Proper pollination is the key to having lots of peppers for harvest! Encourage bees and other beneficial insects by growing lots of flowers in your garden, and avoid any use of pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. This will ensure that the bees and other pollinators thrive.
Use Perennial Flowers in your Garden:
Try planting lots of perennial flowers like Lavender, Echinacea, Oregano, Beebalm, Chives, Black-eyed Susans, Asters, Sage and others to bring the bees to your garden. Perennial flowers (the ones that come back every year) are wonderful to use, as they often bloom earlier or later in the season to feed the bees – plus you don't have to plant them every year! You can also plant lots of annuals to your garden such as Sunflowers, Cosmos, Snapdragons, Zinnias, Heliotrop (it smells so good), Poppies and so many others. If you purchase plants, make sure to purchase plants that have not been treated with pesticides if possible.
We find that having our peppers next to flowering plants can really help the pollination!
Early flowering trees are also a boost for bees, which are hungry each spring and ready to refill their honeycombs to help grow the hive. We love having Crabapples, Apricots, and other blooming trees as they're beautiful and the bees absolutely love them in the spring for one of their first meals! 
Add Bird Baths & Water Sources for Bees:
Bees also need water! By having a bird bath with fresh water nearby, you'll also attract pollinators to your garden to visit for a drink – and then they're likely to stop by your chile pepper garden while they're visiting.
Make sure the peppers are grown in a spot with good air circulation and spaced well, they should not be shaded by other plants.
If your pepper plants are producing flowers but not fruit, and you don't see any bees in your garden, you may need to hand pollinate. Use a small, clean paintbrush and gently brush the center bud of each flower. The idea is to spread pollen from flower to flower, that's how you get baby peppers! :)
Grow unique peppers from seeds!
You can grow any of the hundreds of chile pepper varieties by growing them from seed, so you can pick unusual or different colored peppers that add spice and flavor to pickles, recipes, hot sauces and salsas. Sandia Seed sells all sorts of easy-to-grow Hatch chile seeds, green chile seeds, hot pepper seeds, sweet pepper seeds and even Heirloom tomato seeds! Learn more about how to grow peppers »
Have you heard of Hatch Chiles?
Originating in Hatch, New Mexico, Hatch chiles are roasted, peeled and added to all kinds of recipes including green chile that eaten like a stew, or smothered over burritos. They're easy to grow anywhere you can grow vegetables, so if you don't live in New Mexico, get some seeds and grow them wherever you live!
Get some Hatch Green Chile seeds today
and grow some New Mexico to your garden.
View all of our Hatch Green Chile seeds »
We also love seeing ladybugs and other beneficial insects who visit our pepper and flower gardens and help control aphids and other garden pests. Check out this happy Ladybug on one of our Chimayo chile plants:
