- Ornamental peppers are edible
- Where does the ornamental pepper come from?
- Grow your own ornamental peppers from seeds
Ornamental paprika as an ornamental plant has become a popular room decoration, especially in autumn. The question: Can ornamental peppers be eaten? is easy to answer: yes, if you know where the plant came from and whether it was sprayed before you bought it. Ornamental peppers are definitely not poisonous.
Ornamental paprika is in principle
Ornamental peppers are edible
In principle, ornamental peppers are edible just like the large representatives of its kind. However, ornamental peppers are primarily bred for appearance. The taste of the fruit only plays a subordinate role.
Enjoying the red and yellow fruits of the ornamental pepper is often disappointing. The taste is usually very bland and cannot be compared to that of real sweet peppers. With some fruits you will experience a real surprise because they are very spicy.
Bought plants are often heavily contaminated with pollutants, so you should not eat the fruit for health reasons.
Where does the ornamental pepper come from?
If you want to eat ornamental peppers, you should know how the plant was raised. If it comes from the market or from the garden shop, it is better not to enjoy it. Purchased plants are almost always sprayed and therefore heavily contaminated with pollutants.
If you have grown it yourself from seeds and have completely avoided the use of chemicals during cultivation, you are welcome to eat the fruits or use them in the kitchen.
Grow your own ornamental peppers from seeds
At the beginning of winter, the ornamental peppers are used up and put in the compost. You can separate the fruit beforehand and release the seeds. Let them dry out until you can sow them in spring. Then you can take care of your own plants next year.
The seeds of ornamental peppers only germinate when the temperature is permanently above 20 degrees. The pots with the seedlings must be protected from drafts and, if possible, always in the same place.
Seeds are sown as early as February, otherwise the growing season is too short. The fruits then no longer ripen in time for winter.
tips
Ornamental peppers need a very bright and warm location. If it is too dark and the temperatures are below 16 degrees, there are hardly any flowers and later fruits.