How to grow decorative peppers

In the winter, decorative peppers look beautiful on the kitchen window. At present, there are many varieties of this plant, which differ in height, color of leaves and fruits, in the shape and size of the fruit. Blossom and fruit decorative peppers from July to October. Flowers are small, white or lilac, more often solitary. Unusual and decorative to the plant give puffed up pods of the most diverse color and shape. Small fruits can be orange, Light yellow, red, green, lilac, brown, purple - all colors can be in shades. During the ripening, the fruits change their color. So simultaneously on one bush there is a set of fruits of the most different color.

Decorative peppers have pods of various shapes. They are mainly conical: short or long, elongated. There are varieties with round fruits, which are very similar to berries. There are long-bodied (up to 20 cm) and small-fruited (up to 1 cm) variety.

If you want to have a bright, relatively unpretentious plant with colorful fruits on the window, buy or plant decorative peppers. Cultivation of it begin in March. Seeds are planted in pots (large depths) with soil mixture. When the first two real leaves appear, young plants Dive. For normal development, this culture requires a temperature of about 22 ° C. Decorative peppers are fed two or three times with organic or mineral fertilizers (not containing chlorine). In summer and spring, plants require good regular watering. Blossom decorative peppers in the presence of sufficient light, but are afraid of drafts. If the fruits began to fall, then either you dried the soil, or a draft appeared.

The fruits of decorative pepper contain a lot of capsaicin, which gives them a piquant spicy taste. They can be used as a seasoning for cooking. More fruits contain carotenoids, ascorbic acid, essential oils, steroid saponins and fatty oils. With moderate consumption of food, decorative hot peppers increases appetite and improves digestion. Dried fruits are also used for cooking tinctures, which are used for neurology and radiculitis, for rubbing and compresses. With the fruits of pepper it is worth to handle carefully - they irritate the skin and mucous membranes quite strongly.

In February, the plant sheds foliage, but do not rush it out. With proper watering and high enough temperature, young leaves will soon appear, followed by flowers and fruits. With good care, they can please you for 2-3 years. For reproduction, you can use the ripened fruit - the seeds from them usually give a good germination.

Decorative peppers can be grown on the open ground, then their seedlings are planted in the ground, then they are fed and cared for as usual sweet pepper. In late autumn, carefully digging out bushes, you can transplant them into pots and arrange them on the balcony or on the windows. Until the deep winter, they will please you with colorful fruits and intense green foliage.