I got this plant from my mother because I’m interested in chili planting. She choose this from a supermarket (Tesco) because it had a chili symbol on it. It says Capsicum aanum sombrero which from the symbol said to be not edible and might not even be chili. From a google search the name Capsicum aanum I found that it refers to a non edible indoor pepper type which is basically for decoration (more like not edible) but also found some sources saying that it’s edible but with the symbol on it I don’t want to risk it. I have also found a website contributing it to be a chili type because of the Sombrero name (so fully Capsicum aanum Sombrero). I can’t decide what kind of plant this is. Does anyone know? And how should I take care of it?
It’s definitely edible (safe to eat) but as other posters mentioned, it’s one of those ornamental anuum pepper varieties and are too bitter for most people. Other anuums include jalapeños, Serranos, shishito, and Jamaican mushroom. For contrast, the other common types at: chinense (habanero, ghost, reaper, etc), fructecens (tobasco), baccatum (lemon drop, Brazilian starfish, ají amarillo), and pubescens (rocoto, manzanas).
It’s usually impossible to identify the exact pepper species you have, but I’d bet dollars to donuts it tastes almost exactly like Bolivian rainbow, if you’d like to read other peoples reviews online.
Let me know if you have any further questions on the subject! Growing hot peppers has become a bit of a hobby of mine, if you can’t tell :)
We just planted peppers this year. We ordered a couple batches of seeds online and so far things are growing. The Vampire peppers are doing the best. Good luck with this
Thank you. I’m thinking about ordering seeds online.
We ordered from https://pepperseeds.eu/ We got some extras and seems like we a couple sprouts from each variant.
I can’t call it one way of the other. Capsicums are all “Nightshades” many of which are toxic. Nightshades also include tomatoes and potatoes. The fruits of tomatoes are not toxic, but the almost identical looking fruits of the potato are toxic. Lots of references say that Capsicum are all edible, as I guess are all tomatoes. Capsicums are toxic to dogs and cats, so that could also be why it is marked like this, or it could be the foliage that is toxic. Like you, I could say for sure.
Thank you. Is there any way to correctly identify it? I have found out Capsicum annum refers to chili too but there are also variant of tomato that looks like chili but is toxic to humans. I thought there was a possibility that it is incorrectly labeled but even the pot says it isn’t edible. Maybe I need a book on this one because the wikipedia and google didn’t help me much with it.
These are sold as ornamentals. They’re decorative plants and not specialized for eating. We may not be able to determine if “not for eating” means toxic or just that eating is not their intended purpose and they will taste bad, or have heat and no flavor. In any case, it’s not for eating. Are you concerned about a child or pet accidentally eating something harmful, even if you just keep it at home as an ornamental?
Thankfully there isn’t anything that would eat it tbh. I was just curious.