Question
Hi, I live in Taiwan and I recently bought a miniature pepper plant. There is a red pepper and a green pepper growing on it. For the first few days, it was doing fine, but we went away for 2 days and when we came back, it was totally wilted. I gave it some water and it perked up a little, but today has lost most of its leaves. I don't know anything about caring for it - how much water, sunlight, etc. Can you help me?

Answer
Megan,

Pepper palnts need to be outdoors in full sun all day and need to be watered daily this time of year. It will grow new leaves but it has suffered a major setback.  The red pepper is ripe and can be picked and used in cooking. It will be very hot. If it is not picked the plant may stop blooming because it has produced a ripe fruit with seeds in it and that is the plants major goal, to produce seeds. The green one will eventually turn red. If you pick them as they turn red the plant should start blooming again and make more peppers. Prune off any branches that are totally dead, they will be brown and snap off easily. Water it whenever the soil is dry to the touch. Take it indoors when the night temps are going to be blow 50 degrees Farenheit or 10 degrees celsius. Good luck.

Darlene