Big Jim Pepper Plants started from Seed

Big Jim Peppers Pictured:
Hatch Green Medium Big Jim next to Doublecross Hatch Green Chile

Growing Big Jim Pepper plants from seed is the way to go! You can plant as many chile plants as you have room for (and believe us, you'll think you need more room no matter how much you have, haha!)

Our Hatch Green Medium Big Jim Chile is easy to grow, and starts producing in 75 days, and then keeps going on strong. 

Check out this review on Big Jim Pepper Plants started from seeds:



“I am on my 3rd year of growing Big Jim's in North Dakota. I admit I start them inside in March. I really baby them until they go out when it's finally nice enough. But then, watch out!! My plants are unbelievable. When I am roasting the Chile's in my drive, the neighbors stop to find out what I am doing. My Hatch Green Chile is requested. Thank you!!”

~ Kelly, Hatch Green Medium - Big Jim Chile Review

Kelly has the right idea, starting them indoors 8+ weeks before planting outdoors in the garden gives Big Jim Pepper plants a head start on the growing season so they'll produce earlier and have more abundant harvests for a longer season. When you have cold springs, it's important to keep your Big Jim Pepper plant seedlings cozy and warm indoors until the weather has warmed up to 50-60˚F+ consistently at night.



Starting seeds indoors to grow Big Jim Pepper Plants:

When starting seeds indoors, you want to keep the seeds warm and moist. The temperature should be 80-90˚ F for fastest germination, they do like it warm!

We use a seedling heat mat to help keep them warm until they germinate. After they sprout, airflow and movement is important, so brush them daily with your hands or run a small fan on them for part of the day. This will help them grow stronger and stockier and prevent dampening off of the small seedlings.

As they grow, thin out any extra seedlings so you just have one plant per pod/pot (and, if you can gently transplant them, you'll have extra plants to share with gardening friends!)

If they outgrow their first pot, transplant them into larger deep pots so they can grow deep robust root systems. Make sure to use well draining potting soil or seedling mix, do not use garden soil or top soil which will not drain well and cause your pepper plants to struggle.

Once all chance of frost has passed and the soil has warmed up, make sure to harden off your Big Jim Pepper plant seedlings before transplanting outdoors. To harden off your seedlings, you want to slowly acclimate them to the sun's strong rays, temperatures, and winds over a period of days. Hardening-of your pepper plant seedlings is important because it reduces plant stress, which can stunt and slow the growth of newly transplanted plants. So be sure to let them get used to the outdoors by hardening off your pepper plants before transplanting into the garden or into their summer containers and pots.

Plant Big Jim pepper plants in well-draining soil that's been amended with compost. Big Jim Pepper plants grow quite large 30" plants, you may want to give them support if needed. Sometimes the peppers get so large they bend the plants downward, so a little support can help keep them upright.





Watering Big Jim Pepper Plants
Big Jim Pepper plants do not like to have soggy wet soil, so make sure to water only when needed. In fact, Big Jim Pepper Plants are  somewhat drought tolerant and will recover if the soil drys out too much and they start wilting. Obviously this stresses the plant a bit so it's best to keep the soil consistently moist by watering regularly. Whatever you do, don't overwater them where the soil gets soggy, they will slowly drown and will show you by dropping leaves, stunted growth and sometimes they even will die if too soggy for too long.

Read up on the Big Jim pepper plant variety you are growing to make sure you pick them at a good ripened stage. Hatch Green Medium Big Jim plants typically take 75 days from seed before the pods start to ripen enough for picking. Big Jim peppers will turn red eventually, as many peppers do, but these are typically picked when they reach their full size for several days. 



Not sure When to Pick Peppers?

Still not sure if your Big Jim peppers are ripe? Our advice is to pick one and taste it, if it tastes too “green,” then wait a few days or a week or two and try again until they taste more flavorful. Of course, roasting your Big Jim chile will bring out the flavor immensely, so make sure to roast your picked Big Jim pepper to really taste it, we find that once they get to full size, they all taste great!  We also enjoy them really ripe and sometimes pick them when they have a just a small hint of red on one side as that means their loaded with flavor and just about to ripen to red. Red chile is more perishable so you don't find it at stores much, so letting them ripen to red is also a gardener's delight as we can use them the same day we pick them to maximize the ripe flavor. 

Don't worry too much about picking them too early or too late, though, as green chile in all of it's forms of ripeness are delicious roasted! 

Our Hatch Green Medium Big Jim seeds are one of our best selling peppers as they are large peppers with thick walls and lots of flavor, and just the right amount of heat with 2000-4000 Scovilles.




Want hotter? Try our Doublecross Hatch Chile »