Black pepper Piper nigrum, is a perennial climbing plant of the Piperaceae family that is grown for its fruits. Black pepper fruit is used to produce black.
white and green seeds which are usually used as hot and spicy spices in cooking. This plant needs a long rainy season, relatively high temperature and partial shade for optimal growth.
Black pepper is also known as Madagascar pepper. This plant is native to South and Southeast Asia (Malabar coast of India) .
and has been cultivated there for more than 2000 years. This plant is one of the first known spices around the world. Piper nigrum prefers tropical areas.
The black pepper plant has a dense climbing, woody stem and its aerial branches may reach a height of 10 meters (33 feet).
But cultivated cultivars are usually limited to 3 4 meters (10 13 feet). This perennial plant can live more than 30 years and its commercial lifespan is 12 to 20 years.
The leaves of this plant are simple alternate glossy and oval. The flowers of organic black pepper are small and are placed in narrow and dense spikes each of which has about 50 flowers.
The fruits, sometimes called black pepper are about 5 mm (0.2 in) in diameter. Each stem can produce 50 to 150 spikes, which produce a chain of small round fruits. The fruits are small, spherical and green in color.
turning yellow red when ripe and carrying a single seed. Their smell is penetrating and aromatic and their taste is hot and very spicy.
Black pepper varieties are classified according to origin, the most common being Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Davao, Zamboanga or Basilan black pepper.
Black pepper seedlings
Basic needs of black pepper plant
Black pepper is a tropical plant and cannot tolerate low temperatures (below 12 degrees Celsius).
This plant grows optimally in humid and tropical climates at a temperature of 25 to 30 degrees Celsius (77 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit) and in deep soil with adequate drainage and water retention capacity.
The desired soil for growing black pepper should be rich in organic matter with a pH of 5.5 to 6.0. This plant needs about 2000 mm of rain annually.
In dry areas this need should be met with additional irrigation. Cultivation of black pepper is suitable at an altitude of 350 meters above sea level.
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