Capsicum is a plant genus in the botanical family Soanaceae that includes all chili and bell peppers (as well as eggplants, potatoes, and tomatoes). Capsicum is native to America and has been cultivated here for many years. Growing capsicum from seed is easy. Plants grow abundantly from a sheltered, warm, and sunny spot in your yard or garden. The capsicum seeds can even be grown in containers on your patio or porch but don’t let the soil dry out completely. Heat ripens the fruit so be sure they get plenty of sunshine. Capsicum plants are lovely and can be added to a perennial garden as a decorative and purposeful inclusion.
Capsicum plants are prolific producers and, with regular harvesting, you can encourage a succession of fruits until cooler temps slow production or frost ends their growing season. In frost-free climates capsicums can be treated as perennials. Just cut them back after fruiting is finished in late autumn and they will produce for you again the following spring. When grown in pots, capsicum seeds should be planted in high quality soil, fertilized regularly, and staked.
Bell peppers are in the same family, but capsicum and bell peppers have an important distinction between them; capsicum contains a lipophilic chemical that produces the hot, burning sensation in your mouth and bell peppers do not contain this chemical. Check the product information for flavor profiles and Scoville scale (heat) ratings of our capsicum seeds to select just the right pepper flavors for you and your family.
In the kitchen, capsicum are multi-purpose vegetables. They add sweet to spicy texture to casseroles, side dishes, pasta, soups, salad, and salsa. They can be roasted, stir-fried, sun-dried, pickled, stuffed, steamed, or eaten raw. Capsicum has been used as an herbal remedy and its seeds can be ground and used as a spice. Peppers are an ideal vegetable for canning, too, to preserve them longer. Their flavor in wintertime is an invigorating reminder of spring and next summer’s harvest. Because there is just nothing that compares to the flavor of fresh vegetables grown from seed and harvested by you.
