There are beautiful bright light bulbs glistening in my chili pepper tree

Chili pepper has always been either red or green coloured for me until very recently. Never have I ever thought I would be so mesmerized by a purple-colored chili pepper. This is a very bright glowing purple color that I’m talking about, a kind of purple that would make you want to write a blog post about.

So, this chance encounter with this pepper tree happened about a year ago when we were visiting an old friend of my mother’s. I distinctly remember stepping into their garden and instantly gasping with bewilderment at the sight of this pepper tree which sported glistening balls of peppers in a spectrum of colors, much like beautiful bright light bulbs lit from its branches. I have never known a chili tree could be this beautiful and immediately decided I wanted this happy sight in my garden as well. So I courteously asked for a pod from the garden owner, the wife of my mother’s friend, in hope of generating some brand new seedlings. She was kind of reluctant at first (she had to get her husband’s permission first as well since apparently, this was the only successful plant among the many purple chili plants they’ve tried to grow in their garden) but eventually gave me one ripe pod.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

After drying the seeds inside this pod, I planted them on a tray and watched them germinate, grow into delicate seedlings, then sprout leaves one by one. Observing this development became my daily obsession and also my peace of mind since watching things grow always gives me an unexplainable form of satisfaction. Eventually, they became old enough to be transferred into their new pots and at the end of the transfer, I had 37 potted chili pepper seedlings. But sadly not all of them survived their journey into maturity. In the face of unfortunate whitefly infestations, wilting and harassment from my pet puppy (he thought these pots are ideal potty spots and that the seedlings are his chew toys), 12 of them went on to flower and fruit, that too was not without difficulty. I used to check leaf by leaf for potential threats from whiteflies and aphids until the leaves became too numerous for me to manage by handpicking. Jetting water out of a spray bottle worked well on expelling the whiteflies and a soap solution worked on the notorious aphids like a charm. I was completely over the moon when little purple flowers popped up in the trees and the actual magic happened when they turned into fruits! My little mission was a success and I now have 12 purple chili pepper plants that are perfectly lit with colorful chilies in my garden that I care for like absolute treasures. The above garden owner’s fear of parting with even one of her pods was very well justified considering the amount of effort I had to put into bringing these pepper plants to life.

• 

• 

• 

Although I don’t know the exact name of the breed, this chili pepper is a purple variety of “nai miris” (Capsicum fruescens) and it has to be an ornamental hybrid pepper breed (given their awesome colors) as opposed to its green “nai miris” counterparts. When the pods mature, the shift in colors from bright beautiful purple to pink to white to yellow to orange to an unbelievable bright crimson to ultimately bright scarlet was delightful. Imagine all of these colors displayed simultaneously in one plant and it’s nothing short of a vista from a fairytale. The pepper did actually taste hot (much like the green nai miris) and I used my first harvest to make garlic-pepper bread which tasted awesome.

• 

• 

Caring for these plants had been an absolute pleasure for me for the past few months and watching the humble seeds from just one pod growing into majestic trees is truly wondrous and is a constant reminder of nature’s magic in action. The satisfaction of witnessing the life story of a plant always makes my heart happy and that’s why this purple chili pepper episode is totally MYCUPPATEA!