Plant Care Library

Group/Class:  Hot Poblano

Description:

A wonderful ancho variety that is perfect for patio containers or sunny gardens; large fruit develop from green to crimson red with thick walls; a mild heat level, great for chile relleno, roasting and drying; performs well under cool conditions

Edible Qualities

Mosquetero Pepper is an annual vegetable plant that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces dark green heart-shaped peppers (which are technically 'berries') with red flesh which are usually ready for picking from mid summer to early fall. The fruit will often fade to crimson over time. The peppers have a spicy taste and a crunchy texture.

The peppers are most often used in the following ways:

• Cooking
• Baking
• Drying
• Seasoning
• Freezing

Planting & Growing

Mosquetero Pepper will grow to be about 4 feet 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 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. 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.

Mosquetero 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.