Ornamental peppers are fun to grow, and offer bright and festive colors for containers on your porch or deck. Their fruit appears in brilliant oranges, reds and yellows, and is similar in shape and size to a small chili pepper.
They offer long-lasting appeal, producing fruit for up to six weeks. Their soil should be kept moist, but not saturated, and you can pinch back new growth to encourage branching. The fruit can be picked, or allowed to dry on the plant.
Ornamental peppers are tropical plants, so you don’t want to leave them outside after temperatures drop to below 55 degrees. They will do well inside, on a sunny windowsill, in Fall.
Members of the Capsicum annum family, which includes the sweet and hot peppers we use in cooking, one should use caution before considering them for culinary use. Because they are mainly grown as an ornamental plant, fungicides or pesticides may have been used in their cultivation, which are not meant for human consumption. Check with your nursery, first, if you have culinary uses in mind.
Enjoy ornamental peppers for their vivid colors, and brighten up your patio and home for weeks to come!