Plant family: Solanaceae
Plant origin: South America.
Fruit description: The fruit is a fleshy pod. They range in colour from white, yellow, green, red to black but all eventually turn red. They have smooth shiny thin skin and crisp flesh enclosing rows of seeds attached inside the case. Most fruit hang down from the bush, but Birds Eye Chillis grow upright. Each is about 2 cm long, pointed. Capsicum chinense are generally very hot.
Flowers: Flowers are small, greenish white, star shaped.
Growing conditions: Chillis are easy to grow. They are small woody shrubs. If treated carefully, each plant will fruit for several years. They love warmth and do not like cold. They grow well in the ground in areas where there are no frosts. If you have frosts, grow your chillis in a pot so you can move them to a protected area when it gets cold. The plants grow up to 1 metre tall. Plant them in well drained very rich soil, with plenty of organic matter. Feed the plant in mid Spring and late Summer with complete plant food. Give plenty of water when flowering and fruiting or these can fall off. Prune about one third of the bush off in Late Summer to keep it compact. Chillis can be used to make a pretty garden feature or border with the contrast of the light green and red fruits and the dark green foliage.
Hot weather makes hot chillis hotter and sweeter.
Uses: Chillis are used in cooking, or eaten fresh. Each type of chilli has its own flavour, pungency and degree of heat. You might use the flesh and or the seeds. Remember to wash your hands after handling chillis especially hot ones. Chillis are commonly used in Mexican, South American, African, Indian, Thai, Indonesian, Phillipine, Chinese, Laotian cuisine. Use chillis in curry pastes, sambals, sauces including tabasco, marinades, and salsa. Chillis can be pickled, salted or dried to preserve them. The dried chilli can be ground to powder. Chilli leaves can also be cooked and eaten.
Medicinal uses:
Pollination requirements: Self-Pollinating.
Harvest time Pick the fruit when it is fully coloured usually bright red.
Plant relatives Cape Gooseberry, Naranjilla, Tamarillo, Chillis are also related to capsicums and more distantly to tomatoes and eggplants.
Special features:
Grown by method: Seed Grown Pot size: 100mm
Plant growing Height and Width for pots or in the ground planting: Grows to 1 metres high by 1 metres wide if Planted in a Pot. Grows 1 metres high by 1 metres wide if Planted in the Ground.
Shipping plant pot or planter bag size: 100mm
