The first thing that comes to your mind when you think of chillies and peppers is ah, spicy! Peppers also have pretty common colors – reds, greens, yellows, maybe some orange specs here and there. However, there is a certain pink chili that tastes sweet, and we are in love! Before you go on to Google ‘pink peppers’, let us make it clear that this fruit isn’t exactly a chili. It is, as a matter of fact, nothing close to a chili. But the little fruit of melocactus is beautiful nonetheless, and attracts birds and bugs from far away. Let’s learn about the aesthetically pleasing plant and its tasty little fruit.
Melocactus is a melon cactus, and it has over 30 species. The first thing to be noticed is the beautiful cephalium, the red and white structure growing out of the plant. From this grow vibrant red and pink flowers that will spill happiness in your house garden. Being a succulent, this plant loves dry soil and a full sun, and in proper conditions will keep blooming for nine out of twelve months.
The flowers lead to the little fruits, the main attraction of this plant.
Once the fruits are ready to come out loose, owners and gardeners will wear gloves and even use tweezers to pull the fruits out. Pictures of the melocactus fruit look edited, but they’re real.
The hot-pink pepper-shaped fruits are small – an inch, give or take half, at their fullest. And they’re edible! But being tiny, they stay in the mouth for only a few seconds. However, those who have tasted the melocactus fruit say it tastes like a dragon fruit.
If you want to grow more and more melocactus, pop open the fruits and spread the seeds in soil. To grow this plant from scratch requires an immense amount of patience, but it’s well worth the effort when you see the first chillies coming!
You’ll also like the cucumber that explodes.
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