Plant Care Library

Other Names:  Ornamental Chili, Chili Pepper

Group/Class:  Ornamental

Description:

A beautiful ornamental with colorful fruit that emerge purple and turn red when mature; compact habit creates an ideal plant for containers, small gardens and borders

Edible Qualities

Explosive Ember Ornamental Pepper is an annual vegetable plant that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces clusters of purple oblong peppers (which are technically 'berries') which are typically harvested when mature. The fruit will often fade to red over time. The peppers have a fiery taste and a crisp texture.

The peppers are most often used in the following ways:

• Eating When Cooked/Prepared
• Cooking
• Drying
• Pickling
• Sauces

Planting & Growing

Explosive Ember Ornamental Pepper will grow to be about 18 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 14 inches. When planted in rows, individual plants should be spaced approximately 14 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 is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any 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. It can be propagated by cuttings; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Explosive Ember Ornamental 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 and foliage against which the larger 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.