2026 is Officially the Year of the Hot Pepper – 3 Types of Chili You Can Grow Almost Anywhere

If you like to add some spice to your life, then 2026 may be the year for you, as the National Garden Bureau (NGB) has officially named it the Year of the Hot Pepper. From the super-hot to unique shapes, and those with superb flavor but without the fiery heat, there is a lot to discover about chili peppers, and 2026 is a perfect time to expand your horizons.

Peppers have been grown for thousands of years and play a pivotal role in many international cuisines. They are potentially as popular as ever nowadays, fuelled by a widening interest in global cooking, along with trendy ‘super-hot’ eating challenges sweeping social media.

It means there is a growing interest in growing chili peppers, and home gardeners are looking to widen the types of peppers they can grow at home. With over 50,000 varieties worldwide and hundreds available for home cultivation, there is a pepper for any growing space and any taste preferences.

Why Is 2026 the Year of the Hot Pepper?

Peppers (Capsicum spp.) have a rich history and cultural impact. They are an important part of cuisines across the continents, and there are many widely-recognized types of peppers, including bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, and cayenne peppers.

In the modern world, green-fingered households are wide-ranging in their ambitions, from seeking some of the hottest peppers you can get for home cultivation to trying out milder varieties that offer citrusy or smoky flavors without the burning. A lot more eyes are on pepper now, and there is much to discover.

‘Peppers truly spice up our lives,’ says Diane Blazek, Executive Director at the NGB. ‘With the diversity of colors, shapes, and heat levels available today, there is a perfect pepper for every palate and every garden, from a tiny balcony container to a sprawling backyard plot.’

The NGB, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 to educate and inspire home gardeners, has identified three diverse types of chili peppers for growers to explore, and highlighted some high-performing varieties for each type.

The first is the ‘Super Hot’ types, those that bring extreme heat. They include habanero peppers, ghost peppers, scotch bonnet peppers, and varieties like Buffy F1, which the NGB praises for being an ‘ornamental powerhouse’ that hits 500,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHUs).

Though this is well below the Carolina Reaper, which is the hottest pepper you can grow at home (with the Guinness World Record-holding Pepper X not available commercially) at around 1.6 million SHUs.

There are also ‘Exotic’ peppers that come in different shapes and offer unique floral flavors, like Mad Hatter F1, a ‘disc-shaped pepper with a sweet, citrusy finish and just a touch of heat’ according to the experts at the NGB.

Finally, there are ‘Hardy’ types that can thrive in cooler temperatures and be perfect for home gardeners in milder US hardiness zones, such as Manzano types of peppers.

Peppers can be grown indoors or outdoors, depending on your climate and set-up, and having those hardier varieties opens up the possibilities to many more growers.

It just needs more gardeners to be aware that these types of peppers exist, and appreciate that homegrown peppers aren’t just limited to those with warmer climates or large greenhouses.

Expert Tips for Success During the Year of the Hot Pepper

Growing peppers does need patience, but the effort put in comes highly rewarded with potentially bumper harvests of peppers on the cards.

The long season they require means picking the right varieties for your climate is crucially important, as some can take 100+ days to ripen, including varieties of C. chinense, including habaneros and other ‘super-hot’ types, and C. baccatum.

Understand your first and last frost dates, as these cold-sensitive crops can only go outside after the last frost. If your climate is not suitable for growing outdoors, you can grow them in a greenhouse in colder climates to extend the season.

The lengthy growing season also affects when you sow seeds indoors, which is 6-8 weeks before the last frost in your climate.

Gail Pabst from the NGB recommends sowing pepper seeds 1/4 inch deep into compost and has the following advice for success: ‘Use a heat mat and strong light to ensure that seedlings germinate uniformly and do not stretch. This is a must.’

If you do not have the right setup to grow plants from seed, you can buy pepper plants from a nursery or garden center.

‘Purchasing seedlings from your local garden center is a perfect alternative. Just make sure the seedling is well rooted and doesn’t have any open flowers or fruit,’ recommends Gail. ‘Seedlings with fruit already on them have likely either been in the same container for too long or were stressed into flowering.’

Plant peppers in full sun and space plants 12-18 inches apart. The plants will require regular watering, feeding, and supporting with a trellis, cage (like a tomato cage, available at Amazon), or stake. You should pick peppers once the color fully changes. You can pick younger peppers for a milder taste, but you get hotter peppers if the color is left to mature fully on the plant.

One important safety aspect to remember when growing peppers is always wearing gloves when harvesting and processing the fruits. Hot peppers contain capsaicin, which can irritate the eyes and skin.

You don’t need a big space to grow chili peppers. It is possible to have healthy plants and great harvests by growing peppers in containers in a small garden or on a deck, patio, or balcony.

I have had great success growing hot peppers in pots over the years, and put together this article on the best chili varieties for containers to highlight six fantastic peppers that work well in pots. I hope it provides some inspiration to help you enjoy growing peppers in smaller spaces.