How does pepper grow?

Believe it or not, that pungent pepper is actually a fruit. That might be even less believable than the fact that a watermelon is a vegetable! In reality, it is a fleshy fruit with a seed inside, which, like the grapevine, grows in elongated clusters on a plant known as piper nigrum, or black peppervine.

The peppervine did not earn the nickname “black gold” for nothing

This plant originates from the Indian subcontinent but is now cultivated in many tropical regions, especially in Southeast Asia. It is said that money doesn’t grow on trees, but in the case of pepper, that was somewhat true in ancient times. During the Middle Ages and the early modern period, it was a highly sought-after commodity that was traded for gold. However, it required a great deal of patience.

Black peppervine is a very slow-growing plant, best described as a vine that only starts bearing fruit after four years of growth. It reaches peak size and productivity after seven years but can continue to produce the so-called black gold, as pepper was once called, for another 20 years.

Mild partial shade, plenty of water, and controlled harvesting – that is life among the pepper vines

Surprisingly, the peppervine plant does not like direct sunlight, and therefore it thrives mainly in partial shade. The most common method of cultivation is plantations. Anyone who remembers hop-picking work would feel like they were back in the old days among the climbing plants hanging towards the ground.

The usual height of such cultivated vines is 4 to 5 meters. However, the plant can grow up to 15 meters if conditions are favorable. When harvest time comes, the pepper is picked, usually by hand, cluster by cluster. Pickers place it into prepared sacks and then process it further.

To give pepper its characteristic black color, farmers harvest it while it is still green. It is then spread out in the sun, and the exposure to light and air turns it black, shrinks it, and intensifies its flavor. Only when the pepper is shriveled and has the right blackish-gray color does the ideal time come to pack and send it. Perhaps directly to your table.