trying a new recipe, learning about gardening concepts or reading up on Franz Schubert’s “Winterreise” doesn’t really matter. The main point is to use the little grey cells and create something new, or, to stick to the seedling metaphor, turn towards the light, even on grey days.
… and for Soul
February bears the energy of renewal. So, while it was too early in January to go all New Year’s Resolutions, now is a good time to plan the next few months. I try setting myself mindful intentions and goals without going all busy about them. It’s still time for planning. The transition will take place next month.
While January was all about me-time and wintering, I increasingly enjoy being with people again. I love to have people over, be it for a cup of coffee (and cake of course!), a late Sunday morning breakfast or a home-cooked dinner.
Gathering with loved ones nourishes all three: food for the body, interesting conversation for the mind, and love and appreciation for the soul.
The beauty of February
February, with all its facets – quiet melancholy, flickers of hope, growing frustration – returns every year. But instead of seeing it as an obstacle, let’s accept it for what it is: a deep breath before we dive into the hustle and bustle of spring.
Even though we don’t see growth, the seedling has already broken its shell and is growing roots. Soon enough, we’ll be able to watch it break through the soil, stretching for the light.
Every winter eventually comes to an end, and the sooner we realise that, the more peaceful we can transition into spring.
For me, reading, walking, snuggling up on cold nights, but also tidying, organising and preparing are great ways to integrate both the stillness of winter and the restlessness of the upcoming spring.
What better way to let winter end on its own terms, knowing that spring, with the promise of movement and emergence, lies just ahead?
If you’re interested in more cooking and baking recipes, look here: Recipes – seasonalsimplelife.com Many (but not all) of the recipes there are authentically Bavarian.
I don’t know about you but once the festive season is over and life starts again in January, my fingers itch to dig into some dirt! Although there are some outdoor garden tasks you should do in January, it’s too cold to get my fingers dirty outside. But I can always do some seed-starting in January and sow vegetables indoors! Of course, it’s way too early to seed-start tomatoes, for example, but there are some plants we can give a head-start by sowing them out in January. Let’s get growing!
Understanding Your Growing Zone and Its Impact on Seed Starting
As you probably know, there are 11 hardiness zones, each divided further into two half-zones. Hardiness zones are set worldwide and classified by the lowest temperatures reached in winter and last frost dates. If you want to know your hardiness zone, hop over to this site, insert your postal code and find out your zone.
The hardiness zone you live in determines to an extent what plants you can cultivate in your region. It also tells you when to plant and seed-start your vegetables which is largely determined by the dates of the last frost.
However, knowing your hardiness zone doesn’t take into consideration regional microclimates that mostly affect temperature and humidity. Also, soil quality contributes a lot to the microclimate. Sandy soils, for example, have a lower minimum and higher maximum temperature than loamy soils.
Apart from temperature, the last frost dates are what’s most important for us vegetable gardeners. When we know how long it takes for a plant to germinate and from sowing to harvest, we can calculate backwards and determine when to seed-start indoors.
Essential Indoor Seed Starting Equipment for January
The basic equipment consists of cultivation trays and/or small pots with transparent covers, alternatively cling film.
Then, you need cultivation soil specially for seed-starting. It contains fewer nutrients and is also good for planting herbs, which also need a few nutrients, in pots.
A small watering can or a plant sprayer helps you to water your seeds carefully without washing them out of the soil.
Plant sticks are great for noting the plants and varieties you sow and sticking them into the tray to mark your plant rows. Don’t think you can determine the plants later. Been there, done it, not successful!
A plant lamp is a true game-changer when it comes to indoor seed-starting as light intensity and light hours are usually not sufficient for healthy plant growth. When there is too little light for our seedlings, they become leggy and might even fall over as they try to reach for the light. A plant lamp can be programmed for how long it has to shine (12 – 14 hours/day) and it usually provides just the right light spectrum for plants.
Additionally, you may want to think about buying a heating mat for warmth-loving plants like peppers, tomatoes and eggplants. With a mat like that underneath the seedling trays you can ensure a consistently high temperature.
How to seed-start indoors
Seed-starting indoors is not rocket science but there are a few things to observe:
Rinse the tray or pots with hot water to eliminate bacteria and fungi.
Put the soil into the tray or pots, press it lightly and make small holes where you want the seeds. Put the seeds into the holes, cover them lightly with soil and press the soil gently. Now, water the seeds carefully with a fine-holed watering can.
Put the transparent covers onto the trays. This enhances the temperature and keeps the moisture in. Put the trays in a sunny place at the temperatures required for each plant. If you want to seed-start plants that need relatively high temperatures, like eggplants, peppers, physalis etc., you should consider using a heating mat that you can put under the trays and heat up to the appropriate temperature.
Once the plants grow, check them daily. Keep the cover off for a few minutes to enable ventilation and prevent fungi. Also, check for fungus gnats, those small black flies that come out of the soil and whose larvae eat your plants’ roots. Sometimes, we bring them into the house with the soil. Put glue traps into your propagation trays and if gnats stick to them, put nematodes, which eat gnat larvae, into water and water your plants with it. Maybe you have to repeat this procedure at a later time.
Vegetables to seed-start in January
#1 Peppers / Chillies
Peppers and chillies need some time to get started. If you sow them too late, they’ll have their fruits late, too, and you risk damaging them by cold temperatures—even if you cultivate them in your greenhouse.
Sow the seeds into a tray with cultivation soil and put it in a sunny and warm spot at 25 °C (77 °F). A bright south-facing window, a winter garden or a heatable greenhouse are good places.
#2 Physalis
Seed-start physalis in January by sowing several seeds into one pot. Put the pot in a warm and bright spot. Temperatures about 25 °C (77°F) are ideal. Physalis grow slowly at the beginning and must be kept moist. Separate the plants when they are about three weeks old and plant them in single pots. Either plant physalis out after the last night frosts or separate them again and put them into large pots that you put outside.
Physalis are perennials and can be kept indoors during winter.
#3 Winter lettuce
Seed-start winter lettuce like ‘Baqieu’ to plant it out later in a cold frame or unheated greenhouse. That way you’ll have an early lettuce harvest.
Sow the seeds into a tray with the appropriate soil and press it lightly. Lettuce only germinates in light so don’t cover the seeds with soil. Temperatures mustn’t be as high as for peppers or physalis. 16 – 18 °C (60 – 65 °F) are ideal. When the plants are large enough, separate them and set them into single pots.
#4 Sweet potatoes
Cut sweet potatoes in halves and let the cutting areas dry for a few hours. Then, put the halves with the cut end facing down into a pot or balcony box with soil. Place the pot or box in a warm and sunny place. After some time, shoots will grow out of the sweet potatoes which we’ll cut off later and put into water for building roots.
#5 Ginger / Turmeric
Ginger and turmeric build rhizomes instead of deep roots and thus are best grown in flat pots. Put a rhizome with “eyes” into a tray or pot and cover it with soil so that two-thirds of the ginger or turmeric is in the soil and one-third is still above.
#6 Eggplants
Like peppers and physalis, eggplants like it warm and thrive best at temperatures of 25 °C (77 °F). Seed-start eggplants at the end of January by sowing seeds into a tray. Later, when they are large enough transplant each plant into a single pot. Always make sure that they are in a warm and sunny place.
#7 Cabbage
Cabbage is usually harvested in autumn, but there are varieties for a summer harvest and those should be seed-started now. As usual, sow the seeds in a tray and separate them later when they’ve grown four seed leaves.
Cabbage doesn’t need high temperatures like peppers and eggplants. On the contrary, it’s perfectly content with temperatures of 16 – 18 °C (60 – 65 °F).
When we plant out these cabbage varieties after the last day frosts, we can harvest the plants already in July.
#8 Savoy cabbage
As with cabbage, there are summer varieties that should be seed-started at the end of January. Savoy cabbage germinates already at temperatures of only 3 °C (38 °F). Once they have four seed leaves, separate the young savoy cabbages and plant them into single pots. Now put them in a bright place at about 16 – 18 °C (60 – 65 °F) and plant them outdoors end of March/beginning of April.
Summer varieties of savoy cabbage can be harvested in July and August.
#9 Early cauliflower
Seed-start early cauliflower varieties in January by sowing them into trays and putting them in a place with 16 – 18 °C (60 – 65 °F). Separate them when they have grown four seed leaves and plant them into single pots. Plant them into an unheated greenhouse or a cold frame mid to end of March. If you have them in the greenhouse, you can plant tomatoes in between later. By the time they need more space, the cauliflower is already harvested.
#10 Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi can also be seed-started now for an early harvest in the cold frame or greenhouse. Indoors they need temperatures about 16 – 18 °C (60 – 65 °F) and should be separated once they’ve developed four seed leaves. Plant them out into the cold frame or greenhouse end of February/beginning of March for an early harvest.
#11 Onions
Sowing onions may be more time-consuming than planting the bulbs but it shows advantages like healthier growth, more varieties and better storage capability. And it’s cheaper. Seed-start onions in January to ensure that you can harvest them before the first frost in autumn. Put the seeds into a tray or small single pots and place them in a bright spot of about 16 – 18 °C (60 – 65 °F) or colder (not under 10 °C / 50 °F). At the end of March/beginning of April, you can plant them outdoors.
#11 Summer leek
Summer leek, that’s harvested in July / August must be seed-started in January. You can either sow the seeds in trays and separate them later or you sow them into small single pots. Plant the leek outdoors when it’s about as thick as a pencil. To protect it from night frosts, however, you should cover it then with a frost fleece.
Summary
Starting seeds in January sets you up for a productive growing season ahead. Remember to choose varieties suited to your zone and provide proper growing conditions for strong, healthy seedlings. When you observe the simple rules for seed-starting vegetables indoors (see above), you’ll give your plants a good head-start and have a great harvest later that season.
Ready to get growing? Grab your seed packets and let’s make this your best gardening year yet!
Here you’ll find further articles on seed-starting:
This guide is based on my own greenhouse, which I built and have used for four growing seasons.
Standing in my vegetable garden on a rainy summer day, watching my tomato plants struggle under these humid conditions, I dreamed of a greenhouse—a warm sanctuary where peppers could ripen, tomatoes could climb to the ceiling, and the growing season wouldn’t end with the first frost.
What I didn’t realise was that this dream would lead me on a journey from browsing expensive catalogues to hammering in my own ground sleeves, learning how to build a DIY wooden greenhouse from scratch – something far better than anything I could have bought.
Here’s a quick summary of what building this greenhouse involved.
Quick Overview
Building a Greenhouse from Scratch
Greenhouse type:
DIY wooden greenhouse with plastic covering
Foundation:
Ground sleeves driven into soil (no concrete base)
Total cost:
~€1,300 in materials
Build time:
Several weekends, weather-dependent
Skill level:
Beginner-friendly with basic DIY skills
Best suited:
Gardeners wanting a low-cost, non-permanent greenhouse
Research
As I said, I first looked for ready-made options. There were, of course, several varieties of greenhouse kits, but a greenhouse of the size I wanted (about 10 x 3 metres) was nearly impossible to find, and when I finally found one, it was definitely not within my budget!
Another problem was that all these greenhouse kits had to be fixed onto a solid concrete base. As I do not own my garden but have rented it, I am neither allowed to plant deep-rooted bushes or trees nor set up anything permanent. Like a solid concrete base. But how to make sure that the greenhouse would be safely anchored without a base? So I googled DIY greenhouse construction without a permanent foundation.
There were, of course, greenhouse tunnels that had a frame made of curved PVC tubes that were stuck into the earth. However, as we have severe storms around here, especially during autumn, I was afraid that one of those would lift the greenhouse right out of the ground and send it flying through a neighbour’s window. So, a greenhouse tunnel with a frame of PVC tubes was certainly not an option either.
It was my dad, finally, who suggested building a greenhouse from scratch with wood and using ground sleeves as point foundations. I was sceptical at first–would simple ground sleeves really be enough to keep a greenhouse safely anchored? Four years later, I can tell you: this has worked reliably for me over four seasons!
Planning your greenhouse: What you need to build a greenhouse from scratch
But how to build a greenhouse without concrete foundations? I’m not all thumbs when it comes to handcrafting, but I haven’t had much experience either. Well, the first step is:
Drawing your greenhouse plan
By the way: Planning is an ideal task for winter, when there are only a few things to do in the garden (for more details, read on here about January garden tasks).
First, I drew a rough plan of the greenhouse and talked it over with my dad and an acquaintance who is an experienced carpenter. I had to adjust some things and refine the details, but in the end, I was good to go. Here is my draft. Feel free to use and adapt it if you’re planning your own greenhouse project.
I set the greenhouse behind the vegetable garden, facing south for optimal light yield. The south side is 1,8 metres (3.3 feet) high and 9 metres (30 feet) long, and the north side has a height of 2,2 metres (6.5 feet). Those two long walls are 3 metres (10 feet) apart, so I have gained 27 square metres (300 square feet) of additional gardening space (9 x 3 metres / 30 x 10 feet).
Beginner note: You don’t need a perfectly scaled drawing or technical software. A hand-drawn sketch with measurements is enough—as long as you know where every beam and opening will go.
Advanced note: If you’re comfortable with it, sketching your plan to scale or using simple CAD software can help you pre-calculate angles and material lengths more precisely.
Choosing your location
When you’re planning a greenhouse in your garden, you’ll want to put it in direct sunlight while making sure that it doesn’t cast a shadow on already existing beds.
In my case, it was obvious that I wanted the greenhouse to go behind the vegetable garden, that is, at the north side. That way, it wouldn’t throw a shadow on the existing garden while at the same time protecting it from harsh north winds.
Before you start: What you need to know
Now that you have your design planned out, let’s talk about the practical side: what this will actually cost, how long it takes, and what you’ll need to get started.
How much will this cost? (And is it worth it?)
Before we dive into the details of building a greenhouse from scratch, let’s talk about costs. I’m sure you’re dying to know if the whole procedure is worth the trouble.
Well, the ready-made options I found online, in catalogues, and at hardware stores ranged from € 5,000 to € 23,000. Nothing I could or would remotely ever pay for a greenhouse. For that amount of money, I could buy organic vegetables for the rest of our lives. Of course, prices may vary in your region, but I doubt you’ll find something cheap.
The total cost to build this greenhouse was €1.310.
Here’s a list of everything I needed and what it cost:
Item
Details
Cost
Ground sleeves
16 sleeves, 90cm length, 7x7cm top
100 €
Wood
Beams, boards and battens, cut to size at the sawmill
500 €
Screws
Various sizes for construction
200 €
Hinges and hardware
24 window hinges, 3 door hinges, 1 door bolt
80 €
Heavy-duty tarp
Grid-reinforced greenhouse film
250 €
Gutter system
Brackets, tubes, end pieces
100 €
Water container
1000-liter capacity (secondhand)
80 €
Total
1.310 €
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Depending on your region, these costs may vary as well, of course, but I’m pretty sure it’ll still be way less than a ready-made greenhouse.
For €1310 and several weekends of work, I gained 27 square metres of growing space that a comparable ready-made greenhouse would have cost at least € 5.500, plus installation—if I could even find one this size.
Beginner note: If this is your first large DIY project, expect it to take longer than planned—and that’s completely normal. Build in extra time so the process stays enjoyable.
Advanced note: With pre-cut lumber, power tools, and a second person, you could reduce the build time by several weekends.
How long does it take to build a greenhouse from scratch?
Bear in mind that I worked mostly alone and on weekends when the weather permitted. With a helper, you could cut this time significantly. The key is not to rush—take time to ensure everything is level and secure.
Description
Time frame
Planning and design
2 weeks
Gathering materials
1 week
Setting sleeves and frame
2 weekends
Installing windows and tarp
2 weekends
Finishing touches
1 weekend
Total
About 6 - 7 weekends, spread over two months
What tools do you need?
Must-have tools
Spirit level
Hammer or mallet
Electric drill with bits – you can borrow one if your site has electricity
Saw (hand saw works, electric is faster)
Measuring tape (at least 5 meters)
Folding rule
String and stakes for marking
Sharp knife
Nice-to-have tools
Screw clamps
Spade
Planer or drawknife
Beginner note: You don’t need professional-grade tools. I built most of this greenhouse with basic, borrowed equipment and hand tools.
Advanced note: Access to a table saw, impact driver, and laser level would speed things up considerably, but isn’t required.
Helpful skills
Basic measuring and levelling
Sawing in a straight line
Using a drill
Patience and problem-solving!
Don’t let this list intimidate you. I had never built anything this large before, and if I could learn as I went, so can you. The trick is just not give up.
When should you build?
I started building my greenhouse mid-March, but in hindsight, it would have been better to do it in the autumn of the preceding year.
Had I done so, I would have had more time to build the house–I got really stressed at one point, thinking that I’d never finish this project in time to really grow something in it that year.
Also, the soil I’d put into the greenhouse would have had time to settle before I put the plants in.
However, depending on your growth zone, your skills and experience with projects of this kind and if you have any help, late winter/early spring can be just fine to start building a greenhouse.
How to build a greenhouse from scratch
Step 1: Measuring and setting up a string frame
By the end of this step, you’ll have made a string frame for your DIY greenhouse.
First, I measured out the space behind the vegetable garden where I wanted to build my greenhouse and marked it with strings. I’m glad my dad helped me with that. If you (like me) have never done this before: don’t worry. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set up a string frame:
Marking your first corner
When you have decided where to put your greenhouse, you hammer a wooden (or metal) stake into the ground to mark a corner of your future greenhouse. Ensure the stake extends at least 20 cm (8 inches) above the ground for string attachment.
Creating the rectangle
Next, you measure out the small side (in my case, 3 metres / 10 feet) and hammer in a second stake. Connect these two stakes with a string. You then measure out the long side from one of the two stakes (here: 9 metres / 30 feet) and hammer in a third stake. Again, connect this stake with the first one.
Ensuring perfect squares with the diagonal method
Beginner note: If this step feels confusing, take your time. Getting the base square makes everything else easier later—and fixing mistakes now is far simpler than correcting them later.
Advanced note: If your site isn’t perfectly flat, you can still square the frame—just focus on accurate horizontal measurements rather than ground level at this stage.
Now comes the coolest part: measure the diagonal length from the second to the third stake and make a note of the length. If, like in my case, you want to build a large greenhouse, you can do that with the help of a string that you attach to the second stake and pull it to the third one. Otherwise, you just use a folding rule. Mark the spot on the string where it touches the stake and measure it. Now you measure from the first stake to a (at that point imaginary) fourth stake until you have the same diagonal length as measured before between stakes two and three. Hammer in the stake and connect the last side with the string.
Step 2: Setting up the frame
By the end of this step, you’ll have
set the ground sleeves
pillar beams securely bolted
a stable base frame including windows and a door
Setting the ground sleeves
Beginner note: Ground sleeves are very forgiving. Small inaccuracies can be compensated for later when you attach the beams—don’t aim for perfection, aim for consistency.
Advanced note: In very loose or sandy soil, you may want to set sleeves slightly deeper or compact the soil around them with gravel for extra stability.
With the string frame in place, I started to hammer in the ground sleeves for greenhouse foundation, one on each corner and then one every 1,5 metres (3.5 feet) at the long sides. I used sleeves with a length of 90 cm (3 feet) and a 7×7 cm (2.75 x 2.75 inch) base on the top.
At the front of my future greenhouse, i.e. the short side facing east, I additionally added two sleeves where the doorframe would be. All in all, I used 16 ground sleeves (7 on each long side and two for the door frame).
All sleeves must be at exactly the same height. To ensure that, I used a plank, put it across two sleeves and measured with a spirit level. Since the area I built my greenhouse on isn’t level, I had to compensate. Some sleeves needed to be hammered deeper into the earth, while others stood higher—all carefully adjusted so the tops were perfectly level with each other.
I had to decide what my reference point for height was. Naturally, I took the deepest point in my greenhouse area where I let the sleeve stand out 20 cm (8 inches) above ground. The other sleeves were adjusted accordingly. That meant that while the reference sleeves stood out 20 cm (8 inches), some had to go 10 cm (4 inches) into the ground. There, I shovelled away the earth and hammered the sleeve into the right height. After every sleeve, check that it is level with the others.
Erecting the wooden beams
Beginner note: If planing beams by eye feels intimidating, remove small amounts of wood at a time and test the fit often—you can always take more off, but you can’t put it back.
Advanced note: A thickness planer or belt sander makes this step faster and ensures consistent beam dimensions.
At my dad’s workshop, I sawed 8×8 cm (3×3 inches) wooden beams to the right length, which I determined with good old Pythagoras. I added an extra 15 cm (6 inches), though, as I wanted the beams to protrude over the south edge.
This was necessary, as I intended to fix a gutter on this side. In the end, I had 7 beams with 1,8 metres / 6 feet (south side) and 7 with 2,2 metres / 7 feet (north side), all with an angle of 13 ° at the upper side. The two beams for the doorframe were adjusted later.
To fit the wooden beams into the sleeves, I had to plane 0.5 cm / 0.2 inches on each side of the lower 10 cm (4 inches) of the beams. Since my 8×8 cm (3×3 inches) beams were slightly larger than the 7×7 cm (2.5 x 2.5 inches) sleeves, I planed them by eye until they fit snugly.
After fitting the beams into the sleeves, I drilled holes into them through the pre-made holes in the sleeves and stuck 8 cm (3 inches) carriage bolts into them. Lastly, I screwed them tightly into the sleeves using the carriage bolts and nuts.
Constructing the wooden greenhouse frame
Once the pillars were set, I started to build the wooden greenhouse framework for which I used boards that were 2,5 cm (1 inch) thick, about 20 cm (8 inches) broad and 4 – 5 metres (12 – 15 feet) long. I fixed the first board with a screw clamp across the bottom of the front corner pillar, starting at the south side.
Then I marked where it hit the last pillar it could reach (in this case, the third), took it off and sawed along the mark. My garden plot has no electricity connection, so everything had to be done by hand—a workout I hadn’t quite anticipated when I started this project!
After fixing it again with two screw clamps, I screwed the board to the pillars. In that way, I did all the bottom boards around the greenhouse and afterwards started screwing boards to the upper side of the pillars. I just had to remember that no bottom board was needed where the door should be built.
Adding windows
Next, I installed the frames for the windows that I wanted to build into the sections on the south and north sides. For this purpose, I took wooden battens (5 cm x 2,5 cm / 2 x 1 inches), measured the distance between two beams, sawed them to the measured length and screwed them in between the beams. For each window, I needed an upper and a bottom batten to complete the frame.
Window frames
Beginner note: Slight variations in window size are perfectly fine. What matters is that each window fits its own opening, not that all windows are identical.
Advanced note: If you want tighter seals, you can add weatherstripping or overlap battens once the tarp is installed.
Now the windows had to be built. This was the same as building the window frames, but with additional sidebars. I measured out every section and sawed the battens according to measurement. I’m no carpenter, so the measurements varied a bit from section to section, so it made more sense to measure each section individually and saw the battens accordingly.
When the windows were ready, I fixed them into the frames with hinges at the lower part, two on each window, making sure that they opened to the outside of the greenhouse. I can’t tell you the delight I felt when I opened my first (empty) window, and it worked! In the end, I had 12 windows, six on the south and six on the north side, and it was time to tackle the ceiling.
My first completed window frame—empty, but perfect!
Tip: Always double-check that the windows open outward fully to allow ventilation.
Ceiling beams
Next, I laid beams of 3,15 m (10.3 feet) across the upright beams in a north-south direction so that they ended at the north side at the edge of the pillars and overhung on the south side by approximately 10 cm (4 inches). I screwed the ceiling beams onto the pillars and additionally fastened them with metal angles.
All, except the last one on the front. I only laid this beam onto the pillars, inserted the remaining two beams into the sleeves where the doorframe would be, and marked the height at which I had to saw so they would fit. I didn’t want to take the risk of calculating the height (I was never good at maths), so that seemed the best and easiest way to do it.
As the framework needed stability, I screwed boards diagonally across the backside and the fields left and right of the door frame. I also installed diagonal boards from each pillar beam to the adjacent ceiling beam. That done, stability had improved A LOT!
Beginner note: Diagonal bracing may not look pretty, but it’s one of the most important elements for long-term stability—especially in windy regions.
Advanced note: Metal cross-bracing or tension cables can be used instead of wooden braces for a cleaner look.
Reinforcing the ceiling
The wooden beams on top are adjusted in a north-south direction. To make sure the tarp wouldn’t hang loosely and form sags when it was raining, I inserted boards between the beams’ sections. I started with the highest, i.e. the north side and screwed the boards on with angles so that they levelled with the top of the beams.
I did three boards per section, one on the north side, one in the middle and one on the south side, ending with the beams’ edges.
Building the door
Now, I had to build the door: I made a frame out of boards and stabilised it with a horizontal board in the middle and diagonal boards on the upper and lower sections. I then fixed it to the left pillar with hinges that were larger and thus more stable than the window hinges.
When that door swung smoothly on its hinges for the first time, I may have done a little victory dance. (Okay, definitely did a victory dance.)
Step 3: Covering
At the end of this step, you’ll have
covered all sides of the greenhouse with tarp
closed the ceiling
secured the tarp in the soil
cut open all windows and the door
Research on greenhouse covering
The last step now was to cover the whole DIY greenhouse frame with greenhouse film. I had done a lot of research in advance, comparing different possibilities like plastic twin-wall sheets, plexiglass, real glass and different greenhouse films.
The twin-wall sheets and plexiglass I dismissed pretty soon, as they would have been too expensive. The same went for real glass, which had the additional disadvantage of heating the greenhouse too much, so that shading would have been necessary–which would have cost even more.
Film it was then. Here, too, there are multiple possibilities. In the end, I opted for this heavy-duty tarp, which, due to its grid, is very stable and also thick enough to last several years (the manufacturer guarantees 3 – 5 years, but I think it may last a good deal longer. Time will show.) Update (2025): After three years, the ceiling tarp developed holes in it, forcing me to replace it.
Covering the greenhouse sides
Beginner note: This step is much easier with two people. If you’re working alone, clamps are your best friend—use more than you think you’ll need.
Advanced note: For long-term durability, sandwich the tarp between wooden battens and the frame rather than relying on screws alone.
Adjusting the heavy-duty tarp was the hardest part of this whole project, as it lives up to its name and is very heavy. However, with the help of several clamps (and after a bit of swearing and sweating), the first edge was tightly screwed to the corner beam of the east side using plumbing screws.
How to fix the tarp
Plumbing screws are metal screws with a rubber seal washer. That means that they have a larger contact area than without the washer, making sure that the film doesn’t tear out.
Update (2025): Despite the plumbing screws, the tarp was partly torn out when I replaced it after three years. This time, I fixed the tarp with boards on the framework.
Now, I pulled it to the next pillar and screwed it on, making sure that it was tightly stretched. Additionally, I fixed screws along the upper and lower boards and around the window frames, clinging them firmly to the wood. I started at the back wall and worked my way around the entire house. I made sure that the film levelled up at the upper side of the greenhouse and overlapped at the lower side.
Opening up the door
To enter the greenhouse, I used a sharp knife to cut a slit between the door and the doorframe. Next, I screwed a door latch onto the door and its counterpart onto the frame—and just like that, I could open it! It was a great moment entering “my house” for the first time!
Covering the greenhouse ceiling
Beginner note: Wind stress adds up over time. Even if the tarp looks secure at first, reinforcing it now can save you from repairs later.
Advanced note: UV-resistant greenhouse film with reinforced edges lasts significantly longer than generic tarps, especially on roofs.
To get the ceiling covered, I first unfolded the tarp to its full size and then rolled it lengthwise. I then lifted it onto the ceiling and started to screw it onto the east beam. (Honestly, I don’t remember how I got that heavy foil onto the ceiling all by myself, but I’m pretty sure that some swearing was involved.)
I then unrolled the film inch by inch, using a lot of plumbing screws to screw it onto the beams and boards. I took a screw every 10 – 15 cm, in short: a lot! But I was (and still am a bit) scared that the wind would rip off the film and tear the whole greenhouse apart, and so I decided that in this case, more is more.
Update (2025): It turned out that my fears were justified– the tarp had ripped off the boards when I replaced it after three years. To prevent that, I additionally fixed the tarp with boards on the wooden framework.
Opening up the windows and digging in the tarp
The whole house was covered now, and I opened the windows by cutting around between their edges and the frame with a knife, just like before when I opened the door. To keep the windows from falling open, I took some wooden scraps, leftover pieces from the battens I’d sawed earlier, and hammered them not too tightly onto the upper frame so that I could turn them and use them as a latch.
The last step on this building journey was to dig the overlapping tarp into the soil. I used a spade to dig slits into the earth, stretched the tarp and burrowed it tightly by firmly pressing the soil with my feet.
Step 4: Final touches
Fixing the gutter
As a last step, I fixed a gutter to the south side of the greenhouse to collect the rainwater from the roof. I had bought several gutter brackets that I screwed onto the upper boards of the greenhouse frame, one bracket per metre.
As you need a slight slope to one side to which the rainwater will be flowing, I fixed the brackets in a descending line from west to east. That means I started with the first bracket on the west side, screwed it almost at the top of the board and gradually lowered the brackets so that the last on the east side was about 10 cm lower.
Then I stuck the gutter tubes together and inserted them into the brackets. I closed both gutter sides with end pieces. About one metre from the east side, I inserted a tube into the gutter that leads the water downward into a 1000-litre water container that I bought from eBay. Finally, with the gutter in place, I could collect rainwater efficiently—an eco-friendly bonus!
Prepare for planting
Beginner note: Letting the soil settle for a few weeks before planting improves water retention and root stability.
Advanced note: Installing drip irrigation or soaker hoses before planting is much easier than retrofitting later.
With the greenhouse complete, it was time to prepare the beds. For this, I used the same method as with my garden: I laid out cartons, put some leftover manure I still had from the previous year and ordered some good humus. To determine how much soil you need, measure your planting area (excluding paths) and multiply by 0.15 m (0.5 feet) to raise your beds 15 cm (6 inches) high.
This is the soil for my greenhouse—it took me two hours to distribute it all!
This shows the massive pile I had to move.
Laying out cardboard for bed preparation
Distributing the manure evenly
Ready for planting!
Finally, I was ready to plant my tomato, pepper and cucumber plants in the greenhouse, which had grown very large already!
What I’d do differently next time
Beginner & Advanced takeaway: If you only take one thing from this section, let it be this: start earlier than you think, secure the tarp better than you think necessary, and don’t hesitate to ask for help.
Start earlier
Well, to be honest, I totally underestimated the time it took for me, an inexperienced non-craftswoman, to build a greenhouse of that size. Naturally, I sometimes had to reflect on how to proceed and all in all, I wasn’t very quick.
Additionally, you’re dependent on the weather. Heavy rains will stop your work on a project like that. That said, if I were to build a greenhouse again, I’d start earlier in the season. It was ready for planting by the end of May, and that was a bit too late for all my warmth-loving plants like tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.
Use boards to secure the tarp.
Next, I’d fix the tarp on top with wood boards. That means, I’d first roll the tarp across the ceiling, place boards on top of it where the beams are and secure it all in place with screws. That way, the tarp couldn’t get torn out when the wind gusted in and lifted it.
Invest in better materials.
Also, four years in now, I’d definitely invest in a more weather-resistant tarp. The one I bought initially guaranteed weather-resistance for 3 – 5 years, and last year (after three years), I had to exchange the ceiling tarp. This may also have to do with the insufficient fixing to the beams just with screws, but it had also become brittle when I took it off. A better tarp is more expensive, of course, but it’ll be worth it in the long run.
Reconsider measurements
For a greenhouse of this width, I learned that three instead of just two beds is better. They’re narrower, giving you better access to all plants.
Plan the door width more carefully—mine could be 20 cm wider for easier wheelbarrow access through the growing season.
Ask for help
Get help. I’m not good at asking for it, and I always want to know if I can do things on my own, but honestly, it wouldn’t have taken that long if I had asked the boys to help. I only admit this to you. Hope none of my family will ever read this section… (Don’t tell them I said so!)
Resume
Four years later, my low-cost greenhouse alternative has weathered autumn storms that would have demolished those flimsy PVC tunnels I first considered. Inside, tomatoes climb past my head, peppers ripen in abundance, and I’ve extended my growing season by months. Every time I step inside—even just to check on seedlings on a February morning—I feel proud. Not because it’s perfect (it’s definitely not!), but because I built it with my own hands.
If you’re dreaming of your own greenhouse, I hope this guide shows you that building a greenhouse from scratch is possible. You don’t need to be a carpenter or engineer. You just need patience (a lot!), basic tools (some), and the willingness to learn as you go (absolutely!).
Start with that string frame, take it one step at a time, and before you know it, you’ll be harvesting tomatoes in your very own DIY greenhouse.
Happy building—and even happier gardening!
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