Capsicum, Hot Pepper 'Rocoto Red'

This pepper was hard to identify because the shape of the pepper matched so few pictures online. it has what I'd call an arrowhead shape....Read More Semi-flat with a distinct cap and shoulder and a pointy tip. You could also call it a bit heart shaped (anatomical)

The only way to narrow it down was to look at characteristics of the plant. It is a bigger tree or bush-like plant. The leaves are medium green and hairy. The flowers are purple with some white or light purple. The seeds are black. The fruits are glossy and smooth with a few lumps and bumps making the shape. With that, it is identified with capsicum pubescens.

It is hot to very hot in spiciness. Ripens from green to chocolatey red to bright red. I have it in San Francisco in the Mission district, so sunny cool or foggy cool summers, with rare heat waves and no frost.

I inherited this mature pepper tree in my community garden plot and it is several years old so that makes it perennial for as long as it lasts. I am harvesting in the summer. It bloomed in the spring and continues to bloom in late summer.

It is likely Peruvian or Bolivian and likes the cool weather that we have. (55º - 70º all year round) The plant has naturalized so will grow at our altitude as long as it stays cool. We have it in a sunny location but it doesn't mind and is a prolific producer so far.

I'm not sure if this is the right variety really, since the red Rocoto seeds from NuMex produce apple shaped fruit like another comment s...Read Moreaid.

These took a while to get going but produced a good amount the first year, and more the second and third. By midway through the second it was pretty much limited by the size of pot it was in and keeping up on trimming it or it would have got much larger, but it was easily over 3 feet wide before trimmings. Seen them above 8 feet after a few years in more temperate climates.

Main stem got "bark" during the first year. Overwintered it by bringing indoors, reducing light level, and not watering too often. It still managed to produce a few fruit while inside and probably would have been going nonstop under good lighting. Just didn't seem to go dormant. Fruit yield was good, fruits are tasty for all kinds of things. Flowers are a nice purple color and larger than most peppers. Seeds are easy to dry and black. easy to grow and tolerant of worse conditions than I thought

We placed the seeds in low cost compost in early March, we were told that the compost wasn't great (reported by previous customers) but a...Read Mores my old man says, compost is compost, its the food that counts. I probably planted around 40 seeds and after a long wait of over a month, we saw shoots., I then started feeding them once a week with typical tomato feed. Things were going well until recently (1st August): all 8 strong plants over 20 inches with illuminous green leaves ( they have a great colour). Then came very high sun light in the Uk in early July and by the end of July, two 2 plants were badly damaged by greenfly, treated by spraying them with water/washing liquid mix. Then a recent change to cloudy/very windy and damp weather which has brought on Clematis.(This happened over night and 2 nights after spraying them with washing liquid) One plants has been trimmed back to nothing. I have washed them with tap water and placed them in the green house until the weather fairs up. This is my first year growing so I have very little knowledge. My love of the Rocoto came from living in Peru were I saw Rocoto trees that were over 10 feet tall. I used it a lot in cooking (my real love is food). I have also planted Aji Amarillo but I don't know if any of my plants are of this type. My Peruvian wife brought over some Rocoto and I dried the seeds from the fruit. We still have many left and I will try again next year if the plants fail. Things seem to happen quickly and you really need to keep a constant eye on the Rocoto plants as they can be affected very quickly (not their natural habitat I suppose). We have all sorts of other herbs, vegetables and plants in our garden which are all very healthy.

One of the best of the C. pubescens. Very suitable for a shaded garden area or a house plant. Can grow to immense size & I've heard of ...Read Morepeople keeping the same plant for 8-9 years. One of mine is in it's 4th year and has at times reached about 20' from base of plant to farthest branch tip. Prefers cooler temperatures for both growth & setting fruit. Ripe pods can range in heat from very sweet & mild to unbelievably hot. Pod size can vary greatly too.