My wife (sorry ladies) has been growing a diablo pepper bush that was given as a gift. The peppers that grow on it grow about an inch long and grow upwards (as opposed to most peppers that grow below the stem). They are shaped like the old Christmas lights and start off as purple in color, maturing to red.
We have recently harvested a large number of peppers from our garden for pickling and jellying (bell, habanero, chili, jalapeno, etc.), but we have no idea whether or not these Diablo peppers (if this is in fact what they are called) are edible.
A search on Google came up with recipes for hot sauces named diablo, but I found no information specific to this type of pepper. Is there anyone out there familiar with this type, and if they are edible, how hot they generally run?
I’m pretty sure you are growing Del Diablo peppers. Yes, they are edible, pretty tasty and rather hot. I’ve always thought they had a heat and flavor like a mix between Thai peppers and Serranos.
yes, all of the ornamental varieties of chilli peppers are edible, but most of them are exceptionally hot and, as they are selected primarily for appearance, they may not be a richly flavoured as culinary types.
One plant that is sometimes mistaken for ornamental peppers is Solanum Capsicastrum, which has poisonous(I think) berries.