Ornamental peppers put on a double show in your garden, featuring both flowers and then colorful, berrylike, long-lasting fruits in a rainbow of colors. Unlike the bigger, veggie garden varieties, ornamental peppers have been bred for their looks rather than flavor, even though they are edible. From little black pearls to larger cone-shaped fruits that resemble Christmas lights, the showy little fruits of ornamental peppers make stunning garden displays. New varieties feature novel fruit shapes and colors, and even foliage colors. Keep an eye out for varieties that may also have better habits and longer bloom times.
Ornamental Pepper Overview
Genus Name | Capsicum annuum |
Common Name | Ornamental Pepper |
Plant Type | Annual |
Light | Sun |
Height | 6 to 12 inches |
Width | 6 to 12 inches |
Flower Color | Pink, Purple, White |
Foliage Color | Blue/Green, Purple/Burgundy |
Season Features | Fall Bloom, Summer Bloom |
Special Features | Good for Containers, Low Maintenance |
Propagation | Seed |
Where to Plant Ornamental Pepper
Select a location with full sun and well-drained soil that is slightly acidic to neutral.
Whether planted as specimens or in a mass planting, ornamental peppers are eye-catchers. You can combine them with low-growing ornamental grasses or other annuals but make sure that vigorously growing neighbors won’t deprive the ornamental peppers of sunlight. Ornamental peppers also make great additions to mixed containers or hanging baskets.
How and When to Plant Ornamental Pepper
Ornamental peppers are planted in the spring. Hold off on planting nursery transplants until the soil temperatures are consistently above 70 degrees F. When planting, try to disturb the roots as little as possible. Dig a hole that is at least the size of the nursery pot and has the same depth. Water the plants well in their pots and let them drain before placing them in the hole and backfilling with the original soil. Tamp down the soil and water the plants again to remove any air pockets.
Space the plants 18 to 24 inches apart.
Ornamental Pepper Care Tips
Growing ornamental peppers is as easy as growing garden vegetable peppers.
Light
The plants need full sun to thrive; anything less will result in leggy plants with fewer fruits.
Soil and Water
Well-drained soil is a must. Make sure that your ornamental pepper plants don’t stay too wet, or they may rot in constantly moist soil. Drastic fluctuations of wet and dry can stress pepper plants and cause them to lose leaves as well as drop flower buds and young fruits. Like all peppers, they do best with a soil pH between 6.5 and 7.0.
Water the plants deeply whenever the top inch of the soil feels dry. Ornamental peppers do best with a consistent supply of moisture.
Temperature and Humidity
Ornamental peppers are warm-weather plants that need temperatures above 75 degrees F to thrive. However, extremely hot weather (above 90 degrees F) during the flowering period can be detrimental to the fruit set; the flowers may just drop. The plant usually recovers once the weather cools down. Ornamental peppers do not have any humidity requirements or preferences.
Fertilizer
Like all annuals, ornamental peppers grow rapidly and produce fruit in a short time span, which requires the soil nutrients to be replenished. Feed the plants about once a month with a slow-release granular fertilizer or a liquid fertilizer that is high in phosphorus and low in nitrogen, as excess nitrogen will lead to lots of foliage but few fruits.
Pruning
Many varieties but not all benefit from an early pinching to encourage good branching at the base. Some dwarf varieties should not be pinched, as it can lead to an odd growth shape so be sure to know the needs of the particular variety that you are growing.
Also, there are determinate and indeterminate varieties of ornamental peppers. Determinate varieties bloom and set fruit all at once. Many of these will not bloom again after their initial fruit set, and they are treated as disposable plants. Indeterminate varieties bloom and fruit continuously until frost. With continuous bloomers, make sure to remove ripe peppers, which encourages the plant to keep setting new flowers and fruits.
Potting and Repotting Ornamental Pepper
Ornamental peppers make good container plants, either in pots on your patio, hanging baskets, and window boxes, either as single plants or groupings. For a single plant, choose a container at least 6 to 8 inches in diameter with large drainage holes. Fill it with well-draining potting mix. Keep in mind that container plants require more frequent watering and fertilization than plants in the landscape.
Because ornamental pepper is an annual, repotting won’t be necessary.
Pests and Problems
Ornamental peppers can attract aphids, whiteflies, cutworms, pepper maggots, and Colorado potato beetles. As with all pests, checking the plants regularly is the best way to detect a problem early and take the necessary steps to control the infestation.
Potential diseases of ornamental peppers are often the same as for tomatoes, another member of the nightshade family, and they include verticillium wilt, a fungus, and mosaic virus.
The plant is rarely browsed by deer.
How to Propagate Ornamental Pepper
Ornamental peppers can be propagated from seed; however, most varieties are cultivars, which means that the seeds from these plants won’t produce offspring with the same desirable features. If you want to grow ornamental peppers from seed, you get more reliable results by purchasing fresh seeds from a seed company.
Start the seeds indoors about 6 weeks before the last average frost date in your area. Fill small pots with damp potting and place three seeds in each pot. Barely cover them with a thin dusting of soil because the seeds need light to germinate. The temperature should be at least 70 degrees F. Keep the soil evenly moist. After the seedlings have emerged, only leave one—the strongest—seedling in each pot and cut the others off at the base. Place the posts in a sunny window or under grow lights.
About one week before transplanting them outdoors when nighttime temperatures have reached at least 65 degrees F, harden the seedlings off before planting the ornamental peppers outdoors.
Types of Ornamental Pepper
‘Black Pearl’
This award-winning variety features iridescent purple-black ¾-inch diameter fruits that turn scarlet-red at maturity. Compact plants with purple foliage are good for containers or in beds and borders. It grows 18 inches tall and wide.
‘Calico’
‘Calico’ bears attractive purple-and-white variegated foliage with purple fruits. It grows 1 foot tall and 16 inches wide.
‘Chilly Chilli’
This selection bears non-pungent ivory fruits that mature to bright red. It grows 10 inches tall and 14 inches wide.
‘Pretty in Purple’
‘Pretty in Purple’ offers attractive purple fruits, stems, and leaves. It’s a great ornamental as well as edible hot pepper. Fruits turn red at maturity.
‘NuMex Twilight’
This cultivar bears cone-shaped purple fruits that mature to bright red.
‘Medusa’
‘Medusa’ produces mild fruits, a great option if you garden around children. Fruits fade from yellow to orange and eventually red for a multicolor effect.
‘Purple Flash’
The new leaves of this variety start out in colorful shades of purple and white and mature to rich dark purple. It also has purple flowers and round black fruits. It grows 15 inches tall and 2 feet wide.
‘Sangria’
‘Sangria’ has green foliage and bright purple fruits that mature to shades of orange and red. It’s always producing new fruits, so it’s continually showing a range of colors. The fruits are non-pungent. It grows 1 foot tall and 18 inches wide.
Ornamental Pepper Companion Plants
Gazania
Gazania is a tough plant endures poor soil, baked conditions, and drought beautifully and
still produces bold-color, daisy-like flowers from summer to frost. Botanically a perennial but grown as an annual in cooler climates, gazania bears boldly colored daisy-shaped flowers from summer to frost. The flowers appear over toothed dark green or silver leaves (the foliage color differs between
varieties). They’re great in beds and borders and containers, too. Zone 9–11
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemums are a must-have for the fall garden. No other late-season flower delivers as much color, for as long and as reliably as good ol’ mums. Beautiful chrysanthemum flowers, available in several colors, bring new life to a garden in the fall. Some varieties have daisy blooms; others may be rounded globes, flat, fringed, quill shape, or spoon shape. They work exceptionally well in container plantings and pots. Zone 5-9
Verbena
Verbena is a spreading plant ideal for cascading over retaining walls, pots, baskets, and window
boxes. As long as the soil is extremely well-drained, verbena will reward gardeners with countless clusters of small blooms all season. It’s fairly drought-tolerant, making it a great choice for hanging baskets, rock gardens, planting in cracks between stones, and other tight places. Verbena is often
grown as an annual. Zone 7-9