Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Planting black pepper
• Part 2 of 3: Watering and caring for your plant
• Tips

Black pepper is a flower-bearing climbing vine best known for its fragrant, spicy peppercorns. The plant grows best in a tropical climate, but can also adapt to a drier and colder climate. If the pepper plant is grown in a warm spot with partial shade and enough room for the tendrils to climb, it will thrive. Be careful when planting, growing and harvesting your plant so that it can produce the healthiest peppercorns.

To step

Part 1 of 3: Planting black pepper

1. Choose a location with a temperature between 24 and 29 ° C. Black pepper comes from a tropical climate and thrives at a temperature between 24 and 29 ° C. If the temperature drops below 16 ° C, the plant will begin to die.
   • You can grow black pepper indoors or in a greenhouse when the weather is too cold.
   • Hardiness zones 10 and 11 are ideal for black pepper. The Netherlands and Belgium fall within hardness zones 7 to 9.
2. Find a spot with partial shade to plant your black pepper plant. The plant needs between six and eight hours of indirect sunlight daily. Choose a spot in your garden that alternates between shade and sun during the day, or place the plant near a window that provides regular sunlight.
   • If there is a lot of cloudiness, you can buy a grow light for your plant.
3. Soak the seeds of the black pepper for 24 hours before planting. Hard, dry seeds absorb the nutrients in the soil less well. Fill a small bowl with water and soak the pepper seeds for at least a day before planting.
   • Lukewarm water or water at room temperature is ideal for soaking the seeds. It doesn't matter what kind of water you use - tap water is fine.
   • If you prefer to plant cuttings in your garden, you don't need to soak them in advance.
4. Dig a hole about half an inch deep in the soil. When you plant seeds, they should be about half an inch below the surface. Put the seed or cutting in the hole. Cover the seed or bottom part of the cutting with soil so that it gets the nutrients it needs to grow.
5. Plant the seeds or cuttings three to five inches apart. If you're planting multiple seeds or cuttings, give them three to five inches to grow. After you have planted the seeds and cuttings, moisten them with a plant sprayer with water.
6. Plant the seeds of the black pepper indoors if the outside temperature is too low. Fill a nursery tray or other container with soil and plant the seeds half an inch below the ground. Plant the seeds three inches apart. Water the seeds immediately after planting. Leave the container indoors for about 30 days and then move the plants outside.
   • Keep the soil with the seeds in it warm and moist during this 30-day period. It may help to place the container of seeds next to a heat source.

Part 2 of 3: Watering and caring for your plant

1. Fertilize the pepper plant once every two weeks. Using fertilizer twice a month will keep your plant healthy and strong. Buy organic fertilizer from the store or make your own compost to provide additional nutrients to the plant. Use a garden trowel to spread the fertilizer over and in the soil so that your pepper plant can absorb the nutrients.
   • How much fertilizer you use depends on the strength of the fertilizer. Read the directions on the fertilizer package to determine how much the black pepper plant needs.
   • Black pepper responds particularly well to liquid fertilizers.
2. Use mulch twice a year. The pepper plant has a shallow root system and absorbs biological nutrients very well. Using mulch every six to eight months keeps the soil moist and reduces temperature fluctuations during the day and at night.
   • Organic mulch consisting of grass clippings, leaves and fertilizer works particularly well with pepper plants.
   • Tuck the mulch two to four inches below the soil so that the roots of your plant can fully absorb the mulch.
3. Wait two to three years before harvesting the peppercorns. The black pepper plant does not produce peppercorns until several years after planting. When your plant is fully grown, it will flower in the spring and summer and will form clusters of peppercorns that grow on the plant like berries.
   • Buy a full-grown pepper plant if you want to be able to harvest peppercorns faster.
4. Harvest the peppercorns when they turn red. When peppercorns are ready to be harvested, they turn from green to light red. Pick the kernels one at a time from the plant, using caution to avoid picking kernels that are not yet ripe. Take a container or bucket with you when you start harvesting so that you can put the kernels in it.
   • Not all peppercorns are ripe at the same time. You may have to harvest the kernels several times during the same season.
5. Let the peppercorns dry in the sun for seven to nine days. Place the peppercorns on a flat surface like a baking sheet so that they are in direct sunlight. Let the peppercorns dry outdoors until the outer shell shrinks, turns black, and takes on a hard and dry texture.
6. Store the peppercorns in a dry, cool place for up to four years. Peppercorns will last for up to four years as long as you keep them in an airtight storage box. After four years, you can still safely eat them, but they can lose their flavor.
   • To test if a peppercorn is still spicy, crush it with your finger and smell it. If the smell is faint, the peppercorn has probably lost its flavor.

Tips

• Check the weather report regularly in the fall and winter to make sure the temperature doesn't drop below what the pepper plant can handle.
• Plant the black pepper plant near a fence or trellis so it can grow upwards when it grows taller.