, ▁including ▁Mexican , ▁S ich uan ▁( S zech uan ) ▁Chinese , ▁Korean , ▁C aj un ▁and ▁Cre ole , ▁along ▁with ▁most ▁South ▁Asian ▁and ▁derived ▁( e . g . ▁J ama ican ) ▁cur ries . ▁The ▁pow der ed ▁form ▁is ▁a ▁key ▁ing red ient ▁in ▁various ▁commer cially ▁prepared ▁food st uff s , ▁such ▁as ▁pe pper oni ▁( a ▁sa usage ), ▁and ▁ch ili ▁con ▁car ne ▁( a ▁ste w ), ▁and ▁hot ▁sau ces . ▁ ▁G row ing ▁conditions ▁Ide al ▁growing ▁conditions ▁for ▁pe ppers ▁include ▁a ▁sun ny ▁position ▁with ▁warm , ▁lo amy ▁soil , ▁ide ally ▁, ▁that ▁is ▁mo ist ▁but ▁not ▁water log ged . ▁Ext rem ely ▁mo ist ▁so ils ▁can ▁cause ▁seed lings ▁to ▁" d amp - off " ▁and ▁reduce ▁germ ination . ▁ ▁The ▁plants ▁will ▁toler ate ▁( but ▁do ▁not ▁prefer ) ▁temper atures ▁down ▁to ▁ ▁and ▁they ▁are ▁sensitive ▁to ▁cold . ▁For ▁flow ering , ▁C aps icum ▁is ▁a ▁non - ph ot oper iod - sens itive ▁c rop ▁. ▁The ▁flowers ▁can ▁self - pol lin ate . ▁However , ▁at ▁extremely ▁high ▁temperature , ▁, ▁pol len ▁los es ▁vi ability , ▁and ▁flowers ▁are ▁much ▁less ▁likely ▁to ▁pol lin ate ▁successfully ▁. ▁ ▁Species ▁and ▁vari eties ▁ ▁C aps icum ▁consists ▁of ▁ 2 0 – 2 7 ▁species , ▁five ▁of ▁which ▁are