The filius blue pepper is a chili pepper belonging to the Capsicum annuum family, native to Mexico. It has a heat level of 30,000-50,000 SHUs and is typically grown as an ornamental plant.
What Are Filius Blue Peppers?
The filius blue pepper is an heirloom pepper that originated in Mexico. It’s a compact plant, making it an excellent addition to your vegetable garden edging or containers.
The pepper plant is usually about two feet (61 cm) tall and has bright, dark green to bluish leaves and white flowers. It produces purplish-blue little peppers that become bright red when ripe.
Are Filius Blue Peppers Edible?
You can eat filius blue peppers, but like in most ornamental peppers, the taste is not special.
They taste like spicy bell peppers: grassy and bitter with intense heat. They’re usually grown for decorative purposes in edible ornamental landscaping.
You can put them in salsas, sauces, and salads if you do choose to eat them.
How Hot Are Filius Blue Peppers?
Filius blue peppers have the same range on the Scoville scale as the cayenne pepper — 30,000-50,000 SHUs (Scoville heat units).
They’re about four to 20 times hotter than jalapenos.
This is one of the few peppers that doesn’t get spicier the longer it ripens on the plant. It’s hottest when it’s blue (unripe), then turns to orange-red and actually mellows a bit in heat.
What Are The Best Uses For Filius Blue Peppers?
Since its taste won’t wow you, it’s best to plant filius blue peppers in a garden or use them as houseplants. Their flowers and small indigo chilis are tender and beautiful to admire.
Vertical container gardening is convenient if you don’t have much space, while the horizontal style may suit you if you like having different pot and plant colors, shapes, and sizes scattered around your garden.
Filius blue peppers look pretty in the flowering stage and the ripe phase. Other dark shiny ornamental pepper plants, like the black pearl or black cobra pepper, pair well with them and look fabulous in a vertical container garden—especially when grown alongside non-pepper flowering plants like climbing jasmine, clematis, or moonflowers.
Where To Buy Filius Blue Peppers
Filius blue peppers are not grown commercially. Unless you have a chili farmer at your farmers market, your best bet is to buy seeds and grow them at home.
You can purchase them online for a couple of bucks (filius blue pepper seed count is usually a minimum of 10).
Can You Grow Filius Blue Peppers?
Growing filius blue peppers from seeds is easy, especially in containers. Open-pollinated heirloom seeds need 80 to 90 days to mature.
Germination takes about 10 to 21 days, and you can speed it up by using heating mats. Make sure to start at least eight weeks before the last frost.
Fill four-inch (10 cm) pots with high-quality, well-drained soil, but not completely, as you’ll need to cover the seeds with a bit more. Place a couple of seeds per pot about 0.25 inches (0.6 cm) deep, cover them with soil, and pour some water to keep them damp. The ideal temperature for germinating is 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 to 29.4 Celsius). Keep the pots on your window or other places under bright light.
Once the seeds sprout and are at least 4 inches tall, you can move them outside. Pick an area that has full sun exposure. Plant spacing should be 14 to 18 inches (35 and a half to 45.7 cm).