Growing Lemon Drop Peppers: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · September 30, 2026
Lemon Drop is a Peruvian seasoning pepper, Capsicum baccatum, that Baker Creek describes as ripening to a clear lemon yellow with a clean, slightly citrusy heat. It is good in jellies and preserves.
A slow pepper
Baker Creek lists 100 days to maturity, longer than most of the peppers here. Start it indoors earlier than a bell. Baker Creek says 8 to 12 weeks before your last frost, and we schedule it at ten.
Small fruit, lots of it
Baker Creek describes 2-foot plants covered in thin-walled, conical fruit 2 to 3 inches long with very few seeds, and notes the branches can need staking once they are loaded.
One plant per square foot in the Garden Designer. The Bell Pepper profile covers shared pepper care, and the companion guide lists neighbors.
Growing it next to other peppers
Different pepper varieties cross-pollinate easily, hot ones included. NC State Extension notes that when hot and sweet peppers cross, the heat shows up in later generations grown from saved seed, and suggests keeping varieties 20 to 30 feet apart if you plan to save your own. Baker Creek, which grows seed for sale, isolates varieties by at least 500 feet. If you buy fresh seed each year, you can plant sweet and hot peppers side by side.
Sources: Baker Creek, Lemon Drop; NC State Extension, Saving Your Own Seed.
Companion planting guide for Lemon Drop Pepper · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 3-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Mature height: 1.5-2.5 ft
Method: Start indoors: Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside. It needs a head start most zones can't give it by direct-sowing alone.
When to plant Lemon Drop pepper, by zone
Every zone Lemon Drop pepper grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.
| Zone | Start indoors | Sow or plant out | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3a & 3b | Mar 21–Mar 28 | Jun 13–Jun 20 | Sep 21–Sep 28 |
| 4a & 4b | Mar 6–Mar 13 | May 29–Jun 5 | Sep 6–Sep 13 |
| 5a & 5b | Mar 1–Mar 8 | May 24–May 31 | Sep 1–Sep 8 |
| 6a & 6b | Feb 14–Feb 21 | May 9–May 16 | Aug 17–Aug 24 |
| 7a & 7b | Jan 30–Feb 6 | Apr 24–May 1 | Aug 2–Aug 9 |
| 8a & 8b | Jan 14–Jan 21 | Apr 8–Apr 15 | Jul 17–Jul 24 |
| 9a & 9b | Dec 7–Dec 14 | Mar 1–Mar 8 | Jun 9–Jun 16 |
| 10a & 10b | Nov 21–Nov 28 | Feb 13–Feb 20 | May 24–May 31 |
| 11a & 11bSummer window | May–Nov | Aug–Feb | ~100 days after transplanting |
Harvest dates are about 100 days after the sow or plant-out date, not after starting seeds indoors.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Lemon Drop Pepper plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 1 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1.5-2.5 ft.
Soil & water: pH 6-6.5. Needs well-drained soil. Amend with lime if soil pH falls below 6.
Good companions for Lemon Drop pepper
- Basil: Reputed to repel aphids and improve pepper growth nearby, but a controlled garden trial testing this same claim on a related crop found no pest-reduction benefit from basil, and found higher pest counts on the basil-companioned plants. Treat this pairing as unproven, not as a working pest deterrent.
- Onion: Reputed to deter many common pepper pests, though this specific pairing hasn't been tested the way onion/carrot pest-masking has. Treat it as garden tradition.
Full companion guide, including what to keep away from Lemon Drop pepper →
Where to buy Lemon Drop pepper seeds
Botanical Interests (Lemon Drop pepper seeds)
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See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing Lemon Drop pepper" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Lemon Drop Pepper: A Peruvian seasoning chile that ripens lemon yellow, with clean, citrusy heat.
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