Introduction to Unique Pepper Varieties: Two Distinctive Pepper Cultivars

1. Pumpkin Pepper

Pumpkin pepper is an annual plant of the Solanaceae family. The stems and leaves of seedlings are purple, gradually turning from purple to dark green as they grow. A single flower grows at each leaf axil, rarely two. The flowers are purple, and after flowering they produce purple fruits that turn from purple to red. What is even more unusual is that the fruit is shaped like a pumpkin, which is why it is called pumpkin pepper. Plant height is 45-60 cm in pots and can reach 1.3 m when grown in fields. Individual fruits generally weigh 3-6 grams, and each plant bears 30-50 fruits. Pumpkin pepper is edible and has an extremely strong spicy flavor. It can also be grown as an ornamental potted plant, with fruits in both purple and red and green leaves, making it very beautiful. The ornamental period lasts from May all the way to November, as long as half a year. Pumpkin pepper has strong resistance, and its cultivation and management techniques are the same as those for local peppers.

2. Milk Pepper

Milk pepper, also known as lantern pepper or Canadian pepper, originated in Canada. The plant height is 1-1.2 m, with thick stems and strong branching, and the crown width can reach 1.45 m. The leaves are green and ovate, the petioles are 3-4.8 cm long, and the leaf blades are 8-9 cm long. One flower grows at each leaf axil, and the flowers are white. The fruit is unusual, with a fruit stalk 4-5 cm long and a fruit about 5 cm long. It is lantern-shaped, with irregular bumps and hollows around the fruit and a nipple-like protrusion in the middle, hence the name milk pepper. Individual fruits weigh 3.5-6 grams. Young fruits are green and turn bright red when mature, very brilliant. It has wide adaptability. The cultivation and management techniques are the same as those for ordinary peppers, but attention should be paid to the prevention and control of Fusarium wilt during the growing period.