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Gardening with Phipps: Growing chile peppers at home
Saturday, April 14, 2001 By Miranda Sutton, Phipps Conservatory , and Botanical Gardens
Salsa, that hot and spicy condiment found in many refrigerators across the country, contains chile peppers and other ingredients that can easily be grown in your own back yard.
Chiles are as simple to cultivate as tomatoes, and they need only a small space in your garden to grow. When choosing which chile peppers to grow, consider how you'll use them, how hot you like them and what zone you live in.
Start your chile seedlings indoors in a vermiculite-based mixture in early April, about two months before placing them outside.
Be sure to keep the soil warm to encourage germination -- 75 degrees or higher is ideal. After germination, place them in a brightly lit area. Once the seedlings begin producing leaves, begin using water-soluble fertilizer (15-30-15) every time you water the plant.
After two months (early June), the seedlings should be ready to move outdoors. Ideally, the temperature of the outdoor soil should be at least 65 degrees at 4 inches below the surface. Plant the seedlings in a sunny location that is accessible to irrigation water and has proper drainage. The seedlings need soil with a pH of 7.0 or slightly higher (neutral or barely basic). Make sure the soil is not heavy with clay, sand or adobe, as these plants will not grow without proper drainage.
After transplanting the seedlings, mulch the garden. Use layers of newspaper in hot climates, black plastic film in cooler areas. Chiles require plenty of water. However, over watering them can cause the roots to rot. Use a high-nitrogen fertilizer to encourage foliage to grow but discontinue fertilizing once the plant flowers.
Fruit and flowers will grow best when daytime temperatures are between 65 and 80 degrees and night temperatures stay above 55 degrees. The chile pods will grow to their maximum size about 70 to 80 days after seed germination, and it will be another 30 to 45 days for the pods to mature to their brilliant reds, yellows, oranges and browns.
Chile pods can be picked and eaten green once they grow to about 1 inch in length, are firm to the touch and have smooth, shiny skins. But resist the temptation to pick the chiles too early, because they may not have had enough time to develop their full flavor.
It is a good idea to cut chile peppers off the plants with a sharp knife or scissors to prevent damaging the stem.
Small varieties of chiles do not have to be processed in any way before being used in cooking.
Larger pods, if finely minced, can be used in recipes without having to peel the chiles first. A word of caution -- be sure to wear gloves and avoid touching your face and eyes when handling chile peppers, as the oil from chiles may cause adverse skin reactions.
Chile peppers grown in your home garden would be a great addition to your salsas and other spicy recipes throughout the year.
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