Purple Maui Chilli (Black Chilli)

Stunning vibrant green, purple-tinged foliage forms a neat compact bush making ‘Maui Purple’ the perfect candidate for growing in a pot. The midnight black shiny chillies turn red when they are ripe and at this stage they are hot enough to turn into mouth tingling salsas. But one of the best attributies of this chilli is that it just keeps giving, producing fruit right through to winter. Getting hotter as it ripens, it is more mild when purple and extremely hot (more than 30,000 Scoville Units) when red. How to grow Within the capsicum family, germination temperatures are generally related to the heat of the capsicum or chilli. The hotter the chilli, the higher the germination temperature required. For this reason, it is always best to germinate chillies indoors, using a heat mat to provide bottom heat directly to the seed and root zone. Water frequently as the higher temperatures can cause the seed raising mix to dry out more quickly, and use a cover to help improve the humidity and surrounding air temperature. Chilli seedlings can be planted out into the garden once the risk of frost has passed. Choose a warm, sunny spot and cultivate it deeply adding dolomite to supply chillies with both calcium and magnesium. Regular harvesting improves the productivity and vigour of the plant. Pick the fruit using secateurs to avoid damaging the plant and wear gloves when harvesting chillies!