But here in the Great White North all peppers are slow-growing annuals and must be seeded indoors to be ready to transplant into the garden in late May or early June after all risk of frost has passed. However, you will need to water the sandier soils more often. Aphids, small soft-bodied insects, love to suck sap from the young stems and leaves. They proliferate in hot, dry weather. Note that insecticidal soap works only on direct contact with the pest and you may have to spray more than once.
Cutworms are the soil-dwelling larvae of certain moths.
Often active at night, they cut the stems of young plants at soil level. An old-fashioned means of protection is to partially bury a bottomless paper cup around the base of each plant thus creating a barrier to ward off marauding cutworms. You may also find earwigs and European corn borers holed up in your peppers although they seem to prefer the sweet bell peppers rather than the hot ones. Painfully spicy habanero pepper looks like a small wrinkled pumpkin. Jalapeno peppers are usually picked green but will turn bright red if allowed to ripen on the plant.