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I hope you are doing great in your gardening field. Can you eat Ornamental Peppers? The ornamental peppers are just not beautiful with their colors and fruits, but also can be eaten. How great is that!
The ornamental peppers are indifferent to other peppers like bell peppers, propagate peppers, Sichuan Pepper plants, etc. Ornamental peppers belong to the capsicum only, so obviously they can be eaten.
- The ornamental peppers can be used instead of regular peppers if you don’t have the usual ones.
- The ornamental will do no harm but simply add chili flavor to the dishes.
- They are absolutely safe to eat.
But this is not it! There is something more that you need to know about the ornamental peppers. Here it is!
What are ornamental peppers?
Before proceeding, you should know the exact meaning of the ornamental peppers. Yes, it is true. Ornamental peppers are those peppers that belong to the pepper varieties that look so appealing. You can use them as culinary.
They are sold in the pots which makes them an amazing choice for your indoor location. So, what are you thinking of? Growing these amazing Ornamental peppers would be gerat for your garden area.
Its fruits look amazing with their vibrant colors and produce leaves that look attractive to visitors. Some of the varieties of the Ornamental peppers can be used to decorate the festival. You can also use the yellow peppers for Thanksgiving.
Ornamental Pepper requirements
The ornamental peppers are easily grown without much worry about a care guide. The ornamental plants grow in small sizes and spread well too. Hey get to the height of 12-18 inches with leaves that are in the shade green, sometimes often grow purple leaves, depending on the type.
The ornamental peppers being this hot also love to grow in hot temperatures into the soil that is well-drained. Make sure a little shade is given to them during the peak sunlight hours.
Varieties of Ornamental Peppers
In case you want to know the varieties of ornamental peppers, there are a lot of various shapes, colors, and sizes available in ornamental peppers.
dark green leaves, and purple peppers that thin appear in mid-summer time, the color then changes to red and orange as fall approaches.
Chinese five color-(edible)
as vibrant as they look with the colors, the spice level is also high. They are very colorful in appearance like red, orange, and purple colors.
Black pearl(edible) again this variety is very spicy and quite alarming when you see its leaves that are darkly shaded. The peppers in the initial sage look really dark and later turn to a deep shade of red color.
Chilly chili (edible)
The peppers are green colored and turn yellow after some time. As they get mature the color will transform to orange and deep red color.
The aurora peppers pods are edible and have spice but fewer flavors. Peppers are brightly colored, a purple shade that turns to orange and red color or maybe yellow depending on the conditions available.
To know more about the plant world, you may also read related articles, 4 Tips on How to Grow Hot Peppers Even Hotter!
Purple flash(highly spicy, non-edible)
These ornamental peppers have super dark leaves that would scare anyone with the round deep dark shade of purple.
Though there are many varieties of ornamental peppers, the names indicated above are our favorites.
It is another type of ornamental pepper that looks amazing in your garden but is also scary. You will see that the foliage of this variety is dark. Its fruit will begin to turn into a black color in the middle of the summer.
At the time of fall, it will turn into a deep red color. Isn’t it haunting you? Growing this ornamental pepper in your garden will be amazing. They are not only hot but also edible.
Can you eat Ornamental Peppers? – What happens if you eat ornamental pepper?
- The ornamental peppers plants can be eaten and are not dangerous at all. Though they have spices just like most peppers. Some varieties might have more spice than others.
- The ornamental peppers if eaten won’t taste that good or might not have that complex flavors as they are for appearance more than eating purposes. These peppers have vibrant colors and make the space really attractive.
- The pepper’s size might be small but the spice is comparatively high.
- If ornamental peppers’ packaging indicates that they are not edible that must be due to their very high spice level which can cause irritation in the mouth and stomach.
What do Ornamental Peppers taste like?
The ornamental plants are mostly used to make spicy sauces or the dishes like stews in which one needs much spice and relies on other things for flavor.
These peppers won’t satisfy you with many flavors. They will look as if you are full of flavors but the opposite is the case. They are for beauty purposes in the majority of cases.
The farmers don’t do much work on their flavor. They are often used to get some dried chili flakes that can be sprinkled for a chilly flavor.
Do Ornamental Peppers taste good?
So, finally, we are here to know do ornamental peppers taste good or not. You should know that the ornamental peppers have different flavors, it all depends on the variety that you have grown in your home garden.
They tend to cherish you with their spiciness, so if you are ready for this, then it’s great. They provide complex flavors to the dish that will enhance the properties of the dishes.
It will not suppress the other flavors in the dishes. But for enhancing the taste of the dishes, adding them with benefit you.
How hot are ornamental peppers?
Ornamental peppers are small but it will amaze you with their punch of heat. The heat of the peppers is very high. The Scoville Heat Units (SHU) ranges from 10,000 to 50,000 as compared to other peppers. Even some of its varieties will be more such as Prairie Fire peppers whose SHU will go about 1,00,000.
You will be happy to know that the amazing color of these ornamental peppers will invite you to eat them raw only. But you have to be cautious as the level of heat of these is very intense, especially for some people.
They look like candy which is adored by the children, so you have to care for the peppers when your children are all around you.
Are ornamental peppers edible?
Yes, you will be happy to know that Ornamental peppers are edible. As you know there are various varieties of Ornamental peppers, in which some of the varieties are edible and some are not.
Some of the fruits can be eaten easily. Its foliage is amazing as it is beautiful and colorful. Whereas on the other side, the other varieties of ornamental peppers are non-edible.
Final thoughts on the context
Ornamental peppers start to produce fruits after 60-70 days. The ornamental peppers are just not a houseplant but you can use them as an agent to add spice. The flavor is not complex.
Once the pepper gets dry the plant starts to age and will need to be removed. You got to buy a new one. We hope this article was useful to you. Happy growing up! Enjoy the view and spice!
How do you cook ornamental peppers?
You can fry them with some herbs and blend them together to make smokey hot sauce, which can be used in making spicy salads, stews, sauces, etc. The ornamental peppers are largely used to make sauces. Another way is to dry them up and use chili flakes the way you want.
Are ornamental Thai peppers edible?
The ornamental Thai peppers can be eaten but they are very much spicy so get the least taste due to too much chili in them.
How do you harvest ornamental peppers?
The ornamental peppers are perfect to get harvested when they get to the dark red color. The purple or orange color gets transformed to a red color due to the spicy chemical in them.