Plant Care Library

Group/Class:  Hot Chili

Description:

A wonderful early maturing variety that produces high yields of 7" long hot peppers; ripens from green to bright red; spicy and crunchy with thick walls, excellent for salsas, grilling, roasting and hot sauces; harvest at any stage

Edible Qualities

NuMex Joe E. Parker Pepper is an annual vegetable plant that is typically grown for its edible qualities. It produces 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 hot 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 Joe E. Parker Pepper will grow to be about 30 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 20 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.

NuMex Joe E. Parker 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.