Learning from the Process of Growing My Chili Peppers

These days, this plant is doing very well, growing a little bit more every day—about three centimeters—but I still can't clearly make out its shape to tell what kind of chili pepper it is. It’ll also take a little more time to see what color it will be. If it’s red, I know it’ll be spicy, but if it’s yellow, it’ll be one of my favorite chili peppers—the kind we call “sweet chili” here in my country—and it has plenty of flavor.

​Whatever kind of chili pepper my little plant gives me, I’ll make the most of it, though something in my heart tells me that even though these peppers are a bit elongated, they won’t be spicy—because the truth is, we haven’t bought anything but yellow peppers at home for quite some time, and it might be one of those seeds that my plant grew from. But honestly, I’m so happy to see it every morning, because I know it wasn’t easy for it to get to where it is now.

​These past few days, since my plant isn’t the same size all over, it’s grown a little more toward the left, and this is causing it to lean more in that direction—especially since there are more chili peppers on that side. Although a stake or a branch would have worked well, I actually couldn’t find one these past few days, so I temporarily placed a block near it to support it and keep it from falling to the floor.

I’ve learned these past few days that these plants, although they seem quite hardy, do require some care. Fortunately, the spot where it’s located only gets some sun in the mornings, because due to the El Niño phenomenon, the sun where I live is really strong, and I feel that if the midday or afternoon sun were to hit it directly, it wouldn’t have been able to withstand it—I’ve seen how plants at other houses that are exposed to direct sunlight, even when they receive enough water, are being affected.

​For my part, I feel that organic waste like peels and the like, as well as used coffee grounds, have helped my plant grow a little stronger each day, and I think the best part of all this is that my chili plant is completely natural—it doesn’t have any chemicals at all. From my perspective, this is a huge plus, especially since it’s very common for weevils or ants to eat my plants, but fortunately that hasn’t happened so far.

​Although right now all my attention is focused on my chili pepper plant that’s bearing fruit, I thought I saw another plant growing in one of my pots—I can’t tell yet if it’s a chili pepper or a bell pepper. When it gets a little bigger, I’ll show you how it’s coming along. In the meantime, I hope to be able to tell you soon what kind of chili pepper my plant will kindly give us, and I hope this is just the beginning of many more chili pepper plants in my garden.