A Complete Guide to the Uses, Heat Level and Growing Methods of Facing Heaven Peppers

The Facing Heaven pepper, a variety of chili pepper, is a perennial semi-woody plant in the genus Capsicum of the Solanaceae family, and it is cultivated in most parts of China. So what uses does it have? How hot is it? How do you grow it? According to Solanaceae data, the Facing Heaven pepper is a small-fruited dry chili variety, with a single dried fruit weighing about 0.4 grams. It tastes extremely hot, with a capsaicin content of about 0.8%. It is bright red, with a capsanthin (red pigment) content of about 3%, and a heat level of about 30000.

What uses does the Facing Heaven pepper have?

1. Dietary therapy value

Capsaicin can stimulate the brain to release endorphins, relieve pain, speed up metabolism, and help people stay slim; it can lower cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and triglyceride levels, promote blood circulation, and prevent conditions such as heart disease and stroke. In addition, chili peppers contain capsaicin and crude fiber, which can stimulate the secretion of saliva and gastric juice, strengthen the spleen and stomach, promote appetite, and dispel cold in the stomach; chili peppers have a significant effect on preventing colds, arteriosclerosis, night blindness, and scurvy.

2. Nutritional value

1. Weight loss: Capsaicin can stimulate the brain to release endorphins, relieve pain, speed up metabolism, and help people stay slim

2. Relieving stress and lowering blood lipids: It can lower cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and triglyceride levels, promote blood circulation, and prevent conditions such as heart disease and stroke.

3. Strengthening the spleen and aiding digestion: Chili peppers contain capsaicin and crude fiber, which can stimulate the secretion of saliva and gastric juice, strengthen the spleen and stomach, and promote appetite

4. Other effects: Dispelling cold in the stomach; chili peppers have a significant effect on preventing colds, arteriosclerosis, night blindness, and scurvy.

3. Culinary effects

1. Warming the middle and dispelling cold, strengthening the spleen and opening the appetite

2. Suitable for all ages; people with a cold stomach can eat it in moderation to dispel cold in the stomach; in addition, it is suitable as a seasoning and can be used in small amounts when cooking; it can also be stir-fried on its own, and can also be made into chili sauce, chili oil, chili paste, chili powder, etc.

How do you grow the Facing Heaven pepper?

Field planting methods:

1. Select good varieties

You can choose excellent varieties with strong disease resistance and stress resistance that are suitable for spring and wheat-stubble cultivation, such as Bullet Head No. 2 and Red Pepper No. 8.

2. Cultivate strong seedlings

The Facing Heaven pepper is best planted as large seedlings, with a seedling age of 60 to 70 days. To ensure strong seedlings, sunken beds or small arched sheds should be used for raising seedlings. Spring peppers can be started in late February, and wheat-stubble peppers should be raised in late March. The seedbed soil should be loose, crumbly, and fertile.

3. Transplanting

The Facing Heaven pepper likes moisture and fears waterlogging, so it is best to choose loam, sandy loam, or clay loam that retains fertilizer and is loose and airy. The soil pH should be 6.5 to 8. Per mu, apply 3 to 5 cubic meters of fully decomposed high-quality farmyard manure, or 50 to 80 kg of a nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium three-element compound fertilizer (each containing 16%), and adjust appropriately according to soil fertility.

4. Field management

(1) Cultivation and hilling. Timely cultivation and hilling can promote the growth and development of the Facing Heaven pepper's root system, raise soil temperature, and help preserve soil moisture. When there is more soil moisture, cultivation can also disperse moisture, which is beneficial to root growth.

(2) Topdressing fertilizer. If the base fertilizer for spring peppers is sufficient, appropriate topdressing can be applied according to plant growth. Topdressing is especially important for wheat-stubble peppers, and can be applied appropriately earlier; on the premise of sufficient base fertilizer, 50 to 60 kg of ammonium bicarbonate, 50 to 60 kg of superphosphate, and 20 to 30 kg of potassium sulfate can be applied. Foliar spraying is even better: spray 50 to 60 kg of a 0.3% nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium three-element compound fertilizer aqueous solution (each containing 16%), and spray 3 to 5 times during the growth period.

(3) Watering and drainage. The Facing Heaven pepper has a shallow root system and fears both drought and waterlogging, especially during the full fruiting period; if it lacks water, yield will be seriously affected. Water frequently in small amounts to keep the soil moist. Avoid watering at noon in hot weather, so as not to lower soil temperature and cause leaf drop, flower drop, and fruit drop.

(4) Pinching and topping. The Facing Heaven pepper has obvious branch tiers: first the main-stem fruit branches, second the lateral-branch fruit branches, and third the secondary lateral-branch fruit branches. Its main yield is made up of the fruits of the secondary lateral branches. Therefore, once the main stem shows buds, it should be pinched manually to encourage lateral branches. If secondary lateral branches appear late, their fruits cannot mature and should be removed in time.

5. Pest and disease control

(1) Diseases. Diseases harming the Facing Heaven pepper include damping-off, seedling blight, viral disease, and Phytophthora blight, among others. They should be prevented and treated early, and the principle of prevention being more important than treatment should be upheld. July to August is the stage when Phytophthora blight occurs frequently; spray once every 7 to 8 days, and you can choose carbendazim, chlorothalonil, etc. for spraying.

(2) Insect pests. These mainly include cotton bollworm, tobacco budworm, and Asian corn borer, among others. You can spray with a 3000-fold solution of beta-cypermethrin or a 5000-fold solution of Caesar emulsifiable concentrate, etc. Usually check carefully and often, and control when the pests are few and small. In dry weather, pay attention to controlling red spider mites, aphids, etc.

Container growing methods:

1. You can buy seeds or pull the seeds out of red chili peppers and dry them a little.

2. Prepare a flowerpot; a larger one is better, because chili peppers can still grow into quite a large plant, and the soil should be fertile and soft.

3. After sowing, the germination rate will be very high; generally sow in spring or autumn. Summer sowing is also possible, but note that when sowing in summer, it should initially be placed in a shaded place.

4. Do not plant too densely, because it grows quickly; if crowded together, nutrition will not keep up, and it should be fertilized once every few days, mainly with water-soluble fertilizer.

5. It needs plenty of sunlight; do not water too much when it is flowering, because if nutrition is sufficient and there is too much water, the flowers will not set fruit.

6. Ensure ventilation; if there are many aphids, brush them off with a brush, or use a little insecticide and spray once.

Appendix: How to pickle Facing Heaven peppers

1. Go to the market and buy especially fresh chili peppers, wash them, and dry off the water;

2. Clean all the tools you need to use and remove all water. You can use a hair dryer on hot air to dry off the water, then use cold air to cool them down.

3. Peel a large amount of garlic, and prepare as much garlic as possible:

4. Then prepare some ginger. You do not need too much ginger; just slice it;

5. Then put the prepared garlic, chili peppers, ginger slices, rock sugar, and a certain amount of salt together into the prepared large basin;

6. Shake it vigorously and randomly several times so that the garlic, chili peppers, ginger slices, and rock sugar in the basin are fully mixed;

7. Then pour the fully mixed garlic, chili peppers, ginger slices, and rock sugar into the large jar used for pickling;

8. Then pour in baijiu, just slightly covering all the chili peppers;

9. Then tighten the jar mouth; this is very important, so be sure to tighten it;

10. Note that enough baijiu is used, so there is no need to worry that it will spoil if kept too long.