The Organic
Revival
Vegetables · Fruiting

Growing chilli

Capsicum annuum · also called Mirch, Marchwangun (Kashmiri)A warm season fruit vegetable and spice, raised in a nursery and transplanted. It needs sun and warmth, and frost kills it.

North-west plains: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
Chilli plant bearing red and green chillies among its leaves
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

At a glance

Chilli in the North-west plains

  • Season

    Nursery in autumn, transplanting in late winter, picking through summer4

  • Sowing to last picking

    About seven to nine months from an autumn nursery to the last picking.

    No published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • Nursery

    End of October to mid-November4

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Sow now

The window here is End of October to mid-November.

Under cover, from Third week of November.

Sowing now in:Sub-tropical foothillsCentral plateauDeccan plateau
  • Sow
  • Nursery
  • Transplant
  • Under cover
  • Today
  • Not suited here
North-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunTemperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and SpitiNot suited hereSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
North-west plainsEnd of October to mid-NovemberUnder cover: Third week of NovemberUnder cover: First week of FebruaryFebruary to MarchMid-FebruaryEnd of April
Temperate HimalayaMarch to MayAprilApril to JuneApril to May
Cold desertNot suited here
Sub-tropical foothillsNovemberFebruary to MarchMay to JuneMarch to AprilApril to MayJanuaryMarch to AprilJune to JulyApril to MayMay to June
Gangetic plainsDecemberMay to JuneFebruaryJune to July
North-east hills and valleysDecember to January
Arid westDecemberMay to JuneFebruaryJune to July
Central plateauJune to JulyOctober to NovemberJanuary to February
Deccan plateauEnd of JuneOctober to NovemberJanuary to February
South interiorJanuary to FebruaryJune to JulySeptember to October
West coastMay to JuneSeptember to October
East coastJanuary to FebruaryJune to JulySeptember to October

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Well rotted farmyard manure, or paddy straw compost4

    10 to 15 tonnes of farmyard manure, or 6 quintals of paddy straw compost, per acre · Work it in before transplanting. · Field preparation

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 7 to 14

    Seeds come up1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 28 to 42

    Transplant3,6,4

  5. Day 210 to 270

    Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Water just after transplanting, then every 7 to 10 days; 15 or 16 irrigations in all. Alternate furrow watering saves water without cutting yield. With drip, water every two days; drip saves 46% of the water.4

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1

    6.5 to 7.5

    Almost any well drained soil, from sandy loam to heavy clay rich in organic matter. It tolerates some salinity but not waterlogging.

  • SunlightNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    At least 6 hours a day

    Full sun.

  • Temperature2,1

    Grows best at 20 to 33 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the North-west plains aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering4

Water just after transplanting, then every 7 to 10 days; 15 or 16 irrigations in all. Alternate furrow watering saves water without cutting yield. With drip, water every two days; drip saves 46% of the water.

Weeding5

Keep the field weed free for the first 30 days, with two hand weedings after transplanting.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Field preparationWell rotted farmyard manure, or paddy straw compost10 to 15 tonnes of farmyard manure, or 6 quintals of paddy straw compost, per acreWork it in before transplanting.

Sources4

Varieties and yield

Typical rangeNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

80 to 120 quintals a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here4

  • Punjab Sindhuri

    Early; red picking from about 75 days after transplanting; for fresh market and transport.

  • Punjab Tej

    Early and very pungent; for processing and powder.

  • Punjab Surkh

    Dual purpose for salad and drying; tolerant of fruit rot.

  • Punjab Guchhedar

    Small erect fruits in clusters; late.

  • CH-27 (PAU hybrid)

    Resistant to leaf curl, fruit rot and root knot nematode.

  • CH-52 (PAU hybrid)

    Suited to low tunnels.

Good neighbours5

Keep it away from

Pests and diseases4

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Fruit borer

    Signs

    Caterpillars make holes in the fruits and spoil them.

    What to do

    • Pick and destroy all infested fruits.

    Prevention

    • Pick ripe fruits regularly.

  • Pest

    Thrips, mites, aphids and whitefly

    Signs

    They suck sap from the leaves and lower the yield.

    What to do

    • Against mites, spray neem fruit aqueous extract 5%: soak 5 kg of coarse shade dried neem fruit powder in 100 litres of water for 12 hours, filter and spray.

    Prevention

    • Clear weeds from bunds, waste land, roadsides and channels, where these pests shelter.
    • Do not overdo nitrogen; it makes plants prone to attack.

  • Disease

    Fruit rot and die back (Colletotrichum capsici)

    Signs

    Tips of bearing branches dry as fruits ripen; dark sunken spots in rings appear on the fruits.

    Prevention

    • Use healthy seed.

  • Disease

    Wet rot (Choanephora cucurbitarum)

    Signs

    Young branches, flowers and fruits rot with black pin heads of the fungus, worst after heavy rain.

    Prevention

    • Use healthy seed.

  • Disease

    Leaf curl (virus)

    Signs

    Plants are stunted and rosetted, with leaves rolled downwards. Whiteflies spread it.

    What to do

    • Pull out and destroy infected plants.

    Prevention

    • Grow the resistant hybrid CH-27.

  • Disease

    Mosaic (virus)

    Signs

    Leaves are mottled and blistered; plants turn pale and stunted. Aphids spread it.

    What to do

    • Pull out infected plants.

    Prevention

    • Save seed only from virus free plants.
    • Avoid handling plants needlessly.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,4

Chilli often crosses: keep at least 400 m between two varieties, including sweet pepper.

When the seed is ready

Remove off types before flowering, at full bloom and just before picking. Keep only true to type plants and pick their red ripe fruits.

Cleaning the seed

Dry the red fruits in the sun and take the seed out by hand.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

After the last picking in summer, clear the plants and follow with a cereal or a cabbage family crop rather than another tomato family crop.

Clear and destroy the residues of a crop that had mealybugs.

Rotation

Rotate with a cereal, a cucurbit or a cabbage family crop; where wilt is common, keep tomato family crops off the field.

Growing under cover4

Raise the nursery of costly hybrid seed under a polyhouse of UV stabilised 200 micron film; CH-52 is suited to low tunnels.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 3Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Chilli and bell pepper)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
  2. 4Package of Practices for Cultivation of Vegetables (Chilli)Punjab Agricultural University, LudhianaRead the source
  3. 5AESA based IPM package No. 24: Chillies and capsicumNational Institute of Plant Health Management and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source
  4. 7Horticulture: Vegetables: Chilli (soil, season, seed rate, seed treatment; varieties)TNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source

AI Farm Manager · In development

Plan this crop on your land

AI Farm Manager will turn guides like this one into a plan for your own plot. It doesn't make plans yet.

See how it will work