Chinese Five Color Chilli Pepper Seeds. Chinese Five Color chilli pepper, is a heirloom variety native to China. The small peppers are named for the five different, showy colors that are displayed at various stages of maturity. Also known as Chinese Multi-Color peppers, this chilli plant is an ornamental variety that is favored for its dark purple-green foliage and brightly colored pods.
Chinese Five Color chilli peppers are small and short pods, averaging 2 to 5 centimeters in length, and have a conical shape that tapers to a rounded point. The smooth skin is glossy and waxy, ranging in an array of colors from purple when young, transitioning to white, yellow, orange, and finally to red when mature. The five colors are typically all present on the plant at one time throughout the season.
Though considered an ornamental, Chinese Five Color chille peppers are also edible and contain a moderate to hot level of spice, ranging 5,000-30,000 SHU on the Scoville scale.
Chinese Five Color Pepper Culinary Uses
- It is best suited for both raw and cooked applications such as boiling, stir-frying, and roasting.
- The small peppers can be diced into salsas, salads, and dips, stuffed with cheese and meats, or blended into hot sauces for use as a condiment.
- They can also be chopped into soups, stews, and curries, lightly stir-fried with vegetables for added heat, or roasted in a small amount of olive oil and served as a spicy side dish for braised meats.
- In addition to fresh preparations, Chinese Five Color chille peppers can be pickled with onions and garlic, preserving the heat as well as the colors of the peppers.
- They can also be dried and ground into a powder, used as a spice over pizza, casseroles, drinks, and chillis.
Growing Chinese Five Color Peppers
- Peppers take a long time to grow large enough from seeds to produce mature fruit, and they require a fairly long growing season.
- The best way to get a good crop is by planting the seeds indoors 8-12 weeks before your average last frost date.
- Soak your seeds overnight in warm water to help them germinate faster.
- Sow the Chinese Five Color Pepper Seeds about 1/4-inch deep in a moist sterile potting mixture.
- Mist the potting mix with water daily so it stays moist, or seal the pots in plastic bags so they don't dry out.
- For best germination, keep the soil between 23 and 26 degrees Celsius.
- The pots won't require light until the seeds sprout.
- Peppers typically require 14 days to germinate, but they may take as few as seven or as many as 30 days to sprout.
- After the seeds have germinated, place the pot on a light windowsill or in a heated greenhouse.
- When they are 2.5cm tall prick out seedlings, moving each into their own 10cm pot. Make sure the roots are well covered and the leaves are just above the surface of the comarticle.
- Water and place in a light spot indoors.
- While plants are still growing indoors, move into 13cm (5in) pots filled with general purpose comarticle when roots begin to show through the drainage holes in the base.
- When plants are about 20cm (8in) tall, or before if they start to lean, stake with a pea stick.
- Pinch out the tops of peppers when they are about 30cm (12in) tall to encourage lots of branches.
- Plants are ready to go when all danger of frost has passed.
- Either plant directly into the ground, spacing them 45cm apart or transfer them to 22cm pots to give them plenty of space to grow.
- Make sure you water regularly, especially in hot weather and feed every two weeks with a general purpose liquid fertilizer. Feeding should start when the flowers first appear and should continue until the fruit have been harvested.
