Key Points for the Care of Potted Ornamental Chili Peppers
This article provides an introduction to other potted ornamental chili pepper plants, key points for the care of potted ornamental chili peppers. Let's take a look together.
Ornamental chili peppers belong to the Solanum genus of the nightshade family and are perennial herbaceous plants. Since the older plants do not have high ornamental value, they are often cultivated as annual or biennial flowers. The stems are thick and branched, the leaves are green, and the flowers are white. The fruit is a berry, growing singly or in clusters, upright, slightly oblique, or hanging down. The fruit comes in various shapes depending on the variety, including round, conical, finger-shaped, horn-shaped, bell-shaped, persimmon-shaped, and more. Before maturity, the fruit can be green, white, or dark purple, depending on the variety, and after maturity, they turn bright red, yellow, orange, purple-brown, dark purple, and other colors. The surface is glossy and smooth, like waxen handicrafts. The main types of ornamental chili peppers include five-color peppers, pointed peppers, cherry peppers, Buddha's hand peppers, chicken heart peppers, yellow UFOs, tomato peppers, red bells, (Z-D) head peppers, and horn peppers.
Ornamental chili peppers are native to Central America and thrive in sunny, warm, and dry environments. They are heat-tolerant, fertilization-loving, drought-intolerant, light-insufficient-tolerant, cold-sensitive, and semi-shady-tolerant. They grow well in fertile, loose, and moist soil. The potting soil can be mixed with garden soil, decomposed leaf mold, and sandy soil, with a small amount of decomposed cake fertilizer or superphosphate added as a base fertilizer. During the growing season, they should be placed in a sunny outdoor area without shading, even during the hottest summer. Keep the potting soil moist but not waterlogged, and ensure drainage during the rainy season. During the blooming period, water can be sprayed on the plants in a regular pattern, and watering should be reduced to aid in pollination and fruit setting, but the soil should not be too wet to prevent flower drop due to excessive water. Apply a thin liquid fertilizer or compound fertilizer every 7 to 10 days, with nitrogen fertilizer dominant during the seedling stage to promote the growth of branches and leaves. After fruit setting, more phosphorus and potassium fertilizers should be applied to provide adequate nutrition for the fruit development until the fruit is fully colored. During cultivation, when the ornamental chili peppers have about 10 true leaves, the top growing point should be pinched off, known as "pinching," to promote branching and more fruit. During the growing period, pay attention to pruning, removing buds, and timely removing branches that affect the plant's aesthetic appearance to maintain a neat and round canopy shape, ensuring good ventilation and light inside the plant, which improves the fruit-setting rate and ornamental value. When the mature fruit skin begins to wrinkle, it is important to harvest to ensure continuous flowering and fruiting. In winter, move the plants to an indoor temperature of about 10°C, and regularly spray water on the plants to prevent fruit shrinkage due to dry air, extending the ornamental period to December. Ornamental chili peppers can also be planted in teapots, teacups, artistic bamboo tubes, and other containers, and shaped into bonsai or decorative potted plants through pruning and wiring methods.
Ornamental chili peppers can be sown in spring or autumn, and seedlings emerge 7 to 10 days after sowing. Transplant the seedlings when they have 3 to 5 true leaves.
The above are the key points for the care of potted ornamental chili peppers, hoping it is helpful to you!