Pepper Primer
When I
talk about peppers here I am not talking about the pepper common in shakers on
tables everywhere, the pepper in “salt and pepper”, often referred to as black
pepper. That pepper is from the plant Piper nigrum, which is not related to
the peppers we eat the flesh of. The dried berries of Piper nigrum are ground into a coarse powder to form the spice
pepper.
This
article will be about growing peppers whose fleshy fruit we consume, the
peppers we refer to as green peppers, sweet pepper, Chile peppers, cayenne
peppers., Jalapeno peppers and so on. These are varieties of Capiscum annuum and other Capiscum species such as Capsicum baccatum, Capsicum chinense, Capsicum frutescens, and Capsicum pubescens.
Peppers
are native to Central and South America and southern Asia. Many countries have a favorite type of pepper
that is featured in local cuisine.
Description
Pepper
plants generally form a bush shape from 2 to 4 feet high. When allowed to grow
more than more year the stems of pepper can become woody. Pepper leaves are generally oblong and
usually shiny green although there are peppers with variegated foliage grown as
ornamentals.
Pepper
flowers are either white, or in a few species lavender or purple. They have 6 petals. Pepper fruits, (the part we eat), start out
green, sometimes with purplish streaks and mature to a wide variety of
colors. The fruits also come in a
variety of shapes from the blocky bell pepper shape to tiny berry shapes to
long slender shapes.
One
thing that must be mentioned here is that pepper fruits are neither male or
female and the lobes on a bell pepper do not tell its sex, or whether it’s
sweeter because there are 3 or 4 lobes.
There is a widely circulated picture on social media that proclaims this
amazing “fact”. It’s absolutely
false. Fruits do not have sexes. The
lobes on a bell pepper are different in different varieties and growing
conditions may also affect whether a pepper fruit has 3 or 4 lobes.
Pepper
fruits generally have white or tan flat seeds attached to a white
membrane. In some species the seeds are
dark colored. The seeds can pass through the digestive systems of animals and
still sprout, which is a way wild plants are able to distribute their
offspring.
Pepper heat
The
heat or pungency of a pepper depends on the species and how it has been
selected in different cultivars. The
heat comes from a phytonutrient called capsaicin. There is some heat in the
flesh of a pepper but the part of the pepper that is the most pungent is the
white membrane inside the pepper that the seeds are attached to. Originally
nature probably perfected the the heat in a pepper fruit to discourage animals
from consuming them. Most peppers get
more pungent when they are fully ripe.
Dried peppers are hotter than fresh.
Pepper
heat is no joke. The amount of capsaicin
in a pepper determines how hot it is. A
lot of capsaicin sends a message to the brain that something toxic has been
eaten and many people respond to really hot peppers with vomiting. The digestive fluid in the vomit with the
chewed peppers may cause chemical burns to the mouth and digestive tract. The
body responds to capsaicin with an inflammatory response that can damage the
gastrointestinal system.
![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hD2jtgA7FdQ/XTNsbYrIBbI/AAAAAAAAGtw/j3f2gjdXCmkWMs4fDuhIgBPEhiR1EyPpwCLcBGAs/s320/pepper%2Bchart.png)
If you
are foolish enough to bite on these extremely hot peppers your mouth will feel
if as if it’s on fire. (One note- use
milk, not water to try and remove the burning sensation.) If these very hot
pepper’s juice gets on the skin it will first feel like it’s burning, then the
area will go numb. Blisters can actually
form on skin from the body’s response to the nerve damage. These very hot
peppers should not be handled without gloves and care must be taken not to get
juice from them near the eyes. The pain
usually lasts about 20 minutes but can last a lot longer.
Pepper
heat is measured by the Scoville scale, with higher numbers being hotter. The
hottest pepper now officially known is the Carolina Reaper with 1.5 million
Scoville units. However, a Scottish man
claims he has developed a hotter pepper, the "Dragon’s
Breath" chili. This new pepper supposedly has a Scoville scale rating
of 2.4 million heat units. A bell pepper
has a 0 Scoville rating.
People
for some reason, keep selecting peppers to be hotter and hotter, even though we
are pretty much at the limit to what people can tolerate. While tolerance builds up over time to the
heat because you damage your taste buds, medical professionals frown on
consumption of the really hot peppers, especially in contests where as many are
eaten as possible and as quickly as possible.
There
are reports that people eating the very hot peppers sometimes have seizures and
heart attack like symptoms. People can
die from an extreme inflammatory/immune system reaction and there is concern
among medical professionals that contests involving the extremely hot peppers
may result in death. There is a child’s
death attributed to ingesting too much chili powder. I would never leave these extremely hot
peppers where children or pets could get them.
Choosing varieties
There
are some broad categories in peppers other than their ranking on the Scoville
scale. Varieties developed from Capsicum
annuum include many common garden peppers such as: bell peppers,
sweet/Italian peppers, serrano, cayenne, paprika and jalapeños.
Varieties
developed from Capsicum
chinense includes all of the Habaneros, Scotch Bonnets, Trinidad
Scorpions, the Bhut Jolokia (ghost pepper) and the Carolina Reaper.
Capsicum baccatum, is
the species that produces aji peppers,
and a few other varieties and Capsicum
frutescens, is a sometimes debated species which produces the tabascos. (Some botanists believe this is not a
separate species but a variety of Capsicum annuum). And many ornamental peppers are derived from Capsicum
pubescens, which has purple flowers.
When
you look in a good garden catalog you’ll see dozens if not hundreds of pepper
varieties. First decide what heat value
you are interested in. Then look for
disease resistance, and the suitability to your climate. If you are interested in bell peppers you may
want to see what color the “green” pepper ripens into. A variety of colors makes salads and other
dishes interesting. Peppers both sweet and hot come in a variety of shapes and
sizes.
If you
are not interested in saving seeds don’t worry about mixing hot and sweet
peppers in the garden. While some may
cross pollinate it won’t affect the flavor or heat of this year’s crop. A sweet
pepper stays sweet even if it’s pollinated by a hot pepper nearby. If you saved seed and plant it next year you
may get some peppers with the traits of both parents. If you want to save seed plant different
varieties 15-20 feet apart.
Here’s
a link to a guide to crossing peppers to get new varieties.
Starting peppers from seed
Peppers
require warm soil to germinate well.
Soil temperature of 80 degrees or slightly higher is ideal and will
probably require the use of a heating pad under the seedling tray. Use a sterile seed starting mix for starting
seeds. Start seeds indoors about 8 weeks before your expected last frost date
in spring. It’s not recommended to start seeds directly in the garden. At 80 degrees soil temperature seeds should
germinate in 7-10 days. If the soil is
cooler it will take longer.
You
could start peppers in flats but since that will require early transplanting
into separate pots I prefer to start 2-3 seeds in a 2 inch pot, cutting off all
but one plant after germination.
Otherwise transplant seedlings into a 2-4 inch pot, one to a pot, when
the first true leaves appear.
Keep
the seedlings in full sunlight or position grow lights a few inches above the
tops of seedlings. They need at least 14 hours of light. Day temperatures should be 70 degrees and
nights around 60 degrees.
After
the plants have their third set of leaves some people like to lower the night
temperature to around 55 degrees for a month.
This is thought to encourage earlier and more flowering. However, you want to keep pepper plants from
setting flowers before transplanting.
Peppers transplanted with flowers seem to suffer more from transplanting
shock.
If the
soilless mix you started the peppers in did not contain fertilizer, begin
fertilizing seedlings once they have 3 sets of leaves. Use a water-soluble fertilizer
lower in nitrogen but containing phosphorus and calcium. A tomato fertilizer works well. Follow label directions for seedlings or
transplants.
Let the
soil surface dry slightly between watering.
Try to water from the bottom while seedlings are small.
Transplanting peppers into the garden
Harden
off seedlings before transplanting them outside. This means moving them outside for a few
hours every day in a lightly shaded spot protected from the wind. Do not expose
them to full sun for several days. Make the outside time longer every day. Make sure they don’t dry out. A week of hardening off will make
transplanting much easier on the plants.
To do
well peppers need warm soil. You may
want to wait a week or so later than transplanting tomatoes when you plant
peppers. Pull back any mulch in the
planting area a few days before planting to let soil warm up. Plants should be about 2 feet apart in rows 2
feet apart.
If the
day temperatures are less than 70 consider a little extra protection for the plants. I generally use a tomato cage around each
pepper plant for support during the growing season. I put it in around the
plant when I transplant them. If it’s
cool I wrap the cage with row cover, trapping a little extra heat. Burlap could be used. Leave the top open. You could also use stakes around the plant to
hold a screen. Remove these “screens”
when day temps are above 80 degrees.
Try to
transplant on a cloudy day. If plants haven’t been hardened off before
transplanting, you’ll need to shade them for a few days. Keep plants watered well as they adjust to
outside.
General culture
Peppers
prefer slightly acidic organic rich soil.
They are heavy feeders, that is they like to be fertilized for good
production. A high nitrogen fertilizer
will produce bushy plants but few fruits. A fertilizer for tomatoes is usually
good for peppers. It will have
phosphorus and calcium which peppers appreciate. Fertilize according to label directions,
about once a month.
Some
pepper varieties may need staking or a cage, especially when loaded with
fruit. Water if it’s dry and hot, plants
need about an inch of water a week. Try
to keep water off foliage and water well before sundown so plants dry off
before dark.
In some
pepper varieties, like bell peppers, the fruit is picked before it’s ripe, in
others the fruit is allowed to ripen.
Fruits usually start out green and change to various colors such as red,
orange, yellow, purple, or black. Even bell peppers commonly referred to as
green peppers will change color if allowed to ripen. Ripe peppers are either sweeter or hotter
than the green stage, depending on variety. Keep ripe peppers picked if you
want the plant to keep producing.
To
avoid disease problems, rotate the spot where you plant peppers every year. Do not plant them where tomatoes and
eggplants, which they are related to and share disease with, grew the year
before. Peppers can be grown in large
containers.
Insects
rarely bother peppers. Aphids and stinkbugs can be a problem and plants should
be treated for them as they spread other diseases. Use a registered pesticide for food plants.
Occasionally tomato hornworms will also attack peppers. These can be picked off by hand.
Bacterial spot is a
bacterial disease of peppers that can cause problems. Look for resistant varieties and seed
companies which test and certify their seed as the disease can be carried on
seeds. It causes black or brown spots on leaves, stems and fruit. The spots may be raised and look like a scab.
Leaves may yellow and fall off. Production is greatly decreased. Home gardeners have no good treatments for
the disease.
Anthracnose is a fungal
disease of peppers that affects all stages of pepper fruit, leaving black or gray
moldy looking, rotting areas on them. It
can be prevented by using a fungicide on the plants as fruit begins to form.
Cucumber mosaic virus
affects more than cucumber and, in the Northeast, often causes problems. It causes yellow and pale green blotches on
leaves. Leaves may curl. Plants will grow slowly and don’t produce well. It’s
spread by aphids and many common weeds harbor the disease. There’s no cure and plants must be destroyed
to keep it from spreading. Keeping
peppers weed free and treating for aphids helps prevent the disease.
Other
disease sometimes occurs, and different areas of the country may have different
diseases flare up. For help diagnosing
plant diseases contact your county Extension office.
Peppers
are perennial in warm climates. They can
be over-wintered or grown in heated greenhouses in pots. To get fruit in winter there also needs to be
10 or more hours of good strong light. I
have seen people bring in the smaller ornamental peppers for winter growing as
houseplants with various degrees of success.
Culinary uses of peppers
Peppers
are consumed in a variety of ways around the world and a major flavor component
of many styles of cuisine. Peppers are
eaten fresh in salads and cooked into a huge array of dishes. They are grilled and baked. Some cuisine calls for specific types of
peppers and they do have different tastes and levels of heat. Some peppers have a fruity undertone. Peppers
are now being put into beverages.
Peppers
can be fermented, canned, dried, pickled, or frozen for storage.
Other uses of peppers
Many
cultures developed medicinal uses for peppers. Some medicinal uses call
for specific varieties of peppers but if a pepper has capsicum, which is one of
the medicinal component of a pepper it can probably be substituted. Other
helpful compounds in peppers include, carotinoids, flavonoids, and steroid
saponins.
Cayenne
pepper is often cited as a treatment for upset stomach, toothache, fever,
menstrual problems, hay fever, lowering blood sugar and heart disease
prevention. For this use dried powdered
pepper is generally used and made into a tea.
You can also buy it in capsules.
Medical studies are inconclusive for most of these uses. There are promising medical studies using
capsicum for migraine and cluster headaches.
If you
are taking pepper orally in amounts used medicinally and also use prescription
medications, you should consult with a pharmacist. Oral pepper medications combined with some
prescription drugs can cause blood thinning and excessive bleeding.
One of
the most common uses for capsicum is in a topical cream applied to the skin for
pain relief for arthritis, neuralgia, neuropathy, sprains, muscle spasms and
back pain. Some people will get a rash
from applying capsicum cream to the skin.
A cough may also develop from it’s use if the person is taking ACE
inhibitor medications. Medical studies have proven capsicum can help some
people with these conditions.
You can
make a type of capsicum salve by finely processing moderately hot peppers like
jalapenos and mixing them with oils like jojoba or olive oil and beeswax and
heating them to infuse the pepper into the oil.
But it’s simpler to buy a capsicum cream at the drugstore.
Always
start slowly with any capsicum remedies, using them in small amounts until you
see how they affect you.
Capsicum
is also used as a weapon, in pepper spray and in military grade chemical
weapons. It’s sometimes recommended as a deterrent to animals and other pests
in the garden, but this use is rarely effective. Many birds actually like hot
peppers for instance. Many animals ignore it.
It is easily blown or washed away and relatively expensive to use this
way.
Every
food producing gardener needs a pepper plant or two. They can even be mixed into a flower garden
as many varieties are quite ornamental, especially as they fill with colorful
fruit. So plant a pretty pepper plant so
you can pick a peck of peppers.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing such beautiful information with us. I hope you will share some more information about capsicum.Please keep sharing.
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