Mohawk looks hot but thrills with sweetness

The Mohawk pepper will fool you - it looks like it will light your mouth up like a fiery blaze - and leave you craving more of its sweet flavor. The Mohawk just fits perfectly where I have been leading you the last few weeks with plants that are small or compact.

Whether you have a new urban style garden or do your harvesting from containers on the porch, patio or deck you will be pleasantly surprised with the Mohawk. The reason I mentioned above that the Mohawk might fool you is that it turns from a deep green to a flaming orange when it is mature.

To grow yours, select healthy plants that are green with strong foliage. Yellowed leaves, spindly stems or sparse foliage indicate the plant is not thriving and probably will not perform well in your garden. Choose a site in full sun with beds that are fertile and well drained.

The Mohawk will fill out a 10-inch container to perfection reaching about 20 inches in height and spreading outward just over the rim. If you are growing in the garden plan on spacing plants about 18 to 24 inches apart. Mohawk peppers work well as part of an edible landscape or in garden rows spaced about 30 inches apart. This allows for good air circulation and permits easy cultivation.

Dig planting holes in the garden soil before removing plants from the containers. While you may plant a tomato deeper than it grew in the container, you must plant the pepper at the same depth it is presently growing.

Feed your Mohawk peppers with a complete garden fertilizer, preferably one that is higher in phosphorous, such as a 10-20-10. Apply 2 tablespoons per plant on three- to four-week intervals. Use a dilute, water-soluble fertilizer every other week if preferred or if growing in a container. In a container, you will want to pay attention to this as during summer we have a tendency to water more often thereby leaching the nutrients from the soil.

The peppers are tasty, 4- to 5-inch fruits that are blocky, thick-walled and can be harvested green, or allowed to ripen to the colorful orange. It is considered very early maturing in 75 days or slightly less. It is also very productive - giving you great value for your garden dollar - and the fruits have a good shelf life.

As the plant grows, you will have peppers at various stages of maturity, and the plant will almost seem like a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colors. This gives you ample opportunity to harvest green or orange depending on preference or your recipe.

I know we are still in the grips of winter, but this is the perfect time to do a little planning. Your local garden centers offer a lot of choices when it comes to transplants - try some compact plants this spring.

For questions on herbs and other compact vegetables, write to me at winter@naba.org.

Norman Winter is executive director of The National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas, and author of "Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South" and "Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden."