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Growing Peppers On A Windowsill
Growing Peppers On A Windowsill

Video: Growing Peppers On A Windowsill

Video: Growing Peppers On A Windowsill
Video: Grow Hot Peppers Indoors in a Window 2024, March
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Decorative paprika will decorate your home

decorative pepper
decorative pepper

According to the horoscope, the zodiac sign of Libra (September 24-October 23) corresponds to plants: achimenis hybrid, pineapple, codiaum (croton), Chinese rose (hibiscus), truncated zygocactus (Decembrist), Ackerman's epiphyllum, cellosia pinnate, centrum night, Japanese fatsia, chrysanthemum, tseraria (bloody rootwort), fire-red kufeya, wavy-leaved crossandra, hybrid heliotrope, large-leaved hydrangea, paprika.

The appearance of the annual capsicum (also known as "capsicum") in Europe is associated with the great navigator of the 16th century Christopher Columbus. Ironically, when he went to India for black peppercorns, he discovered a new continent and discovered red pepper pods there (by the way, at home - in Central and South America - in Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba - there are about 50 species of it). Not realizing that he had discovered a new continent, he delivered a sack of Indian pungent "red salt" as a gift to the Spanish king.

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decorative pepper
decorative pepper

In indoor culture, hot pepper (family Solanaceae - Solanaceae) is often used as a herbaceous seasonal (annual) ornamental plant, attractive for small windowsills. In winter, it can be kept in a room in a pot culture, and in summer it can be taken out to a balcony, open terrace or garden. Ornamental peppers are considered hot pepper cultivars of the species C. frutescens or by crossing with C. annuum.

To date, breeders have obtained many varieties of decorative capsicum, differing in the color of leaves, size, color and shape of the fruit. The ornamental pepper plant looks like a miniature evergreen shrub or shrub (25-40 cm high, less often up to 90 cm, up to 20 cm wide) with an erect stem and bare, slightly pubescent, well leafy, intensively branching shoots that give the plant bulk, narrow (lanceolate), very frequent leaves, 5-12 cm long.

Pepper blooms for a long time, starting in June, and bears fruit from July to November: flowers, ovaries and fruits can be simultaneously on the same plant. The fruit is a large leathery, low-juiced berry with large vertical cavities filled with flat seeds inside, which turns red after ripening. Pepper fruits, by the way, of the most varied colors - white, yellow, orange, cream, green, brown, lilac and purple - are spherical, round, ovoid, conical and proboscis.

Many of its species are known, among which there are long-fruited (with large fleshy fruits up to 20 cm long) and small-fruited (only about 1 cm in size), the so-called sweet cherry. Thus, plants of the Friesdorfer variety (they reach a height of 90 cm) with conical fruits of red or yellow color after the leaves fall off can be used to create bright, very elegant bouquets. With proper care, the fruits stay on the bush for a long time (two months or more) - until Christmas, which is why the pepper is sometimes called "Christmas".

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Typically, ornamental plants are discarded when the fruit begins to fall. But the opinion that the pepper plant dies after fruit setting is wrong. If there is enough light and nutrition, then it continues to grow, is able to bloom again and set fruits.

Hot pepper is very unpretentious, relatively shade-tolerant, responds positively to good care. Its seeds are sown in February - March in a soil mixture consisting of turf, leaf and humus soil, peat, sand (equal parts). When two true leaves appear, the seedlings dive. Grow containers for this crop must be deep. For normal development, the plant is provided with a bright, well-ventilated room with a temperature of at least 20 ° C.

In spring and summer, pepper is watered abundantly. It blooms in good light, and during the development of the fruit, it must be placed in a place protected from the wind on the balcony. Due to dry air and drying out of the soil, fruits may fall off. In winter, watering is slightly reduced, and the temperature is preferable 16 … 20 ° C. Like all nightshades, ornamental peppers (green parts) are poisonous. If the air is too warm, dry and stagnant, spider mites, whiteflies and aphids can appear.

Being a widely used ornamental crop, in the phase of biological ripeness, hot pepper can be used as a spice (in fresh and dry ground form), which is characterized by the manifestation of a burning taste in the fruit, which adds piquancy to even the most bland dishes (because of this quality it is grown in in many countries of the world as a food plant on large plantations in the open field).

This property also served in the formation of the Latin name of the plant, which, possibly, comes from the Greek word "kapto" (translated as "bite"). The burning taste (as they say, the degree of pungency) of pepper depends on the content of a phenolic substance in it - the alkaloid capsaicin. Its fruits contain carotenoids, ascorbic acid, essential oil, steroidal saponins and fatty oil; in fresh leaves - ascorbic acid, sugar, vitamins A and B. The taste of dried fruits is very hot, there is no specific smell.

Ground red pepper, which gives food a sharp, burning taste, is usually served on the table as a condiment, in addition, it stimulates the appetite by enlivening the appearance of dishes. When consumed in moderation, it has a firming effect, improves digestion and increases appetite. Pepper is added to soups, especially tomato, fish, goulash, almost all types of meat and sausages, used for cooking fish, sauces, beans, cabbage and rice. It can also be served with meats and various cheeses.

For medicinal purposes, pepper pods are harvested as they ripen and dried in attics or in the sun. In practical medicine, capsicum is used mainly in the form of a tincture to increase appetite, externally - as an irritant (as rubbing) for neuralgia, radiculitis … Its tincture is part of the ointment for frostbite.

When preparing a tincture as a medicinal preparation, 25 g of pepper is poured into 200 ml of vodka and insisted for two weeks, 10 drops are drunk for appetite. A more concentrated preparation for rubbing sore spots with lumbosacral radiculitis is prepared at the rate of 10 g of pepper per 10 ml of 40-degree vodka (or diluted alcohol); insist 14 days. To warm these zones, the well-known pharmaceutical "pepper plaster" is also widely used. But the use of these drugs must be agreed with the attending physician, as there are contraindications.

Capsicum itself is handled with care, as the resulting dust is characterized by a strong local irritant effect on the skin and mucous membranes.

Grow this plant in yourself, and it will delight you all year round with bright white and purple stars-flowers and the frozen flame of candles-fruits against a green background of dense foliage. Ornamental peppers can quickly become your favorite plants due to their originality, long life of colorful qualities and versatility of use.

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