Gardening Etcetera: Growing hot peppers in northern Arizona

Few crops are as closely tied to Southwestern cooking as hot peppers. Whether roasted for green chile, chopped into fresh salsa, or blended into homemade hot sauce, peppers bring flavor and heat to some of the region’s most recognizable dishes. They’re also well suited to backyard gardens throughout Arizona, where warm temperatures and abundant sunshine create ideal growing conditions. For gardeners looking to grow something both productive and useful in the kitchen, peppers are hard to beat.

Peppers (Capsicum species) are warm-season plants that thrive in full sun and warm soil. Most varieties grow best when daytime temperatures stay between 75 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Because they are sensitive to frost, gardeners in higher-elevation communities such as Flagstaff should wait until nighttime temperatures consistently remain above 50 degrees before planting outdoors. Starting seeds indoors six to eight weeks before the last spring frost can provide a useful head start, especially in areas with shorter growing seasons.