In response to the prevailing trend of cultivating crops, we are increasingly eager to grow chillies on the balcony. Due to the beautiful, red, orange or yellow "pods" (and in fact berries from a botanical point of view) ofdifferent shapes, plants are treated primarily as ornamental, but the fruit can be successfully used in the kitchen.
Special varieties with compact growth are recommended for container cultivation, e.g. 'Hot Tomato', 'Hot Joker' or 'Golden Cayenne'.Each of them also differs in the intensity of the flavor.This taste also depends on the position where the plants are grownMore aromatic, but also more abundant fruiting is obtained from plants grown in full sun.
The fruits are picked gradually as they ripen. They are cut with pruning shears so as not to break brittle shoots. You should be careful with the juice of plants, because the alkaloid capsaicin contained in it strongly irritates the eyes, mucous membranes and even the skin.After harvesting the fruits, they are bound in a few or a dozen pieces, and then dried for 4-6 weeks in a warm, dry, airy and dark place.
After drying, the fruit should be stored in an airtight container.As paprika, like tomato or eggplant, is a thermophilic plant and dies at a temperature close to 0 ° C, all ripe fruits should be harvested before the frost.