How to grow black pepper at home

How to grow black pepper at home

As we all know, black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is one of the most used spices in the kitchen. This spice is obtained from a plant native to India and cultivated mainly in some regions of Southeast Asia.
If you want to produce it yourself, you have to take into account that the temperate climate prefers to grow; for this reason the room where it must be grown must have a temperature that oscillates between 20-25 ° C. optimal place is a closed attic, spacious and heated and very bright where you can grow – in autumn and winter – those plants that are not suitable for low temperatures and, among these, black pepper.
To start this beautiful and engaging adventure you can use the whole black pepper seeds that you have at home (should not be bought for too long as all the seeds lose the germinative power) and place them on cotton wool to keep always moist (the same method it can be used for many seeds). After about two weeks, the seeds will begin to sprout.

When the young shoots have reached a height of 6-7 cm they can be transplanted in a large pot and close, if possible, to some structure where it is possible to support and climb. The soil must have a pH between 5.5 and 6.5 (can be checked with a litmus paper) and enriched with organic substances. Being a plant that on average reaches 4 meters in height it will also give you a beautiful climbing green and, on average, five crops a year. The collection will be made according to the variety of pepper you want: to get the black one, the berries should be harvested still unripe, when their color is yellow-green.
The berries, after harvesting, must be dried for a few days in the sun; at this point you can open them, extract the grains of pepper that will have become dark brown.
Now, with great satisfaction you can give a touch of class: prepare the labels made by you, glued on a jar and you will have your own genuine product and meter-free.