What is cayenne pepper and how to grow it?

One of the most common spices in Asia is cayenne pepper. It is characterized by a mild astringency of the aroma combined with a sharp, truly burning taste. In Russia, this seasoning is not used so often, but if you wish, you can try to grow it in your summer cottage – for this you need to know the description of the culture, its main properties and characteristics, as well as the rules for caring for it.

To start, a little history. The island of Java is considered the place of origin of cayenne pepper, and the seasoning also grows in southern India. Nevertheless, the plant has received the greatest distribution on the South American continent and in Mexico. Native Indians everywhere used it as a treat – as we now eat vegetables and fruits. They sincerely believed that these spicy fruits have a powerful healing effect and can protect the body from all diseases.

Christopher Columbus brought burning pods to the countries of the Old World. This product instantly gained popularity among the population as a budget alternative to expensive black pepper. Cayenne pepper, brought by a Spanish navigator, immediately solved many problems – it allowed to enrich the taste of familiar dishes, and besides, it made this spicy spice accessible to a huge number of people.

Today, cayenne pepper is grown commercially in China. However, East Africa is considered the absolute leader in the cultivation of this crop. Here are enterprises that import spices to various parts of the globe.

So, cayenne pepper is a plant of the Solanaceae family, presented in a variety of species and varieties. Most often, the fruits are yellow, green or red, dark brown pods are less common. Unripe fruits are known as “pepperoni”, their skin is pale green and can also be eaten. The length of the pods, depending on the growing environment, can vary from 4 to 10-12 cm.

The cayenne pepper shrub looks like a medium-sized densely branched plant, reaching 1 m in length. Under favorable conditions, flowering occurs continuously, because such plants are often grown at home. With sufficient light, they will delight the eye with their juicy bright flowers throughout the year.

The degree of hotness of pepper directly depends on its variety. There is even a specialized pungency scale named after the chemist Wilbur Scoville. It determines the degree of hotness of peppers of various types – for the cayenne variety, this parameter corresponds to 45 thousand units. It is characteristic that the burning taste of this pepper can be felt even if 1 g of its juice is diluted in 1000 liters of water.

The pungency and sharpness of the pods is directly related to the seed part of the fruit. If you remove it, then the burning effect when consumed will be noticeably reduced. At the same time, scientists noted that if cayenne pepper is regularly included in the diet, the body will get used to the sharpness, and the product will not cause the same discomfort.

Red pepper has a beneficial effect on human health.

• The product contains a large number of useful trace elements – magnesium, potassium, iron, as well as vitamins A, C and E.
• Pepper enhances blood flow, promotes vasodilation and due to this has a pronounced warming effect. Therefore, in medicine it is often used instead of mustard for colds.
• Hot pepper tincture helps rapid recovery of injured tissues and relieves headaches.
• The product has a pronounced antibacterial effect., thanks to which it can save a person from fungal diseases.
• Regular consumption of chili helps to strengthen the immune system and purify the blood. It has a beneficial effect in pathologies of the cardiovascular system.

However, it should be borne in mind that such pods should be eaten with extreme caution. With excessive use of pepper, the effect will be just the opposite. Taking spicy foods is not recommended for people with chronic diseases in the acute stage.

All hot varieties of capsicum are actually united under one common name – “chili”. Therefore, when purchasing chili peppers, you cannot know for sure what kind of spice is in front of you. Thus, cayenne pepper belongs to the group of chili peppers, while it is, without a doubt, the hottest in its category.

There is evidence that its fruits are slightly smaller than all other varieties of chili and, accordingly, much lighter. At the same time, the pods are more rigid. The big difference is related to the availability of products – such a pepper is much more expensive than all other chili, and you can not buy it in every store.

For a long time, cayenne pepper belonged to exotic cultures and was imported into our country in the form of ready-made dry spices. However, in recent years, many gardeners have learned to grow this plant on their plots. Usually, the seed method is used for this, especially since you can buy seedlings of this burning fruit at any store for summer residents.

As a rule, the process of seed germination takes 9-10 days and includes several stages.

• To get started, the purchased seeds must be wrapped in a piece of cotton cloth or gauze and place in a warm place.
• Every 4-5 hours the fabric needs to be moistened. The combination of heat and moisture will encourage seed activation and swelling.
• As soon as sprouts appear, you can transplant the seeds into prepared fertile, well-drained soil. It is best to take a store-bought soil mixture designed for growing tomatoes.

This exotic culture is dependent on the level of illumination. Therefore, it is best to place a container with seedlings on the south or southeast side, where you can achieve maximum illumination throughout the daylight hours. In the evening, seedlings will need lighting, so it is advisable to get a phytolamp.

The soil with the seeds planted in it is thoroughly moistened and the container is covered with cling film to achieve a greenhouse effect. Thus, a favorable microclimate is maintained, which contributes to the accelerated growth and development of seedlings.

When two or three permanent leaves are formed on the seedlings, a pick should be made. To do this, young plants are transplanted into separate pots.

After the peppers grow to 12-15 cm, it will be possible to move them to open ground or, if desired, to grow as a house plant, move them to a larger flower pot.

Seedlings of peppers 12-15 cm long usually have a well-developed root system. This means that the plant is ready for transplanting into open ground, can easily adapt to new external conditions and enter the fruiting phase. It is necessary to make a transplant after the average daily temperature reaches 8-10 degrees and the threat of return frosts has completely passed. In this case, you should follow a simple algorithm of work:

• carefully dig and loosen the earth, then level with a rake;
• form the holes in such a way that the distance between the bushes corresponds to 35-40 cm with a row spacing of 50 cm;
• spill each hole with warm water and add 3 tablespoons of organic fertilizer, preferably based on peat;
• deepen the seedling so that the root neck remains flush with the ground;
• fill the hole with soil, slightly compact the earth and cover with a layer of mulch.

Growing hot peppers is not such a troublesome task as it might seem at first glance. Agrotechnics includes standard activities – watering, loosening, weeding, top dressing, as well as pruning and processing against pests.

After transplanting peppers into open ground, watering should be done once a week at the rate of 10-13 liters of water per square meter of plantings.. If the air temperature rises and the weather is stably hot, the frequency of irrigation is increased up to 2 times a week. At the stage of flowering and fruiting, hot peppers require more water, so after the start of bud formation, watering is done every 3 days. At the same time, water is applied exclusively to the root zone, avoiding moisture droplets on the leaves.

Cayenne pepper is a dense shrub. If you follow all the conditions for caring for him, then he takes the form of a lush and very strong plant that will regularly produce a good harvest. To make the pepper bush more actively, you can pinch the tops of a young plant. In those cases, if you prefer massive fruits, you will have to remove new inflorescences that appear from time to time.

Keep in mind, during the first two to three months after transplanting, the plant will not need any fertilizer. He will have enough of those nutrients that are in fresh soil. After that, you will have to enrich the land with top dressing. The greatest effect is given by ready-made mineral complexes intended for tomatoes. They are submitted once a month.

Despite the fact that hot pepper belongs to perennial plants, after the end of the growing season it is often thrown out – and in vain. It is better to transplant the bush into a pot and transfer it to the house, after cutting it off. An alternative wintering option would be to store the pepper in a cellar or basement – in this case, it is cut to 10-15 cm and moved to a container with a moist substrate.

With the arrival of spring warmth, the bushes will actively give young shoots. It is noticed that second-year-olds begin to bloom and bear fruit earlier. In addition, they exhibit high hardness and excellent resistance to external adverse factors.

Juicy fruits and leaves of hot peppers attract many harmful insects. The most common crop enemies are Colorado beetles, aphids, as well as whiteflies and cutworms. Special attention needs to be paid prevention.

If the pests have already managed to damage the young bushes, you can use folk remedies. Onion, garlic or soap infusions will help scare away uninvited guests. They are prepared according to the same scheme – the main ingredients are dissolved in water in a ratio of 1 to 10. The resulting mixture is sprayed with seedlings from a spray bottle. Processing is carried out in cloudy weather, in the morning before sunrise or in the evening after sunset.

Cayenne pepper is a plant with a strong immune system, it is resistant to diseases, but in adverse weather conditions it can be attacked by gray mold. In case of damage, it is necessary to remove the damaged areas, and then treat with special antiseptic preparations. Also, pepper is often affected by late blight. In this case, the biological preparations “Pentafag” and “Gaupsin” will help to save the culture.

Cayenne pepper has pronounced signs of full ripeness, so it is not difficult to establish the degree of ripening of the culture.

• The fruits of ripe pepper are yellow, orange or red. The brightness of the shades allows you to accurately determine the degree of ripening of the culture.
• Ripe pods usually contain a high concentration of bitter burning substances.. This can be observed by rubbing the pod on the inside of the palm. If you feel a noticeable burning sensation of the skin, then the pepper is fully ripe.
• A sure sign of reaching the full ripeness of red pepper is its bitterness. Moreover, the sharper the pod, the longer it can be stored. As a rule, hot peppers for winter storage are harvested in the last ten days of September, at which time most of the varieties reach their full maturity.

Pepperoni does not have a sufficient amount of burning substances that act as a kind of preservatives. Such fruits cannot be stored for a long time. More often they are used either for snacks or for winter canning.

Оexperienced housewives know many ways to extend the shelf life of cayenne pepper. It is best to store it in the refrigerator or in a cool, dark place, always in an airtight bag. In this form, the pods will keep their freshness for about 2 weeks.

Another popular way to store hot capsicum is drying. In this case, peppers are tied with threads to a clothesline and left for several days. Drying is carried out in a well-ventilated place, in which access to the sun’s rays is provided.

To speed up the process, you can use an electric / gas stove. The fruits are rinsed with cool water, dried with a towel to get rid of residual water, divided into slices and the stalks are removed. After that, they are laid out in one layer on a baking sheet, it is advisable to first cover it with parchment paper. Prepared peppers are placed in the oven for several minutes at a temperature not lower than 50 degrees. At the same time, the sash is left slightly ajar so that the product dries and does not dry out. Store dry pods in a dark place at room temperature in hermetically sealed jars.