Plant Care Library

Group/Class:  Hot Horn

Description:

A dwarf variety producing 3" long, upward facing fruit; showing off deep purple until ripening to bright red; ideal for patio containers and gardens; this fiery pepper would be great for hot sauces, pickling or adding that extra kick in any dish

Edible Qualities

Atomic Hot Pepper is an annual vegetable plant that is typically grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces small deep purple oblong peppers (which are technically 'berries') with red flesh which are typically harvested when mature. The fruit will often fade to red over time. The peppers have a hot taste and a crunchy texture.

The peppers are most often used in the following ways:

• Eating When Cooked/Prepared
• Cooking
• Pickling

Planting & Growing

Atomic Hot Pepper will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. When planted in rows, individual plants should be spaced approximately 18 inches apart. This vegetable plant is an annual, which means that it will grow for one season in your garden and then die after producing a crop.

This plant is quite ornamental as well as edible, and is as much at home in a landscape or flower garden as it is in a designated vegetable garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Atomic Hot Pepper is a good choice for the vegetable garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a mass of flowers against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.