CHILLI-NUMEX MEXICAN TWILIGHT

How to Grow Numex Mexican Twilight Chillies

1. Numex Mexican Twilight chilli pepper plants prefer warm, sunny locations with well-draining soil. Make sure the location you choose has at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day.  Consider growing it in a greenhouse or in a warm and sheltered spot outdoors.
2. Start Numex Mexican Twilight chilli pepper plants from seed indoors, 6-8 weeks before the last frost date in your area. Sow the seeds in seed trays or pots filled with seed compost and cover with a plastic wrap or propagator lid to maintain humidity.  Or plant directly in your garden after the last frost.
3. Transplant seedlings into your garden or large pots once they have grown to about 7-10cm tall and have at least two sets of true leaves
4. Provide proper care with require regular watering and fertilisation to thrive. Water the plants when the soil is dry to the touch and fertilise them every 2-3 weeks with a balanced fertiliser.
5. Support your chili peppers if they grow tall and become heavy with fruit.  Though typically chilli’s are grown as bush plants.
6. Keep an eye out for pests such as aphids, whiteflies and spider mites, and diseases such as powdery mildew and blight. Use organic pest control methods if possible.
7. Pinch back the growing tips of the plant to encourage bushier growth and more fruit production. You can also remove any damaged or diseased leaves to prevent the spread of disease.
8. Harvest your Numex Mexican Twilight peppers at typically 75-90 days after transplanting, depending on the variety. The peppers will change colour from green to orange and then to red as they ripen.   
9. Use scissors to cut the chillies from the plant. Keep in mind that the heat level of the chillies may vary depending on the ripeness of the fruit

Heritage of Numex Mexican Twilight Chilli

New Mexico State University (NMSU) in the United States developed the Numex Mexican Twilight Chili.  Part of NMSU’s breeding program it aimed to create new cultivars with desirable traits, such as disease resistance, high yields, and unique flavours.

Numex Mexican Twilight Chili was created by crossing several different chilli pepper varieties, including the Peruvian Aji Amarillo and the New Mexican Numex Big Jim. The resulting cultivar has a compact, bushy growth habit and produces an abundance of small, cone-shaped peppers that mature from purple to yellow to orange to red.

The pepper’s name “Numex” is derived from “New Mexico State University”, where it was developed. The word “Twilight” refers to the pepper’s colourful range of hues, which can resemble the colours seen in the sky during a sunset. The pepper’s heritage is a result of the efforts of plant breeders at NMSU, who sought to create a new and visually stunning chilli pepper cultivar that would be suitable for home gardeners and small-scale growers.

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