What Are Purple Peppers?
Peppers are the edible fruits of the plants that belong to the Capsicum family. This family is quite diverse and includes sweet ‘bell’ peppers and hot and spicy ‘chili’ peppers. The majority of pepper plants are available in various colors including red, green, yellow, orange, white, and the beautiful, lesser-known purple variety.
Originating in Central and South America, peppers were soon introduced to the rest of the world by European explorers. They rapidly gained immense popularity. Purple peppers thrive in warm, sunny environments and moist soil. They can be grown outdoors, in a greenhouse, in small containers, or even in a bright spot inside your home.
Serve purple peppers fresh in salads, dips, and salsa to retain their distinctive color.
Are Purple Peppers Edible?
Do not be intimated by their exotic appearance. Purple peppers are not only edible but delicious too! Most pepper varieties are initially green and then they develop a deep purple before turning red once fully matured.
This means that you are eating a pepper during its second phase of growth. Similarly, you can eat green peppers, which are technically ‘unripe’, but are still perfectly okay to consume.
How To Grow Your Chilli Plants
Chillies are always grown straight from seed, which should be sown in trays or small pots in spring once the last frost is over. Sow your chilli seeds from August to November in most parts of SA – in areas where there could be late frost, it’s safer to wait for September. Use a light, well-drained seedling mixture, sow your seeds about 5 mm deep, water well and place on a warm windowsill or in a greenhouse to germinate. These hot numbers originate from warm countries, so require a minimum temperature of 18–25°C to germinate. They generally pop their heads up after seven to 14 days, but some of the extreme varieties such as the ghost chillies can take up to 30 days to germinate. The hotter the chilli, the longer the seed takes to sprout.
Transplant your seedlings when they have two sets of true leaves, meaning the leaves that appear after the first set. Chillies can be planted out into the open ground in a sunny area, into containers, veggie planters or even hanging baskets. Make sure that your soil is loose, well- draining and rich in organic matter. An addition of a teaspoon of 2:3:2 fertiliser to each planting hole will ensure that your young plants get the best start and will flower prolifically. Chillies enjoy humidity, so spray your plants with a fine water spray during dry weather – this will also help stop flower drop.
TOP TIP: Sprinkle a teaspoon of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) around the plants’ roots at this stage – also very beneficial for flower production. Warning: Chillies are not happy in a windy position and tend to drop their flowers if they are not sheltered from high winds.
