Fruiting vegetables · warm season
Jalapeño
Capsicum annuum
The most reliable hot pepper in Ohio. Sets fruit in Midwestern summers that can stall larger bells.
- When to plant in Ohio
- Start indoors March; transplant late May
- Harvest window
- July through frost
- Days to maturity
- 70–80
- Spacing
- 14–18 in.
- Light
- Full sun
How to grow it
Same heat-loving start as bells. Harvest glossy green for classic heat, or let them turn red for more sugar. Corking (tan stripes) means a mature, flavorful pepper—not a defect. One or two plants usually feed a household.
Related fruiting vegetables
Bell pepper 65–85 green; 80–100 colored
Banana pepper 65–75
Eggplant 65–80 from transplant
Tomatillo 70–80