Japanese name: ピーマン Scientific name:Capsicum annuum Grossum Group
[Overview]
This refers to the group of chili peppers (part of the Bell group and the Shishi group) that are not pungent and have large fruits used as fresh vegetables.
The leaves are simple and alternate, elliptic to lanceolate, with entire margins.
The flowers are white and borne in the leaf axils at the stem tips, singly or in clusters of a few. The corolla is 5–7-lobed.
The fruit is a fleshy berry with a depression at the tip containing a small protrusion, and it usually turns red when ripe.
[Uses]
The fruits are harvested while green and eaten.
[Cultivation]
It prefers sunny sites and well-aerated, well-drained soil.
It is best to make fairly high ridges.
During the growing season, do not let it run short of water or fertilizer. Lack of fertilizer or excess nitrogen results in poor fruit set.
The best time to harvest is 15–20 days after flowering.
When many fruits are set, harvest them promptly so that the plant does not become exhausted.
Care is needed to avoid problems from continuous cropping.
Pests and diseases include powdery mildew, virus diseases, bacterial wilt, melon thrips, spider mites, aphids, armyworms and cutworms.
