Bulbs
Flower Basics
Flower Beds & Specialty Gardens
Flower Garden
Garden Furniture
Garden Gnomes
Garden Seeds
Garden Sheds
Garden Statues
Garden Tools & Supplies
Gardening Basics
Green & Organic
Groundcovers & Vines
Growing Annuals
Growing Basil
Growing Beans
Growing Berries
Growing Blueberries
Growing Cactus
Growing Corn
Growing Cotton
Growing Edibles
Growing Flowers
Growing Garlic
Growing Grapes
Growing Grass
Growing Herbs
Growing Jasmine
Growing Mint
Growing Mushrooms
Orchids
Growing Peanuts
Growing Perennials
Growing Plants
Growing Rosemary
Growing Roses
Growing Strawberries
Growing Sunflowers
Growing Thyme
Growing Tomatoes
Growing Tulips
Growing Vegetables
Herb Basics
Herb Garden
Indoor Growing
Landscaping Basics
Landscaping Patios
Landscaping Plants
Landscaping Shrubs
Landscaping Trees
Landscaping Walks & Pathways
Lawn Basics
Lawn Maintenance
Lawn Mowers
Lawn Ornaments
Lawn Planting
Lawn Tools
Outdoor Growing
Overall Landscape Planning
Pests, Weeds & Problems
Plant Basics
Rock Garden
Rose Garden
Shrubs
Soil
Specialty Gardens
Trees
Vegetable Garden
Yard Maintenance
Pequin Pepper Plants
Pequin Pepper Plants. Small, fiery-hot pequin peppers add spice to the table and color to the garden. Alternately called bird pepper, wild pepper or wild chili, this pepper is the wild ancestor of many cultivated chili pepper varieties. Pequin pepper plants have a long tradition of cultivation and are prized both for their culinary value and as an...
Small, fiery-hot pequin peppers add spice to the table and color to the garden. Alternately called bird pepper, wild pepper or wild chili, this pepper is the wild ancestor of many cultivated chili pepper varieties. Pequin pepper plants have a long tradition of cultivation and are prized both for their culinary value and as an ornamental landscape plant.
Annual or Perennial
Pequin chili peppers are frost-tender perennials that are grown as annuals in most climates. In frost-free growing regions, pequin chili peppers are evergreens, often producing year-round. Northern gardeners keep this tender perennial year-round by growing it in a pot outside in the summer and inside in the winter. When growing pequin peppers as annuals, start the seeds indoors in late winter and plant the seedlings outdoors when temperatures warm up to 60 degrees Fahrenheit or above.
Growing Conditions
Pequin pepper plants thrive in dappled sunlight or light shade. This pepper is more drought tolerant than some of its highly cultivated relatives. While it can survive some drying out, the pequin pepper cannot tolerate standing water or dense, heavy wet soil. Plant pequin peppers in loamy or sandy soil with good drainage. Watch the leaves in dry weather, when they show the first signs of wilting, soak the area around the roots thoroughly.
Pequin in the Landscape
The plants grow 2 to 4 feet tall and about as wide, forming a dense shrub. The small, brightly colored peppers stand out against the dense green foliage. As an ornamental, pequin pepper plants add a visually interesting element to shaded shrub beds, areas under landscape trees and in shaded borders. If you have potted pequin peppers that you want to add to the landscape during the warm months, sink the pot in a hole in the ground. In the fall dig up the pot and bring it indoors for the winter.
Varieties
Bird pepper is the most common variety of the pequin peppers. The fruits are small, oval and bright red. The pequin bird pepper is the closest to the wild pequin pepper. Pequin firecracker is a variety developed primarily as an ornamental. The small, oval peppers are similar in size to the bird pepper, but a single plant will have orange, red, purple and yellow peppers on it. Lisa's pequin has small, long fruits that stand upright on the ends of the stalks. The peppers are red, green and orange.
