Rainbow Chilli

Rainbow Chilli (Capsicum annuum 'Rainbow') is an ornamental chilli that happens to be edible, one of the few genuinely decorative plants you can also cook with. It grows to about 600mm tall and 500mm across, compact enough for a pot on a balcony. The fruit starts deep purple, passes through cream and orange, then finishes red, so a single plant carries four colours at once.

Why you'll love it

• Four fruit colours on one plant. Purple, cream, orange and red sit on the bush together as the crop ripens in sequence, which is the whole appeal of this variety.
• Small enough for a balcony. At 600mm by 500mm it fits a 300mm pot on a courtyard table without taking over.
• Fast from planting to picking. It is a quick grower, so a spring planting is usually setting fruit by midsummer.
• Ornamental and edible at once. The fruit is genuinely usable in the kitchen, and both heat and humidity suit the plant through an Australian summer.

Where it works best

Pots and containers. A 300mm pot of quality potting mix is all it needs, and a pot lets you move it into the best sun and under cover before winter.

Balconies and courtyards. Its size and long season of colour make it one of the better edible plants for a small space, where a sprawling crop would not fit.

Borders and small gardens. As a low edge to a vegetable bed or a path it gives the same effect as an annual bedding plant, with fruit instead of flowers.

Growing rainbow chilli in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, at least six hours of it, or fruit set drops away. It suits tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens as a perennial. It is frost tender, so in cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens grow it over the warm season as an annual.

Soil. Free draining soil or potting mix enriched with compost. Chillies resent soggy roots, so a pot needs a working drainage hole and a bed on clay should be raised.

Water and feed. Keep the soil evenly moist while the plant is flowering and setting fruit, which usually means daily watering for a pot in summer. Feed a liquid tomato or vegetable fertiliser every two to three weeks. Too much nitrogen gives a leafy bush and very little fruit.

Pruning and picking. Tip prune young plants once to encourage branching, then pick regularly. Harvesting fruit as it colours keeps the plant producing.

What to expect when it arrives

This one is grown in 140mm pots and sold as a pack of ten, which suits a full vegetable bed or a row of pots rather than a single plant on a windowsill. It is on backorder, so check the size selector before you plan around it.

Plants arrive as young bushes, usually in leaf, and they are more tender in transit than a woody shrub. Give them a week somewhere bright and sheltered before planting out, and expect fruit within eight to twelve weeks in warm weather. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• How to plan a productive fruit and vegetable garden
• Choosing the right pot size for container crops
• Browse the edible plant range
• Compare other plants suited to pots

Common questions

Can you actually eat the chillies?

Yes. They are a true edible chilli, hot rather than mild, and can be used fresh at any colour stage or dried once red. The purple and cream fruit are just as usable as the ripe red ones.

Is it safe around pets?

Treat it as one to keep out of reach. The capsaicin that makes the fruit hot irritates cats and dogs, causing mouth pain, drooling and stomach upset if chewed, so a bench beats a floor level pot.

Will it survive winter?

Only where frost is absent. In tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens it carries on as a short lived perennial for two or three years. Anywhere colder, grow it as a summer annual.