G’day, I’m Marco DeLuca, and I’ve been growing chili peppers in Sydney for about eight years now. What started as a few plants on the balcony turned into 40+ varieties and a mild obsession with capsaicin.

This blog is where I’ll share what I’ve learned about growing chilies in Australian conditions, making hot sauce, and generally celebrating spicy food.

How This Started

I grew up eating my nonna’s cooking, which always had a good kick to it. She’d keep a jar of pickled chilies on the table, and everything got a spoonful. When I moved out and started cooking for myself, food felt bland without that heat.

Started buying chilies from the shops, but they’re expensive and often not very hot. Bird’s eye chilies from Coles or Woolies are fine, but there’s a whole world of varieties you can’t buy in Australia.

So I ordered some seeds online and grew my own. First year was rough - half the plants died, and the ones that survived produced mediocre peppers. But I learned from mistakes, and by year two I was harvesting enough chilies to make my own sauce.

What I Grow Now

Currently growing about 40 varieties, though that number changes every season. Some are reliable producers I grow every year. Others are experiments that don’t always work out.

Favourites include Carolina Reapers (obviously), Trinidad Scorpions, 7 Pot Douglahs, and a few habanero varieties. Also grow milder stuff like jalapeños and poblanos for everyday cooking.

Sydney’s climate is pretty good for chilies. Hot summers with plenty of sun, mild winters where you can keep some varieties going year-round if you protect them from frost.

What This Blog Will Cover

Growing guides for specific varieties - what works in Sydney conditions, what doesn’t, tips for getting better yields.

Hot sauce recipes and reviews. I make my own fermented sauces, and I’ll share recipes that actually work. Also reviewing commercial sauces because there are some genuinely good ones out there.

Chili profiles - detailed looks at different varieties, their heat levels, flavour characteristics, and what they’re good for.

Cooking with heat - recipes and techniques for incorporating serious chilies into everyday cooking without just making everything painful to eat.

Australian chili scene - local growers, sauce makers, restaurants doing interesting things with heat.

Why Share This

The chili growing community in Australia is smaller than in the US or UK, but it’s growing. When I started, information was scattered across random forums and YouTube videos. I want to put together practical, Australia-specific advice in one place.

Also, I enjoy writing about this stuff. Talking about chilies with people who aren’t interested is boring. Writing for people who actively want to read about it is better.

What to Expect

Posts will be practical. I’m not interested in writing fluff or repeating generic gardening advice you can find anywhere. If I write about growing a specific variety, it’ll be based on actually growing it in Sydney, with real results and mistakes included.

I’ll write about what works and what doesn’t. Not everything I try succeeds. Failed experiments are more educational than endless success stories anyway.

Some posts will include links to products or services I actually use and recommend. If something’s garbage, I’ll say so. If it’s overpriced marketing hype, same deal.

Sydney Growing Conditions

For anyone following along from Sydney or similar climates (warm temperate to subtropical), here’s what you’re working with:

Summers get hot (30-40°C regularly), which most chilies love. You’ll need shade cloth for some varieties during January-February heatwaves.

Winters are mild (rarely below 5°C in the city). You can keep plants going through winter with basic protection, though production slows down.

Humidity is moderate. We don’t have the crazy humidity of Queensland, but it’s enough that you need to watch for fungal issues during wet periods.

Soil is variable depending on where you are. I’m in the inner west dealing with clayey soil that needed serious amendment to work for chilies.

First Real Post Coming Soon

Next post will be a proper growing guide - probably Carolina Reapers since that’s what everyone asks about. I’ll cover seed starting, transplanting, feeding, and actually getting decent production in Sydney conditions.

After that, I’ve got a fermented hot sauce recipe that’s been aging for three months and should be ready to bottle soon. I’ll write up the process and results.

If you’re in Sydney and growing chilies, or you’re anywhere in Australia dealing with similar conditions, stick around. If you just like eating spicy food and want to understand more about the chilies you’re eating, this’ll work for you too.

Let’s talk about capsaicin.

Get in Touch

If you’ve got questions about growing chilies in Sydney or suggestions for what to cover, reach out. I’m on the usual social media platforms as @peppersbymailau, or just comment on posts.

Not promising I’ll answer everything instantly - I’ve got a day job that has nothing to do with chilies - but I’ll get back to people when I can.

Right, that’s the introduction done. Time to get into the actual content.