Capsicum annuum Grossum Group ("Papurika")

Japanese name: パプリカ
Scientific name: Capsicum annuum Grossum Group

[Overview]
In Japan, the name refers to the group of capsicum peppers (the bell group and pimento group) that have thick flesh, no pungency, and large fruits used as fresh vegetables.
The leaves are simple and alternate, elliptic to lanceolate, with entire margins.
The flowers are white, borne at the leaf axils near the stem tips, either singly or in clusters of several.
The corolla is 5–7-lobed.
The fruit is a fleshy berry, neatly bell-shaped with the interior divided into 3–4 chambers, and the fruit tip is indented.
It comes in various colors, such as red, yellow, orange, purple and brown.

[Uses]
The fruit is eaten, and is also used as a coloring agent called paprika pigment.
The skin is somewhat hard, but the flesh is thick, juicy and high in sugar, so it is also suited to salads and the like.

[Cultivation]
It prefers a sunny, well-ventilated, well-drained soil.
It is good to make rather high ridges.
During the growing period, do not let it run short of water or fertilizer.
Insufficient fertilizer or excess nitrogen reduces fruit set.
The best time to harvest is 60 days after flowering.
When many fruits have set, harvest them promptly so the plant does not become exhausted.
Care is needed against problems caused by continuous cropping.
Diseases and pests include powdery mildew, viral disease, bacterial wilt, melon thrips, spider mites, aphids, cutworms and root-cutting caterpillars.

[Notes]
Overseas there is also paprika as a spice, which belongs to a different group from what is sold as paprika in Japan.

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