How to Care for Ornamental Peppers Outside

Choose a sunny growing location with some shelter from strong winds, if possible. The stems of an ornamental pepper plant can be fragile, easily broken by stiff winds. Cultivate the soil down to a depth of about 4 inches and add 2 to 3 inches of compost to the soil. Work the compost into the soil with the spade and then rake the soil smooth.

Dig holes for the pepper plant. If you are planting several pepper plants in a group, space the holes about 2 to 3 feet apart. Make the holes deep enough to plant the pepper plants at the same depth as they are growing in the temporary containers.

Remove the ornamental pepper plants from the temporary containers carefully and transfer them to the prepared holes. Fill soil in around the roots gently and tamp the soil down firmly with your hands.

Fertilize the pepper plants twice each month by mixing the fertilizer with water at half the recommended strength.

Prune the ornamental pepper plants to encourage bushier growth. When the plants reach a height of about 6 to 8 inches, pinch back the main stem to leave approximately six leaf nodes on the stem. This produces a fuller and wider plant instead of a tall, leggy plant.

Remove the peppers when they begin to shrivel and fade on the plant. Either pick the peppers off by hand or shear the plant off, removing about half its growth. Pruning will keep the plant looking attractive and it will encourage a second bloom. Discard the peppers -- they are likely extremely spicy.

Fertilize and water the ornamental pepper plant immediately after pruning it. It may rejuvenate, blossoming and producing more peppers before the end of the growing season.

Cut back the plant at the end of the season. Ornamental peppers are not hardy in areas where it freezes during the winter.