🌱 A month-by-month diary of the 2025 chilli season.
This is my diary of the 2025 chilli season, from the first seed trays in February to the last harvest and the plants going in for winter. Each month collects the short garden updates I shared during the year, with links to the longer guides I wrote along the way.
In this diary
- January 2025
- February 2025
- March 2025
- April 2025
- May 2025
- June 2025
- July 2025
- August 2025
- September 2025
- October 2025
- November 2025
- December 2025
- What I learned in 2025
January 2025
January on the blog was about varieties and sauces rather than the garden. I wrote profiles of Diavolicchio Calabrese and Bhut Jolokia Orange, and unboxed a box of Slovenian chilli products in Unboxing the Fiery Flavors of Pekoči Bohorc.
February 2025
The season officially started at the beginning of February. I filled seed trays with germination soil and sowed Habanero Orange, Habanero Chocolate, Carolina Reaper, Naga Morich, Jalapeño and Bishop’s Crown. The trays went onto heat mats, and I kept an eye on temperature and humidity while waiting for the first sprouts.
While the seeds were warming up, I ground last year’s harvest into chilli powder and made handmade labels for the jars. The whole process is in Chilli Powder from the 2024 Harvest. If you are new to sowing, my guide to growing chilli from seed covers the basics. I also wrote a variety profile of Naga Morich.
March 2025
By early March the first seedlings had emerged, the moment every grower waits for. By the end of the month the Bishop’s Crown and Naga Morich seedlings were growing strongly, and the young plants were moved on into their first pots.
My goals for the year were stronger seedlings through better soil and humidity control, trying companion planting, and improving my fertilisation routine. Away from the garden, I reviewed three sauces in Old Texas Sauces: A Fiery Trio.
April 2025
April started with a problem: my overwintered plants were infested with aphids and whiteflies. The first rule was to keep infested plants well away from the seedlings. I wrote up what to do in Chilli Plant Pest Infestation: Aphids and Whiteflies.
A few days later the seedlings had their first day out. After weeks under grow lights they spent some time outside in the sun to start hardening off. At Easter the chillies made it to the table too, with my own Naga Morich and Habanero chilli powder from 2024 next to a few favourite sauces.
At the end of the month I shared how I hand pollinate in How to Cross-Pollinate Chilli Plants.
May 2025
In May my overwintered Naga Morich, Habanero, Bishop’s Crown and Jalapeño plants woke up with fresh growth, ready for their third season. More on that in Chilli Plant Reawakens for Its Third Season.
The new plants got their own updates. Kudzu, my Bishop’s Crown, was propagated in late February and transplanted on 30 March (Bishop’s Crown, Kudzu). Dac, my Habanero Chocolate, was sown on 22 February, transplanted on 29 March and was hardening off in the spring sun by nine weeks (Habanero Chocolate, Dac).
June 2025
Plani, my Naga Morich, was repotted on 27 March and reached about 12 weeks at the start of June while hardening off outside (Naga Morich, Plani).
Mid June was repotting day. The plants moved into the raised bed, and the roots showed it was time: they were circling the bottom of the pots (Chilli Repotting Day). At the end of the month Habero, my Habanero Orange, sown on 2 February and repotted on 20 April, was 13 weeks old (Habanero Orange, Habero).
July 2025
July brought a broken chilli plant. I splinted the stem with a bamboo stake and wrote down everything I learned, with thanks to the chilli friends online who shared their tips, in How to Heal a Broken Chilli Plant.
By the end of the month the flowers were in full swing on the Jalapeño, Naga Morich, Bishop’s Crown and Habanero plants (Chilli Flowers in Full Swing).
August 2025
In August I wrote about growing chillies on my south-facing balcony in 10 to 15 litre pots: watering early in the morning in the heat, feeding every two to three weeks, switching to a high-potassium fertiliser after flowering, and helping pollination by hand. It is all in Balcony Chilli Gardening in 2025.
Late in the month I found blossom end rot on one of my pods, so I wrote Understanding Blossom End Rot (BER) in Chilli Peppers. With autumn on the horizon I also shared How to Overwinter Chilli Plants.
September 2025
September was a good month to look closely at the flowers of my Capsicum chinense plants, the Naga Morich and the Habanero Chocolate. I put the photos together in Capsicum chinense Flowers.
October 2025
October was harvest time: green and red Jalapeños, Naga Morich, Bishop’s Crown, and Orange and Chocolate Habaneros. My plans for it were fresh eating, a habanero hot sauce, drying superhots into flakes and powder, and pickling Bishop’s Crown and Jalapeños (October Chilli Harvest).
As the nights got colder, I cut my plants back for the winter. I also profiled the striped Zebrange chilli.
November 2025
November was about making the harvest last. My guide How to Preserve Your Chilli Harvest: Drying, Fermenting, Pickling covers the methods I use. I also wrote about Sugar Rush Stripey and added Čili Pipp to our hot sauce directory.
December 2025
The year ended quietly, with Christmas wishes and a New Year greeting to everyone who followed the garden this year.
What I learned in 2025
- Check overwintered plants for pests before spring, and keep any infested plants well away from the seedlings.
- Overwintering pays off: my Naga Morich, Habanero, Bishop’s Crown and Jalapeño came back for a third season.
- Look at the roots. When they circle the bottom of the pot, it is time to move up.
- A broken stem is not the end. A bamboo stake and quick action can save the plant.
- Even watering matters, especially in pots, to keep blossom end rot away.
- My best performer of 2025 was the Habanero Chocolate.