🌶️🍅 The Ultimate Chilli Pepper & Tomato Growing Guide

How to Get the Most Out of Your Seedlings This Season

Chilli peppers and tomatoes are some of the most rewarding crops you can grow at home. With the right soil, feeding routine, watering technique, and airflow, you can dramatically boost your yields and keep your plants healthy all season long.

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🪴 1. Where & What to Plant In

Chillies in Pots

Most chillies thrive in containers. Pots around 8–15 L work beautifully for most varieties. Growing in pots lets you:

• Move them into the best sunny spot
• Shelter them from wind
• Prevent over-watering issues
• Maintain healthy root aeration

Support: Use wooden stakes to keep plants upright and stable.

Tomatoes in Pots

Tomatoes grow extremely well in 15 L or larger containers. Bigger pots help:

• Stabilise watering during hot or windy days
• Support stronger root systems
• Improve fruit size and yield
• Prevent plants from drying out too quickly

Support: Use wooden stakes, cages, or a top-wire twine system to keep plants upright, improve airflow, and support the weight of fruit.

Sun & Wind

Both chillies and tomatoes need:

• Full sun (6–8+ hours daily)
• A warm, sheltered position

A north-facing wall or fence is ideal.

Staking or caging is especially important in windy areas to protect plants and their fruit from damage.

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🌱 2. Choosing the Right Soil

Soil quality is everything — a poor mix can slow or even stop growth.

A good chilli/tomato mix should be:

• Friable (loose and crumbly)
• Well-structured
• Light and fluffy
• Free-draining but able to hold moisture evenly
• Supported by slow-release nutrients

If your soil or potting mix becomes water-repellent and water runs off instead of soaking in, use a rewetting agent such as Rewetting Granules.

In-Ground Planting

When planting into the garden:

• Soil must be very free-draining
• The planting area should not sit lower than the surrounding ground, so water drains away rather than pooling
• Raised beds greatly improve drainage and root health

Improve existing soil with:

• Compost or coir for structure and organic matter
• Perlite for aeration

Slow-Release Fertilisers (Recommended)

Slow-release fertilisers are ideal for chillies and tomatoes because they:

• Provide steady nutrition over several months
• Reduce the risk of over-feeding
• Support strong, consistent growth and fruiting

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🌿 3. Feeding & Foliar Sprays

Slow-release fertiliser in the soil supplies the main nutrition — foliar sprays then give an extra boost.

Foliar Feeding — Extra Umph for Production

A light foliar spray of seaweed or neem-seaweed fertiliser:

• Adds that extra umph to production
• Boosts flowering and fruit set
• Helps plants recover from heat, wind, or transplant stress
• Improves overall plant vigour

We recommend products such as:

• Ocean Grow Seaweed Fertiliser – best general all-round plant tonic.
• Ocean Grow Seaweed Boost Fertiliser – best for boosting flowers and fruit.
• Organic Neem & Seaweed Liquid Fertiliser – neem blend; best for stressed or struggling plants needing a helping hand.

How to apply:

• Mix according to the label rates in a clean sprayer or watering can.
• Lightly wet the foliage, including the undersides of leaves, rather than drenching.
• Avoid spraying in the heat of the day or in full, harsh sun.

Apply every 2–4 weeks, especially when slow-release fertiliser is already in the soil. Always spray in the morning so leaves can dry during the day.

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💧 4. Watering — The Most Common Mistake

Over-watering is one of the biggest issues we see, especially with peppers.

Too much water can cause:

• Root rot
• Poor oxygen flow to roots
• Fungus gnats
• Increased disease risk

In-Ground Watering Is Harder to Judge

In heavy or clay soils, the surface may look dry while the root zone remains wet. This makes it very easy to over-water when plants are in the ground. If in doubt, dig a small test hole or use a simple moisture meter to see how wet the soil is around root level.

Why Pots Help

With pots, you can easily check moisture by lifting them. Over time you’ll learn the “feel” of a well-watered pot versus one that has dried out:

• Light pot = water now
• Heavy pot = wait

You can also press a finger into the soil — if the top 3–5 cm is dry but the pot still feels heavy, wait a little longer before watering.

Water Is Weather-Dependent

Watering needs can change quickly based on conditions:

• On hot, sunny, windy days – plants may need watering once or even twice daily.
• On warm, overcast, calm days – plants may go 1–3 days between waterings.

Always check the soil before watering instead of sticking to a fixed schedule.

Best Watering Method

Use drippers or watering spikes to deliver water directly to the soil. This helps keep foliage dry and reduces fungal issues. Bottom-watering trays can also be useful for young plants, as roots will grow down to reach the moisture.

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🐛 5. Airflow, Pests & Canopy Management

Good airflow dramatically reduces pests and disease.

To improve airflow:

• Remove lower leaves
• Thin crowded inner branches
• Keep plants well spaced
• Keep stems clean near the soil line

Common NZ Pests & How to Manage Them

Aphids

Aphids cause leaves to curl and leave sticky honeydew, which leads to sooty mould. They are easily seen as soft green, yellow, or white clusters on new growth and leaf undersides.

Sometimes ants will “farm” aphids to collect the honeydew, so seeing ants on plants can be a warning sign.

Control early with Neem Horticultural Soap or Neem Oil Insecticide, applied every 5–7 days until clear.

Tomato / Potato Psyllid (TPP)

Tomato/Potato Psyllid is a major pest of tomatoes and chillies in NZ. Eggs appear as tiny yellow sacs along the edges of leaves. Adults are small, dark, with longer wings and will often “jump” when disturbed.

Psyllids causes yellowing, stunting, and poor fruit set.

Early control is essential. Use Neem Horticultural Soap or Neem Oil Insecticide.

Larger infestations will require commercial insecticides. Mavrik is a commonly used option with a lower risk to bees when applied correctly.

Whitefly

Whitefly are tiny white insects that fly up in a little cloud when you brush the foliage. They cause leaf yellowing and reduce overall plant vigour.

Control early with Neem Horticultural Soap or Neem Oil Insecticide.

Spider Mites

Spider mites are particularly common in hot, dry greenhouses, and chillies are especially prone. They cause tiny yellow speckling on leaves and can create fine webbing under and between leaves.

For early infestations, use Neem Horticultural Soap or Neem Oil Insecticide.

Heavy outbreaks require a dedicated miticide — neem alone cannot clear a severe infestation.

Fungus Gnats

Fungus gnats are tiny black flies that hover around the soil surface and fly up when you water. Their larvae live in over-wet soil and can damage roots.

They are a sign of too much moisture or poor drainage.

• Allow the top of the soil to dry between watering
• Improve drainage and airflow to the soil surface
• Use Neem Granules to help control larvae in the soil
• Use sticky traps to catch the adults

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🍄 6. Fungal Issues

Common fungal problems include:

• Powdery mildew
• Grey mould (Botrytis)
• Leaf-spot fungi
• Sooty mould

Prevention is key:

• Water in the morning so foliage dries through the day
• Improve airflow by pruning and spacing plants
• Keep leaves off the soil surface
• Remove infected leaves promptly
• Avoid overcrowding

Neem-based sprays, such as Neem Horticultural Soap, help reduce fungal pressure by keeping leaf surfaces clean.

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🍽️ 7. Harvesting

Chillies

Chillies usually have the best flavour when fully ripe. Pick often to encourage more flowers and fruit.

Tomatoes

If birds are stealing your tomatoes, harvest them once they begin to blush. They will ripen fully indoors on the counter or in a paper bag.

Avoid refrigerating tomatoes — it dulls their flavour and damages texture.

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🍅 Extra Tomato Tips

Pruning & Removing Laterals

Train tomatoes to 1–2 main stems by removing lateral shoots. Laterals (also called “suckers”) are the side shoots that grow from the junction where a leaf meets the main stem.

On each leaf node, you’ll usually see:

• The main stem running vertically
• A leaf growing out horizontally
• A small shoot growing from the “V” between them — this is the lateral

Pinching or cutting these laterals out while they are small helps to:

• Improve airflow through the plant
• Reduce disease risk
• Focus energy into fewer, better-quality fruit trusses

Preventing Blossom End Rot

Blossom end rot is usually caused by inconsistent moisture affecting calcium uptake in the fruit, rather than a simple lack of calcium in the soil.

• Keep watering consistent, but avoid over-watering
• Avoid extreme dry–soak cycles
• Use a good potting mix and slow-release fertiliser

Preventing Cracking

Cracking happens when fruit dries out, then receives a sudden flush of water. To reduce cracking:

• Maintain steady moisture with regular watering
• Use mulch to buffer soil drying

Heirloom tomatoes are especially prone to cracking, but the fruit is still perfectly good to eat — in fact, some varieties are grown for their character and the way they look.

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🌟 Final Takeaways

For strong, productive chilli and tomato plants:

• Use good-quality, free-draining soil
• Choose the right pot size
• Water based on weather and soil dryness, not a fixed schedule
• Use slow-release fertiliser in the soil
• Add foliar feeding every 2–4 weeks for extra production
• Give plants full sun and shelter from strong wind
• Support plants with stakes or cages
• Monitor and treat pests and fungal issues early

Follow this guide and you’ll enjoy strong plants and heavy harvests of chillies and tomatoes all season long. 🌶️🍅