Many thanks if you purchased this plant from The Spice Cupboard! We take great care to bring the plants on as best we can, doing all the hard work before they go up for sale. Plants are a bit of a passion for us, so we ensure they have great soil, top quality feeds, a healthy rootzone that’s populated with beneficial micro organisms that help, not hinder the plant. Most plants are hardened off outside for a while before you get them, so they are much more resilient and many are close to, if not flowering already. This means that with some water and even the most basic plant feed, you should get great results!
- 11L Dryback pot (or other high aeration pot to encourage root pruning)
- Organic Soil mix with perlite
- Professional grade, high nitrogen grow phase feed for healthy, lush leaf growth
- Professional grade, high potassium and phoshorus bloom feed and additives to boost flowering and fruit setting
- Beneficial bacteria and fungi additives as well as root stimulators
- pH adjusted water (6.2 – 6.5) for maximum nutrient uptake.
About this species
Pimenta Lisa is a fascinating species of chilli in that it is a hybrid of Pimenta de Neyde and a Bhut Jolokia. There is another species called the Jolokia Pink Ice which has the same parentage, but produces different chillies. The wonderful world of genetic traits! The chillies from this chinense variety are a little unusual as the skin is smooth, rather than bumpy like other varieties. Then there are the colours – if the plant is outside under direct sun, the leaves turn black as pigment develops to filter the light. On this backdrop, gorgeous purple chillies grow, ripening into a cream colour with violet flecks. Stunning describes this plant perfectly and it is one of my favourites (so far!). If the plant is indoors, in a conservatory for example, leaves will remain green. Pods are pretty hot and have a fruity sweetness and hint of floral about them. Under good conditions, the plant should produce many pods throughout the fruiting stage. Although Pimenta Lisa is a Portuguese name (Brazilian origins), the plant is a cultivar from Dutch grower, Stefan van Gelder.
Did you know? The name “Pimenta Lisa” simply means “Smooth Pepper” in Portuguese, referring to the pods’ distinctive lack of wrinkles.
Our observations from growing the plant.
Germination was fairly slow with these seeds and one plant is still only a few inches high after sprouting in March (now July!) The rest of the plants behaved much like a chinense variety does – fairly slow at first, but picking up after a while. I was disappointed that the leaves were all coming through a vibrant green, rather than the black from images I’d seen. Only later did I learn it was UV that stimulated the black colouring! Pinching out saw the plants halt all growth and stall for what seemed like forever. New growth came through a little twisted and mutated, but I think this was because the hormones were going haywire. It seems I have this reaction a lot from chinense varieties!
When they were big enough, they went outside in the garden to harden off. After one day, every single plant picked up scorch from the sun, all of which occurred on the lowest, biggest leaves. I left them on the plant while they were in the garden to contribute what they could to growth before removing them later. I was very happy to see that after a few days, leaves were darkening and new growth was coming through that rich black. The texture changed to, becoming rough and leathery to deal with the elements. When the first flowers came through in early July, they were white with purple stripes on them. I’d never seen flowers like them! This was definitely one of my favourites of this year, but I would rate it as a medium difficulty grow. They can be divas!
- Species: Capsicum chinense
- Heat: 50,000 – 150,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU)
- Growth Habit: Medium bushy.
- Approximate height: 70 – 100cm
- Flavour: Fruity, aromatic
- Best uses: Fresh sauces & ornamental display plant
Pimenta Lisa chilli plant Care instructions.
Congratulations on your new chilli plant and thank you if it was a purchase from The Spice Cupboard! Chilli plants are surprisingly easy to grow and, with some care and attention, they will really reward you with a large crop of fruits!
Sunlight
Chilli plants love sunshine. Place your plant in the brightest position available, ideally receiving at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight each day. Find a bright spot in your garden for the plant, ensuring they get between 6-8 hours of sunlight a day. If the sun is particularly intense, move it to a more sheltered spot. This kind of exposure can cause sun scorch, damaging leaves. Usually, we harden the plants off as much as we can before you get it, but even then, very strong sun can cause issues.
Watering
Chilli plants like a sweet spot of moisture in the soil. Not too wet and not too dry. A quick check of the top few centimetres of soil is a good indicator of when to water. If it’s dry, it’s probably time. Give the plant a good drink, but do not let the bottom of the pot sit in water (in a saucer for example).
Feeding
Ideally, feed the plant once a week with a good quality plant feed, being careful to follow the dosage rates. Tomorite or Chilli Focus are good, easy to use products that will give great results. If you want to take the plant to its maximum potential, there are foods and additives that we can advise on and even supply to you. Just ask Lewis in the shop and he’ll be very happy to talk you through it!
Temperature
Chilli plants are originally tropical plants, so they love warm temperatures. Chinense varieties prefer warmer that annuum varieties, 26 to 30 degrees against the 20 – 27 degrees, but both species will suffer as temperatures move into the mid 30’s. It can be a balancing act, moving the plant around if the weather changes wildly, but it is definitely worth keeping it in the sweet spot as yields will be bigger.
Harvesting
Most chilli peppers ripen from one colour to another (green to red for example). Lots of peppers can be cut at anytime, but usually the sweetest and hottest flavours come from a fully ripe chilli. Always use scissors or a similar tool to cut! Pinching or twisting can cause tissue ripping, leaving a larger wound that is open to infection.
Common issues
• Drooping leaves on hot days are normal, especially if it gets hot quickly in the morning. The leaves transpire (like sweating) and roots take time to wake up and get enough water back into leaves. Pressure drops and the leaves sag. This is normal and nothing to worry about. You can wait for the plant to catch up, or move it to a slightly sheltered spot.
• Yellowing lower leaves is normal, too. Sometimes the leaves that develop above them blocks out the light, making them all but redundant. The plant can strip the nitrogen from these leaves to reuse it, causing the yellowing. Generally, these leaves will fall off, or if moved a little, will come off easily.
• Flower drop is again a normal thing with chilli plants. If there is a period of stress such as blasting sun, heavy rain or strong wind, the plant can abort flowers and wait for more favourable conditions. While it is nearly impossible to stop a few flowers falling, protecting the plant from the worst of the weather will go along way to stopping it..
Want Even Better Results?
The above is a general care guide and following it should yield great results from the plant. However, if you really want to get the absolute most from your plants, there is plenty you can do to facilitate that! We grow the plants to maturity using professional grade soils, feeds and additives so that when you take it home, the plant is in a great condition to really deliver a top yield with even a basic fertilizer. Should you want to carry on the regime that we use, we’d be most happy to advise! There are a few simply things you can use that won’t break the bank, or you can get seriously involved and turn it into a new obsession (like we did!). Just drop into the shop for a chat and we can show you what’s available!
WE WANT YOUR PICTURES!!
If you want to help us grow The Spice Cupboard chilli library, we’d love for you to send us a picture of your chilli plant after you’ve had it for a while! Whether you train it or clip it into a great shape or if it’s laden with chilli peppers, we’d love to see it – and with your permission, add it to the library of images under that particular species!
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