As a big fan of salsa and spice, I couldn’t wait to try the AeroGarden Chili Pepper Seed Kit. For this kit I actually purchased the new “AeroGarden Pro100 Stainless Steel” unit. At a price just $20 more than the older black and white models, it was a no brainer when choosing. Besides the upgraded look of stainless steel, it also has “adaptive intelligence” that automatically adjusts everything based upon the growth of the plant…pretty cool huh? (I don’t really know how it works ;)

Anyways…the kit sprouted right on schedule just like the last ones and seemed to grow just as quickly. I followed the directions in the AeroGarden tending and harvesting guide and trimmed back the plants when they were about 2 weeks old. After another week I could already tell that trimming the plants made a big difference and encouraged much more leaf and stem growth. At about 4 weeks my chili pepper plants began to flower! I was excited. With the Chili Pepper Seed Kit, just as the Cherry Tomatoes and other flowering kits, you have to pollinate the flowers by hand once they bloom, otherwise no peppers will develop. I didn’t want to risk growing a pretty plant with NO fruit, so I used a trick my grandpa use to use on his tomatoes. I got an old small paintbrush and actually brushed the pollen of the flowers onto each other. This way, I could ensure that each flower would produce a pepper.

Signs of Success:

Sure enough, shortly after I pollinated the flowers I began to see small little bud (baby pepper fruits) forming which quickly grew into full blown chili peppers and lots of them. It was a blast to watch the peppers change colors. I have to admit, that even though I like salsa and spice, the chili peppers in this kit were a little to kickin’ for my taste, but none the less it was a beautiful kit to grow. It basically served its purpose as a beautiful, decorative house plant. Everbody that came to our house commented about how much they liked it.

Overall Summary:

Overall, the Chili Pepper Seed Kit for the AeroGarden was a fun kit to grow. Although the peppers didn’t really get used due to being a little too hot & spicy, they provided an attractive and unique accent to our home and were very fun to grow and look at.

Overall AeroGarden Seed Kit Rating for the Chili Pepper Seed Kit: B+

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