Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
skoony

drying pepperberries

skoony
19 years ago

Does anyone grow and dry pink pepperberries? I know they are grown in temperate zones, but I would very much like to find out more about them.

Comments (5)

  • enchantedplace
    19 years ago

    I have not used them but found this link by searching : pepperberries in crafts : which brought up some interesting ideas for use. All berries and flowers lose luster when dried, but some can be enhanced with longivity and attractivness with metalic spray paints. EP

    Here is a link that might be useful: pepperberries

  • enchantedplace
    19 years ago

    This is a pretty idea too.

    Here is a link that might be useful: another link

  • Sonshinepat
    19 years ago

    watch out for pepperberries. A friend who does a lot of dried floral wreaths, etc. had a terrible time ridding everything of the moths that seems to "hatch" from the pepperberries!!! Little worms and moths everywhere infesting everything else also!!!

  • WKemp
    19 years ago

    Regarding the "little moths and worms" that Sonshinepat mentioned above, these were likely Indian Meal moths, and the pepperberries were probably not the source of the problem.

    Indian Meal Moths are a notorious pest of all types of stored grains, and have been commonly found in just about every food warehouse in the US since the 1930's.

    While these moths may have been attracted to the berries, they are not their favorite food. They are far more likely to have come in on glycerine preserved floral that your friend used - (preserved eucalyptus, baby's breath, statice, peppergrass, etc) as these and fried fruits such as orange and apple slices are particularly prone to infestation.

    Birdseed and dog food are other major carrier of these bugs. I have personally seen these critters buzzing around many pet stores, and around the pet sections of Wal Mart, and even grocery stores.

    While its true that these moths are a problem, and I'm sure that your friend did see them on the pepperberries, it would be unreasonable to believe that these were the likely source of the bugs. see:

    http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/mindianm.html

    The best way I have found to deal with these bugs is to protect your craft supplies with ProZap pest strips, as they are cheap, effective, long-lasting and easy to use.

    Run a google search for "ProZap", and read up on them. You can probably pick them up locally, or order them on the web.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Indian Meal Moths

  • CatherineMarie
    19 years ago

    I have dried red (not pink) red pepper berries using glycerine and found it to be o.k. The shape of the berry clusters are prone to getting squished when stored and the ones I did lacked appeal.

Sponsored