Herself's Houseplants

This is a really cool house plant provided you have a really bright, really sunny window. Ornamental pepper plants come with yellow, white, red, black or a combination of colors of peppers.

These peppers can be eaten, but they are quite hot so tread carefully if you try one. The recommended method is to dry them, crush them and add small amounts to other dishes.

Give the pepper plant enough light and it will forgive you just about anything else. Water when the top feels a little dry. If it shows signs of sunburn ( white leaves ) it needs more water, not less sunlight.

The fruit in this photo is young, it will get much longer as it ages.

Height is 12″-18″ and form is very upright.

Protect from cold drafts.

If yours is not doing well inside give it more light. ( Lack of flowers, bud drop, older leaves turning yellow and dropping or if the plant gets spindly it needs more light. )

Watch for aphids and white flies on these plants.

( photos is of ‘Royal Black’ variety peppers turn red when ripe )

How about a ginger for the inside of your home?

I was planting some cool gingers outside and it occurred to me that any plant that hates the sun as much as this one would make a great houseplant.

Kaempferia pulchra ginger remains compact topping out at about 2 feet in height and width. Flowers are small, light purple, bloom for one day and fade. Unlike other gingers this one does not require a winter dormancy.

Kaempferia pluchra’s are grown mostly for the interesting variegations on the foliage and to have some thing interesting in the dark corners of your yard.

In your home, keep this ginger in a north window or set back from the window – no direct light. If the leaves start to curl it is getting too much sun.

Keep moist but do not leave it sitting in water.

Keep from drafts in the winter, this plant does not like cold weather.

The biggest trick to growing this plant indoors will be to keep in a humid location. Gingers love humidity. Place it near the humidifier in the winter months.

All parts of all gingers are edible, however this does not mean they will taste good.