Mad Hatter Pepper
Capsicum baccatum 'Mad Hatter'
Height: 3 feet
Spread: 3 feet
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: (annual)
Other Names: Chili Pepper
Brand: PanAmerican Seed
Description:
This unique hot pepper is crunchy and crisp with rich flavor; flat, disc shaped fruit with a mild, sweet heat; excellent fresh or cooked, green or red; benefits from support, and best in the ground
Edible Qualities
Mad Hatter Pepper is an annual vegetable plant that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces green pointy peppers (which are technically 'berries') which are usually ready for picking from mid summer to early fall. The fruit will often fade to red over time. The peppers have a spicy taste with a crisp texture and a sweet fragrance.
The peppers are most often used in the following ways:
- Fresh Eating
- Cooking
- Drying
- Seasoning
- Sauces
Planting & Growing
Mad Hatter Pepper will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. Because of its vigorous growth habit, it may require staking or supplemental support. This vegetable plant is an annual, which means that it will grow for one season in your garden and then die after producing a crop.
This plant can be integrated into a landscape or flower garden by creative gardeners, but is usually grown in a designated vegetable garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist growing conditions, but will not tolerate any standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.
Mad Hatter Pepper is a good choice for the vegetable garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.
