• To not miss anything and get all the information to succeed in your pepper planting can be found in our Ultimate Pepper Growing Guide

The Pilipili pepper is a type of pepper thought to originate from Spain, Portugal or North Africa, its name literally means "pepper pepper" in Swahili, the peppers ripen from green to red, and are perfect for all kinds of uses and can reach 4 cm in length once mature, the heat level of this pepper is rather medium and you will need to germinate the seeds between the months of January and March ideally. The plant can reach up to 1m in height at maximum, is sensitive to frost and must therefore remain in a pot indoors until all risk is eliminated.

• heat level: 50,000 on the Scoville scale.
• plant size approximately 80 cm.
• medium-sized fruit, approximately 4cm long.
• fruit color: Green during growth, Red at maturity.
• genus: Capsicum Frutescens.
• ideal germination: between January and March.
• harvest: between September and November.

What Equipment for growing my peppers?

To optimize your results we recommend that you equip yourself with:

Pilipili Pepper Seeds.
An enclosed growing space such as a mini greenhouse.
Coco pellets, peat or cotton (to germinate the seeds).
Labels (to avoid mixing up your seedlings).
Potting soil (ideally a mixture of 50% black peat and 50% blonde peat) or special flowering soil which will also do the job.
Fertilizer for Peppers or Tomatoes, or 5 5 10 fertilizer for connoisseurs.
A water sprayer or watering can.
Gloves (if you don't like contact with soil).
Pots with a diameter of 7 or 8 cm at the beginning before using pots of 10 liters or more depending on the pepper for repotting

To make your life easier we offer our mini greenhouse for growing your peppers.

How to Germinate my Pepper Seeds?

Planting Peppers is a process that requires patience and some knowledge, but don't panic, we'll explain everything you need to know to germinate your pepper seeds!

Pepper seedlings are sown at the beginning of the year generally between January at the earliest and March for the beginning of spring, to do this you will need the equipment listed above.

You then have 2 options:
Plant your seed directly in a pot full of potting soil at half a cm depth
Place a seed on a coco pellet or on a piece of cotton.

in both cases, once the seed is in place you will need to spray enough water to moisten the soil or cotton without getting it wet, then place your coco pellet or cotton in a container like a mini greenhouse which will then keep the heat and humidity thus providing oxygen, if you use a flower pot you can simply stretch film over it and make small holes with a toothpick to oxygenate the plant.

The ideal is to maintain a constant temperature of 28 degrees, you can store your container behind a sunny window, on or near a radiator or on a heating mat or heating pad designed for this purpose.

OUR TIP:

Place your mini greenhouse on your internet box!

remember to ventilate your growing area from time to time to avoid the appearance of fungi while keeping the soil moist, once the first leaves have appeared you will need to be careful to give your shoots enough sun for 12 to 14 hours per day, once the second set of leaves is well developed you can then repot them.

once potted keep your plant near a heat source and exposed to the sun (ideally try to filter the light to avoid heat stress)

after the Ice Saints around mid-May you can move your plant outside and plant your pepper in the ground if you wish or leave it in a pot and display it on a balcony, a window sill or even along a wall, on the south side preferably.

How to water my Pilipili Pepper?

When watering your Pilipili pepper be careful of over-watering, too much water can drown the plant and lead to its demise, you will simply need to let the soil dry between each watering to avoid the proliferation of insects and drowning of the plant.

Once the plant is well developed (once your plant reaches about thirty centimeters) you can cause water stress by stopping watering the plant for several days before resuming watering (be careful however not to abuse this technique, it would be a shame to let your pepper plant die).

How to properly prepare my harvest?

Once your pepper plant is in place, here are our tips to optimize your future harvest:

When your pepper plant reaches a height of 15 to 20 cm you can pinch the top of the stem (without breaking it) which should allow the plant to grow bushier and produce a little more.

If flowering is early for one of your plants, remove the first flowers to prevent them from demanding too much energy from the plant.

If your pepper plant is outdoors, insects will take care of pollinating the plant which will then produce peppers, if your plant is indoors, you will have to do this manually, take your clean finger and rub it lightly against each of the flowers from one to the other.

Don't hesitate to use a bamboo stake or rod to support your plant.

When to harvest my Pilipili Pepper?

To harvest your Pilipili pepper, as with the others, you will need to look at its color! This pepper is harvested once Red.