Plant Care Library

Group/Class:  Hot Habanero

Description:

Tall strong, upright plants produce high yields of mildly hot habanero peppers; emerging green and maturing to orange, these slightly spicy peppers have a delicious citrus-like flavor perfect for adding to salsas, salads, marinades and sauces

Edible Qualities

NuMex Suave Orange 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 green oblong peppers (which are technically 'berries') which are usually ready for picking from mid summer to early fall. The fruit will often fade to orange over time. The peppers have a mild taste and a crisp texture.

The peppers are most often used in the following ways:

• Eating When Cooked/Prepared
• Cooking
• Baking
• Preserves
• Sauces

Planting & Growing

NuMex Suave Orange 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 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. 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.

NuMex Suave Orange 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.