Plant Care Library

Group/Class:  Hot Chili

Description:

A great variety that produces high yields of 12" long, medium hot peppers; ripens from light green to red; while usually harvested around the light green stage, the mature red peppers are slightly hotter and sweeter; great for just about any culinary dish

Edible Qualities

NuMex Big Jim Hot Pepper is an annual vegetable plant that is commonly grown for its edible qualities. It produces large light green long peppers (which are technically 'berries') which can be harvested at any point. The fruit will often fade to red over time. The peppers have a mild taste and a crunchy texture.

The peppers are most often used in the following ways:

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

Planting & Growing

NuMex Big Jim Hot Pepper will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. When planted in rows, individual plants should be spaced approximately 24 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 typically grown 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. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America, and it is considered by many to be an heirloom variety.

NuMex Big Jim Hot Pepper is a good choice for the vegetable garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.