A magnificent houseplant from pink peppercorns: food journalist grew a privacy screen from the contents of her spice cabinet

Chef and cookbook author Anu Brask works at a desk by a large window. When the direct view onto the street began to bother her, she decided to do something about it.

“My partner and I picked up a black pepper seedling from the Turku Botanic Garden. While caring for the black pepper plant we named Wilson, I kept thinking about peppers, and I remembered reading somewhere about growing pink peppercorns. That’s how I came up with the idea.”

Conveniently, Anu found a bag of pink peppercorns in her spice cabinet. She sowed about three pink peppercorns into a pot filled with soil and placed it on the windowsill.

Anu researched the growing conditions for peppers and recalled seeing pepper trees in Vietnam located in partial shade.

“With that in mind, I haven’t bothered moving the tree, since it’s doing fine on the windowsill. In winter, the radiator beneath the windowsill emits warmth, which surely helps.”

After sprouting, only slender stems were growing in the pot for about a year, and it seemed like nothing was happening. But in the second spring, it suddenly took off.

“I kept the soil slightly moist all the time, but didn’t do anything special. I’m actually lazy about fertilizing, and I’m not much of a caregiver either. In our home, plants have to thrive or they die off.”

Suddenly, the tree began to grow toward the ceiling. The vine-like branches were full of leaves, and the tree was growing at a tremendous rate.

“When I realized I could trim the top of the tree, it began to branch out and fill in lushly. I just put the trimmed parts in a glass of water for the first time to see if they’ll root.”

Although Anu’s home is full of exotic plants, she claims she doesn’t have much of a green thumb.

“Soil and water—that’s about it. Lidl’s coconut soil is really good, as is Pirkka’s coffee soil. In winter, I sometimes add seaweed extract when watering and put perlite in the pot. It stores water and makes the soil fluffier.”

So far, the pepper tree hasn’t bloomed.

“I’m not sure if it would have more abundant branches if it were in a slightly sunnier spot. It sheds a ton of leaves, but I leave them in the pot.”

Now, at three years old, the pepper tree is still in its place on the windowsill.

“It’s just what I hoped for. As a privacy screen, the pepper tree is excellent: I can secretly watch people passing by from behind the plants, but they can’t see inside!”

Grown from store-bought fruit! Starfruit, kiwi, and 8 other delicious treats sprouted into delightful houseplants. Read the article about amazing and innovative houseplants.