Five cultivated species are now recognized, namely C. annuum var. annuum and C. frutescens, naturalized, and three other species which are mainly South American, C. baccatum var. pendulum (syn. C. pendulum), C. chinense and C. pubescens.

Capsicum must have been taken back to Europe by Columbus and to have reached South East Asia within a comparatively short time. Burkill (1966) records that ’so rapid had been its dissemination towards India that we find Fuchs, in 1542, figuring three races, calling it the pepper of Calicut.’ C. annuum var. annuum and C. frutescens were spread to most of the warmer regions of the world and the latter species became naturalized in many tropical countries.

Although this species is cultivated today in many parts of South America, its scant use there by the Indian population suggests a recent introduction. It would appear, therefore, that in pre-Columbian times, the cultivated Capsicum annuum grew oalrAn Mexico and, Central America.’ The short growing season, required, as well as the existence of both sweet and pungent forms;-helps to explain its present wide distribution.

The time from transplanting to the first harvest varies with the type and cultivar grown. In the United States Boswell et al. (1964) give the time to the green mature stage of sweet peppers as 58-82 days, with many of them about 78 days.

Hot chilli peppers are given as 100-115 days, with up to 150 days to the red ripe stage. ‘Tabasco’ is said to be a very late-maturing cultivar, but no time is given. Gollifer (1973) in an experiment on Indian chillies in the British Solomon Islands gives the time to first harvesting as 17 weeks after sowing the seeds, continued at fortnightly intervals for a period of 24 weeks.

Bird chillie took considerably longer. Sastri (1950) states that flowering of chilli peppers in India begins when the plants are 21 -31 months old and continues for about three months. The first picking is usually picked green and thereafter ripe or nearly ripe fruits are harvested at intervals of 5, 10 or even 20 days and the number of pickings varies from 6 to 10 spread over a period of 3 to 5 months.

In the northern temperate countries the fruits are hot cultivars of C. annuum, with the exception of ‘Tabasco’ grown in Louisiana, which is a cultivar of C. frutescens. Hot forms of C. annuum are also grown in elsewhere in the tropics. In South America they can be C. baccatum var. pendulum and C. chinense at the lower altitudes; the latter also occurs in the Caribbean; and C. pubescens at higher altitudes in the Andes; it also occurs in the mountains of southern Mexico and Central America.

Among the most pungent of the chillies are the small fruits of C. frutescens, which is cultivated and has become naturalized in many tropical countries. The fruits are sometimes known as bird chillies. This is the species which is exported from Zanzibar and other parts of East Africa, which has the reputation of producing the most pungent of all chillies. Successful trials in Malaita in the British Solomon Islands, have encouraged the cultivation of chillies on a small commercial scale since 1971.

It should not be confused with black and white pepper from Piper nigrum, long pepper from Piper longum, Jamaica pepper, pimento or allspice from Pimento, dioica, or Melegueta or Guinea pepper from Aframomum melegueta.

Home Greenhouse in January

This month the daylight is theoretically on the increase, but it is surely slow. Stormy weather obscures the sun so that the actual total of light is still low. However, snow and January thaws produce some beautiful days under the greenhouse roof. The standard roof slope of one in two is such that it sheds freely.

The quiet blanketed feeling of a sunny morning with 6 or 12 inches of snow on the roof is likely to be interrupted by a “whoosh” as the snow unloads in a junior avalanche. Afterwards the bright sunshine and reflected light from the outside snow make a fine spring-like world indoors, and a beautiful sight altogether.

The dumped load of snow from a sizable roof should be considered in planting close to the foundation outside. Brittle shrubs should not be used here unless they are carefully protected.

In full bloom now or beginning to bud are most of the late-sown annual seeds. Many of these are cool loving plants, which do well in a 50-degree greenhouse. Among these are alyssum, lobelia, calendula, wax begonia, impatiens, pansy and the greenhouse strains of snapdragon, stock, didiscus and carnation. From sowings the previous spring, flowers will be appearing on cyclamen, streptocarpus and Primula.

A fruit rot, known as ripe rot in the United States, where it is particularly serious on pimiento peppers in Georgia, is caused by Colletotrichum capsici (SO.) Butl. & Bisby.

Small yellowish spots appear on the ripe fruit, which increase in size during damp weather and become sunken and soft. Dempsey and Brantley (1953) state that it may be overlooked and only appear after the fruit has been held for several hours. According to Sastri (1950), the same fungus can cause a die- back of the plants in India. It is important to plant disease-free seeds. Control is the same as for anthracnose.

Blue mould or downy mildew of tobacco, Pef6n ospora tabacina Adam, also attacks capsicum and occasionally causes serious losses in nurseries in the south-eastern United States. The leaves show pale spots which later become covered with a pale-blue coating of fungal spores. Spraying with ferbam or zineb is recommended by Boswell et al. (1964).

The above symptoms are given by Boswell et al. (1964), who recommend that the seeds should be treated with corrosive sublimate or other fungicide and the plants may be sprayed with nabam, zineb or fixed copper fungicide. Bezan de Segura (1962), reports a wilt of red peppers in Peru caused by Phytophthora citrophlhora (Sm. & Sm.) Leonian.

You want to enjoy and admire the landscape of nature but you are not used to rough accommodation. But don’t lose hope as you can still admire the wonderful views of nature at the comfort of your home. This can only be made possible if you have a sunroom enclosure in your home. You and your family members can surely have a good time and at the same time have worthy conversations right at the sunroom. Sunrooms are usually available in different designs, types, and colors. Different manufactures and contractors also offer sunrooms and each promising to offer the best. But since you only want the best for your home, it is your responsibility to know the banes and boons of a sunroom and the cost you need to shell out when planning to build this kind of room. There is also a do-it-yourself sunroom kit that allows you to construct your own sunroom hence giving a personal touch to it. The DIY sunroom kit also gives you the chance to cut down the expenses of building a sunroom such as the labor cost.

This country ranks alongside Sri Lanka in being notable among Asian producers for the growth in its production of capsicums and chillies since the 1950s.

The actual scale of production in China is difficult to ascertain, but the growth in its export trade indicates that cultivation is extensive. One recent estimate put annual production of fresh chillies at 1m. tonnes and export of the dried spice at 10 000 tonnes.

Japan, Thailand and Indonesia maintained their position is as substantial producers and exporters during much of the post-war period.. Production in Thailand and Japan, however, appears tobave decreased since the mid-1960s, partly resulting from greater emphasis being given; to other crops.

Production in Burma, as monitored by export figures, appears to have decreased dramatically since the 1950s. This was probably associated with the general decline in Burmese agricultural production during this period and also with the loss,of the Sri Lankan market.

From the early 1970s, however, historical trading patterns underwent a significant change with the reduction of imports into Sri Lanka. During the late 1970s the repercussions of the enactment of import substitution in Sri Lanka were still being felt, but the major impact appeared to have been a severe decline in exports from India and the emergence of China as the world’s chief exporter of chillies and capsicums.

It seems everyone likes fried chicken. All over the world, you will find recipes that combine this succulent mild meat with frying. From American fried chicken to the tasty nuggets you can find in Asia, frying chicken is something that is universal.

Korean fried chicken is one of the newest forms to make its presence known in the United States. The lightly battered, delicate portions are very different from American chicken. Perfect cooking techniques result in a light crisp that is enhanced with a light painting of sauce. In Korea, the chickens are smaller, so they can get the same results with almost any part of the chicken, but the larger American birds make it difficult if not impossible to cook evenly. To compensate for this, boneless chicken can be cut up into smaller pieces or you can just use wings.

Japanese and Chinese chicken are prepared in a similar fashion, but they use different herbs and spices. Both cuisines prefer to use boneless chicken. For a Chinese flavor, use soy sauce or five-spice powder. For a Japanese flavor, you can use wasabi, sake, or ginger. You can choose to serve these crispy chicken bits plain or with a sauce, which can either be poured over the top or used for dipping. Orange chicken, almond chicken, and lemon chicken all use breaded fried chicken as the basis of the recipe.

The advantages that paved slab patios have on a garden are plenty, besides simply that they look good and provide an area to have patio furniture and barbecues etc.Although getting one of these put in is much easier said than done and many prefer to hire a professional than tackle the job themselves.

You can’t simply throw the stones in any old how and hope that it looks good, but if you do decide to go through the process yourself then you should take heed of advice.To give you a helping hand we’ve compiled some of the most important things to remember during patio construction.

Firstly, consider what type of soil you have and the area that you would like to have paved.If you’re just having a path put down the then the whole process will be a lot more simple than if you’re planning a patio.

Still, every paved area needs to be measured meticulously.Also, if you have particularly soft soil then you may need to invest in some gravel to mix it with, so that the paving slabs don’t sink or become sloped.

How do you cultivate a garden? What does that even mean? It’s pretty simple actually. It means you are improving the soil for planting. You wouldn’t expect to throw some seeds down in your front yard and expect anything to grow without giving the soil a hand.

When you cultivate the soil, you prepare it for the plants you are going to grow. To begin, lets assume you are just starting a garden and only have your grassy yard. Ideally, you will use a motorized tiller. A tiller takes all the hard work out of cultivating your garden. You just turn it on and push it across your garden. It will break up all the grass and ground for you.

A tiller is ideal because it is so easy, but they can be expensive. If you are lucky, you can borrow one from someone. If you are serious about gardening and know that you might use it a least every couple of years and have a large garden, it would be worth buying one.