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12.3.07

Ornamental Pepper As A Houseplant

A year ago I was given seeds for this ornamental pepper called 'Black Pearl' and got around to sowing them pretty late in the season. When fall arrived the seeds had just barely begun to sprout but by the them the days started to grow shorter and I thought about just letting the plant die in the garden. But since the seeds were given to me by a gardener I decided to bring it indoors a long with my cacti and succulents and see what would happen.

Ornamental Pepper 'Black Pearl'

I wasn't expecting much because I have not had any luck with keeping Rosemary indoors over the winter and I thought this ornamental pepper would suffer the same fate. Looking over the collection of plants I'm very surprised at how this little plant managed to make it through the winter. Since my window space is limited and that space is devoted to my cacti & succulents and my tender plants and bulbs, like my Amaryllis, I set this plant in a bathroom on the opposite side of a window.

Not only did it survive on low light but it survived a couple of times when I neglected to water it and the leaves shriveled up completely and I thought it was dead. But it didn't die and it bounced back as good as before after a few minutes of soaking in water.

The only negative reaction I noticed in this plant to my neglect- is in the leaves. If you notice the newer leaves are green and don't have the dark hue of the older leaves. This is a result of not getting much direct sun but I expect the leaves to color up now that the days are getting longer and we're getting some sun shine. I'll plant it in the garden when the threat of frost is over where it should get to be about 18 inches high and 16 inches wide and a produce fruit (not edible) that compliments the dark almost black colored foliage it gets in good sun.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:03 PM

    Putting a plant in your bathroom is a smart thing to do, very good climate.

    Nice blog, we met at bloggerforum.com.

    ReplyDelete
  2. hey I remember.

    Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous5:27 PM

    I did that to last year, and it turned out fine. I have to disagree with your inedibility notice, I put some in a homemade salsa and they were delicious! Quite hot though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Anon,

    Good point. I should have said they're not palatable. Most take rather bad but you can eat them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good to know this can work! I often have issues with my short, cool season when I try to grow specialty peppers. (Ok, the problem is MY timing, but I like to place blame with my climate.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous3:11 PM

    My mom purchased an ornamental pepper plant at the Dollar Tree of all places. It was about 4 inches tall. It was repotted and kept indoors in indirect light. That was 4 years ago, it's now around 12 inches tall, full and bushy with dozens and dozens of peppers. I've since snagged some seeds and have started my own plants inside. They make an attractive houseplant for sure.

    ReplyDelete

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