Pepper Index

Respect the Power of the Pepper! When you see HOT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! We mean it! Let me tell you a little story. My 1st husband, God rest his soul, loved hot peppers. After cooking a batch of chili one day, he forgot to wash his hands before making a “pit stop”. Hearing a grown man cry and trying to stop the pain by taking three showers in a row had its comical side. However, this happened with just ordinary jalapenos. Imagine if it was a truly HOT pepper. Hot peppers can cause real pain. Ask anyone who has had a run in with hot pepper spray. (I can vouch for this, but am unwilling to elaborate on the details.) Getting the juice of a hot pepper in your eye is a very real danger. Please, please, please use caution.. and wash your hands… because nobody is that tough!

Common Name Type Days To
Harvest		 Scoville
Units		 Resistant Description
Alma Paprika Chili 80 Days 100-500 Grow your paprika! This heirloom variety is one of the best for drying and grinding. Sweet, with a hint of heat, thick walls,
2 to 4 inches long. The fruit starts out white, turns orange, and then ripens to a rich red.
Anaheim Chili 80 Days 2,000 Mildly hot, typically eaten roasted or filled with amazing things and fried. Grows to 2”wide X 7” long…the perfect stuffing
size.
Ancho (Poblano) Chili 77 Days 3,000 A mild chili that looks like a pointed bell pepper, 4 to 6 inches long, starts green and ripens red.
Ancho (Poblano)
Mosquetero		 Chili 90 Days 1,000-2,000 High yields of uniform, smooth, dark green, two lobed fruit that is mild. This Ancho/Poblano gets to be about 6” long x 3”
wide with an open cavity, making it perfect for stuffing. As fruit matures to red, it normally becomes slightly hotter.
Ancho (Poblano)
San Martin		 Chili 85 Days 1,000-2,000 This Mexican variety produces better yields than other Ancho peppers, 3” x 5 ½” long. Mildly hot peppers that turn from
dark green to dark red when mature. Perfect for stuffing, roasting or drying.
Ancho (Poblano)
Tiburon		 Chili 65 Days 1,000-2,000 TMV, BLS May be the best Ancho/Poblano available! Large yields of 7” long, dark green fruit which matures to red.
Bell Boy Bell 70 Days {1967 AAS Winner} A classic green bell that will eventually turn red, with thick walls and a full flavor. Pick green for the
most crispness, super sweet when red. Great for stuffing, stores well.
Better Belle Bell 55-68 Days TMV Does a quicker harvest make them better? Large green fruit that eventually turns red.
Big Bertha Bell 72 Days Giant sized sweet bells, up to 7” X 4” across, mature to red. One of the most popular for fresh market and home gardens.
Big Bomb Cherry 68 Days 2,500-5,000 Big yields of bright red, thick-walled, 2” hot cherry-type peppers that hold their shape well when pickled. Vigorous,
disease resistant plants.
Big Jim Chili 80 Days 2,000-4,000 Medium hot chili that are up to 10 inches long and 4 ounces, with thick flesh and sort of flat. Great for Chili Rellenos.
Big Red Bell 70-80 Days Thick, sweet and crisp. Starts green (yeah, you can eat it green)…then it turns…uh…red.
Bird Chili 91 Days 100,000-225,000 EAT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! 1-inch oval, this extremely hot, chili type pepper originates from a native Mexican
shrub.
Bird's Eye Pepper
(Pequin)		 Chili 105 Days 40,000-50,000 Compact, bushy plants typically 18-24 in. tall, wide, with bright green leaves and tiny round to slightly oval fruits that
mature to brilliant red. The flavor can be described as a citrusy, smoky, and nutty. The heat will linger and linger…
Mockingbirds love them, so it is common for them to come up "wild" where you least expect them.
Black Olive Ornamental 98 Days TMV {2012 AAS Winner} Purple flowers, purple foliage, and freakishly hot little purple peppers. Some things in life are
self-limiting and kids will only eat them once.
Black Pearl Ornamental 95 Days {2005 AAS Winner} Upright, bushy, well-branched plants with foliage that is greenish when young, turning almost black
with high light and heat. Rounded shiny black fruit matures to dark red and is very hot to the taste. Excellent in mixed
containers, matures to 2 ½ feet tall, 18" wide.
Bulgarian Carrot
(Shipkas)		 Chili 75 Days 5,00-30,000 Extremely productive, quick to mature, 3” to 4” long, carrot-shaped, bright orange, very hot, crunchy fruit, arranged in
large clusters held close to the stem. One of the best varieties for roasting or chopping into salsa and chutney. Compact
enough to grow in containers, reaching just 18 in. tall and 12-18 in. wide. (Heirloom)
Cajun Belle Bell 60 Days {2010 AAS Winner} Prolific producer of small, 2” x 3” long, bell-shaped fruit, which is sweet with a hint of spice. Fruit
ripens from green to orange-red and then to deep red. Compact plants are about 2 ft. tall and equally as wide and exhibit
good disease tolerance.
California Wonder Bell 70-75 Days Can’t get a more basic, green bell pepper than this…
Caribbean Red Hot Chili 90 Days 400,000 EAT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! Super hot, 1 inch fruit with thin walls, redder than a Habanero.
Carmen (Bull's Horn) Italian Sweet 75 Days Early, extremely productive. Fantastic Italian sweet pepper taste. Compact 28" tall plants yield abundant horn-shaped
fruits that as they mature from green to red become even sweeter. An excellent choice for fresh salads or cooked dishes.
Carolina Reaper
(Nugget o'Death)		 Chili 2,200,000 EAT AND HANDLE AT YOUR OWN RISK! For those with a death wish or masochistic tendencies, this is the pepper for
you. We recommend three layers of latex gloves over welding gloves to handle this child of Hades. For fear of law suits,
brought by people who think they are rough, tough and can handle it, but are sadly mistaken, then seek revenge on the
seller…we will not be offering this cute, little, red, love child from the union of Sadistic Tendencies and
Justbecausewecould Breed it.
Cascabel Chili 90 Days 1,000-3,000 Cascabel means ‘little bell” or “sleigh bell” in Spanish. When dried the seeds rattle in the dried fruit. This little round chili
can be used fresh or dried and adds a little heat to your cooking, without the after burner effects.
Cayenne Chili 72 Days 30,000-50,000 The thin-skinned fruit is 4-6" x 5", slightly wrinkled and very hot. Matures from green to red. Used dry or fresh in salsas,
etc.
Cherry Bomb Cherry 68 Days 2,500-3,500 Large yields of thick walled hot, cherry fruit. Great for pickling.
Chiltepin Chili 90 Days 100,000-150,000 EAT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! Wild type producing ½” long, pointed yellow and red fruit all yearin mild winters.
2' shrub is very ornamental. Root hardy perennial that is popular with birds. This little gem has been described as having
a hit and run heat.
Chinese Giant Bell 90 Days Huge, thick walled, blocky fruit can be up to 6 inches across. Starts green, ripens to red. Eat fresh or stuffed.
Chipotle Chili 66 Days 6,000 Thick walled, medium hot 1” X 2½”. Smoke this pepper to get the best flavor.
Chocolate Beauty Bell 75 Days TMV Starts out green and at that point only has an average bell pepper flavor. Once it turns chocolate colored, it becomes
sweet and tasty. This unique bell pepper will challenge your senses, when your brain makes an assumption about the
flavor and your tongue tells the truth.
Corno Di Toro Chili 72 Days 20,000-35,000 “Bull Horn” peppers are the largest of the stuffing peppers. Large yields of 8” to 12” long fruit that is great fresh or roasted
and is spicy, with a little heat. Eat these whether they are green or red. When red they have a richer, fruitier flavor.
Cowhorn Chili 75 Days 5,000-10,000 Thick, curved pods, 8 inches long, eat green or red. Medium hot flavor, great for stuffing and frying.
Cubanelle Italian Sweet 68 Days 3” X 9” long, non-pungent, green to red fruit, Extra flavor, and a low water content make it great for frying.
Emerald Giant Bell 78 Days Proven great for the South, this large blocky bell has thick, sweet walls. It is a great all-purpose, green bell.
Explosive Blast Ornamental 125 Days 30,000 Hot yellow and red 1" peppers on 10" tall by 10” wide plants. A very pretty, ornamental type.
Explosive Ember Ornamental 120 Days 3,000 Dark purple peppers mature to fire-engine red on purple foliage. Compact plants, 10” to 14” tall, and 8” to 10” wide, work
in the garden as well as containers.
Fajita Bell Hybrid 72 Day <1000 Bell shaped, 3” X 4”, green, turning red with just enough heat to make a Yankee sweat. Great compliment for fajitas.
Garden Salsa Chili 73 Days 3,000 TMV 1” X 8” long, thick walls, thin skins, full flavor mature when yellow-green to red.
Garda Tricolor Ornamental 65 Days Multi-colored fruit looks like Christmas lights or a bowl of jellybeans. Excellent in containers.
Ghost (Bhut Jolokia) Chili 95 Days 900,000 EAT AND HANDLE AT YOUR OWN RISK! One of the world's hottest peppers, over 300 times hotter than jalapenos. It
looks similar to a Habanero pepper but with thinner skin, a rougher texture and a more dented appearance. When ripe, it
is red or orange colored and measures 2” to 3” long and about 1” wide.
Goat Horn Chili 70 Days 2,000 A cayenne type pepper with 6” slender fruit, like a green bean, delicious, sweet flavor with a little heat. Eat green or red.
Golden California Bell 82 Days Starts out green (yes you can eat it green) then turns yellow…if you wait long enough, it turns orange…3 for 1…what
a winner!
Golden Summer Bell 67 Days Hybrid bell with large, golden-yellow, blocky fruit.
Gong Bau (Kung Pao) Chili 85 Days 3,000-6,000 Named for the popular Chinese dish. This productive, slender, green bean sized, pepper has a strong flavor. Use them
fresh or cooked and are easily dried for out of season use.
Gypsy Hybrid Bell 62 Days TMV {1981 AAS Winner} Sweet, wedge-shaped peppers produced early on virus resistant 24" plants. Fruit matures from
chartreuse to orange and finally deep red.
Habanero Burning Bush Chili 85 Days 180,000-200,000 EAT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! These wrinkled, lantern-shaped, 1” x 3” long peppers turn from green to orangey
peach. This is one of the earliest maturing Habanero's. The peppers are hot and have a fruity taste. Heavy yields on
30 in. tall plants.
Habanero Chocolate Chili 95 Days 300,000 EAT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! Not just hot, but very hot, with a unique smoky, yet fruity, flavor. Quite ornamental
with their chocolate-brown, lantern-shaped,   1 ½” long wrinkled fruit. Bushy growth, 2 ft. tall.
Habanero Orange Chili 90 Days 300,000-325,000 EAT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! Blistering hot, tropical pepper from Yucatan to Brazil, are over 50 times hotter than
jalapeno peppers. The wrinkled orange 1" fruit is produced on bushy 3 ft. tall plants.
Habanero Peach Chili 95 Days 250,000 EAT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! Traditional habanero heat with uniquely colored golden fruit that blush with peach at
maturity. Prolific, compact plants average 16” to 18” tall, making them ideal for containers as well as in the garden.
Habanero Red Chili 85 Days 350,000-500,000 EAT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! This deep red version of the common orange habanero is even hotter! About 65
times hotter than a jalapeno. An abundance of wrinkled, roundish fruit with tapered ends, averaging 1” long, are produced
on bushy, 3 1/2 ft. tall plants.
Habanero Rey Pakal Chili 90 Days 200,000 EAT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! A slightly larger variety, 2 ½” long fruit matures to bright red. Prolific producer of "mild"
fruit compared to some Habaneros. Its main claim to fame is the fact it will bears in cooler temperatures, than other
Habaneros.
Holy Mole Chili 85 Days 1,300 {2007 AAS winner} A paste type for making molẽ sauce. 8” long, chocolate colored fruit with a tangy flavor on a compact
plant.
Hot Banana Chili 67 Days 5,000-7,500 6” long and 2” wide yellow peppers that can turn red if you can be patient! Eat them fresh, fried, or pickled.
Hot Portugal Chili 64-85 Days 5,000-30,000 Firey hot form of a cayenne, 6” long, sweet fruit that are mild when green and hot when red. A great all-purpose pepper.
Hot Red Cherry Cherry 80 Days 5,000-15,000 Compact plants with almost golf ball sized, thick walled fruit, great for pickling or eating fresh.
Inferno Hybrid Chili 60 Days 5,000-9,000 Hungarian Hot Wax/Hot Banana peppers. At 8” long, they are quite a bit larger than older varieties. Large yields of medium
thick walled fruit matures from green to red. Great pickling pepper.
Jalapeno El Jefe Chili 75 Days 2,500-9,000 Plant produces heavy yields of 3 1/2" long fruit.
Jalapeno Fooled You Hybrid 85 Days Looks like a jalapeno, but has no heat. Perfect for salsa, pickling, stir-fry, and my Yankees relatives.
Jalapeno M Chili 73 Days 4,000 Sausage shaped, thick walls, eat green to red. When you buy jalapenos in the store, they are probably this variety.
(M probably means mild.)
Jalapeno Mucho Nacho Chili 68-70 Days 4,000-9,000 Larger and earlier than typical Jalapenos—heavy yields of hot pepper. Thick walls make for a dense, heavy fruit. Not a
good stuffing variety.
Jalapeno Purple Chili 75 Days 5,000-10,000 1” X 4”, thick walls, very hot…with a wild color! Starts out green, turns purple and then will turn red.
Jalapeno Sweet Chili 75 Days 1,000 Sweeter than others, less hot than others…Smaller fruit than most other jalapenos, ripe when red.
Jalapeno Tam Chili 70 Days 1,000 Developed at Texas A & M, these are tasty, mild and prolific. Sometimes referred to as “Gringo Peppers”…
Jamaican Scotch Bonnet Chili 75 Days 100,000-350,000 EAT AND HANDLE WITH CAUTION! Milder than a Habanero, but with more flavor, said to have a hint of apricot flavor.
This is what makes Jamaican chickens jerk. If you want to eat these completely ripe, wait ‘til you hit the 120 day mark.
Keystone Giant Bell 78 Days 5 inch blocky fruit with thick walls, eat fresh, stuffed or in cooking.
King of the North Bell 65 Days 4” X 6” Huge early, ripens from green to red. 3 lobes, eat fresh, stuffed or in cooking.
Lemon Drop Chili 75-100 Days 8,000-50,000 A Peruvian variety with 2-inch long, yellow fruit with a citrusy twist that combines well with the heat that is concentrated at
the tip. If you are heat challenged, cut off the tip of the fruit and remove the seeds and membranes. Cooking tones the heat
down.
Linebacker Bell 70 Days Thick walled and packed with deliciousness, these 4- to 5-inch bell peppers hold well on the plant, so you can let them get
even bigger and more nutritious as they turn from green to red. Linebacker is a compact pepper, heat-tolerant and very
heavy bearing. Expect big harvests of seriously juicy-sweet, crunchy bells.
Long Red Cayenne Chili 75 Days This 5 inch long, thin, curved and wrinkled pepper is where bottles of red pepper flakes are born. (Heirloom)
Mariachi Chili 65 Days 500-600 TMV {2006 AAS Winner} Perfect when you want a fruity flavor, a blast of color and just a hint of heat. Compact 24" plants yield
4” x 2”, cone-shaped fruits that change from creamy yellow to bright red and have a mildly, spicy flavor.
Medusa Ornamental 100 Days A heavy producer of long, narrow twisted red and yellow peppers. Safe for kids and pets as they are NOT HOT like other
ornamental varieties. 12 in. tall x 12 in. wide.
Orange Bell Bell 85 Days These are the orange bell peppers, you see at the store, and never buy, because you’re suspicious of them. Just stop it and
buy them! They ain’t gonna hurt you and they’re mighty tasty. If you cook with them, someonejust might think you’re
sophisticated.
Orange Blaze Bell 68 Days TMV, BLS {2011 AAS Winner} due to its early maturity, sweet flavor, and disease resistance. Fruit are 3” to 4” long and about 1 ½” wide
with 2-3 lobes. Monsanto helped to develop this gem…see, good can come out of the companies people love to hate…and
it is NOT a GMO. High resistance BLS (races 0-3, 7, 8) and TMV.
Orangesicle Bell 70 Days This sweet pepper is superior to all other salad types for bright orange color, thick-walled texture, and crisp flavor! The fruit
is smooth, glossy, and tapered, 4” to 6” long. A very compact plant with heavy load of fruit over a long season.
Orobelle Bell 76 Days Almost cube shaped green fruit that ripens to a beautiful yellow. Disease resistant and sets well in cooler temperatures.
Paprika (Pimento) Chili 65-90 Days 100-500 This 3” heart shaped pepper is ripe when red. A sweet pepper that ranks just above a bell pepper in heat, so if you like hot
peppers, you might not even notice that it has a Scoville rating. Once they are dried and ground, they are called Paprika!
Purple Beauty Bell 60-70 Days 3” to 4” X 2” with thick walls. You can eat these green, but they are sweetest when they turn purple.
Purple Cayenne Chili 73 Days 4,000 Deep purple, medium walls, 1 ½” X 7” long, medium hot.
Red Beauty Bell 70-80 Days A large bell pepper, reaching 4” x 4”. Eat them green or wait until they turn red and get very sweet.
Red Chili Chili 80 Days 1 ½” long, red fruit that are great for drying.
Serrano Chili 75 Days 5,000-23,000 Small jalapeno shaped hot peppers that you can eat green or red. If you want more heat, wait for red fruit. Serrano’s are not
good drying peppers because of their thick flesh, so they are always eaten fresh.
Serrano Del Sol Chili 55-75 Days 8,000-22,000 Claims to be the biggest and best yielding serrano. A heavy bearer of cylindrical fruits that are twice the size of regular
serrano’s 3”-3 ½” long. Matures from green to red but may be eaten at any stage.
Serrano Tampiqueno Chili 85 Days 8,000-22,000 Small, 1 in. long. Fruit matures from green to red and is very hot at all stages. Plants typically grow 2 ft. x 2 ft.
Shishito
(Wrinkled Old Man)		 Chili 71 Days 50-200 A Japanese heirloom variety with a sweet and mild flavor. These jewels are 2” X 3” green turning to red, glossy, crisp, thin
walls and are great for shish-kabob. Be warned, these peppers are “mild, until they are not” because random fruit are HOT
and there is no way to tell what you are going to get. (Heirloom)
Super Chili Chili 70 Days 40,000-50,000 Harvest when orange or wait until they are red, which is when they are at their hottest.
Sweet Banana Chili 72 Days {1941 AAS Bronze Medal winner} Do you like pickled peppers? This heirloom is great for pickling or eating fresh. 6 to 7
nch long fruit start out yellow and ripen to a brilliant red.
Sweet Cherry Cherry 75 Days Bite sized, heirloom peppers, perfect for pickling. Thin skin and thick walls
Sweet Heat Hybrid 50-60 Days 329 Sweet and hot, with 65% more vitamin C than average peppers. 10" tall plants bear 3.5" x 1.5" fruit. Less hotwhen red.
Tabasco Chili 75 Days 30,000-50,000 Large harvest of hot, 1” upright fruit. Start out light green through orange to red; use fresh or dried. Strong disease resistant
plants up to 4 ft. tall. YES! It’s what our favorite condiment is made from.
Thai Hot Giant Chili 70-80 Days 50,000-100,000 Fleshy fruit that is hottest when it turns red. 2”long x ½”wide.
Thai Orange Fogo Chili 85 Days 1,000-5,000 Authentic Thai pepper ripens bright orange with medium hot/sweet pungency. Perfect in stir-fry.
Thai Red Dragon Chili 85 Days 50,000-100,000 Fiery little fruit that all point up, like flames, with a nutty, incendiary flavor for the hottest Asian dishes. Use fresh or dried.
Thai Scorpion-Fi Chili 90 Days No Scoville listing, but Thai peppers are typically in the 50-100,000 Scoville range (Not to be confused with the newer
introduction Trinidad Scorpion (see below)) It originated in Thailand. Similar in shape to regular Thai peppers (long and
skinny), they are 5-7 in. long, very hot and mature to red. The bushy plants reach about 24 in. tall and havean umbrella
shape.
Thick Cayenne Chili 70-80 Days 30,000-50,000 This is a truly all-purpose hot pepper with walls twice as thick as other Cayenne varieties. Great fresh, cooked, pickled or
dried.
Trinidad Scorpion Chili 90 Days 1.2-1.4 Million EAT AND HANDLE AT YOUR OWN RISK! Go easy on this one, it tested even hotter than Ghost Peppers! The 2” fruit are
produced in abundance on big 3’ to 4’ plants. They resemble Ghost and Habanero peppers but are plumper and often have
a little "tail" which gives them the nickname Scorpion. Latex gloves are no defense when harvesting these dollops of lava.
The flavor (if your taste buds continue to work), is said to be a uniquely fruity/sweet/hot combination with a delayed
SEVERE, INTENSE, LONG LASTING heat…which, we will just have to accept as fact, since a trip to the emergency room,
for attempted suicide, just can’t be squeezed into our schedules. Fruit ripens from green to orange to red.
Yellow Bell Bell 70-80 Days 4” to 5” …uh…yellow bell peppers. There just isn’t much more to say than that.
Yolo Wonder Bell Bell 75 Days This heirloom variety is known for having uniform size and shaped fruit, with four lobes. This makes it great for stuffing
since the peppers will all stand up well in the pan. It starts out green, but is at its sweetest when red. The fruit is crisp, great
fresh and stands up to grilling. (Heirloom)

Heirloom - When seeds from heirloom varieties are planted they would produce the same plant year after year.

Please note “Days to Harvest” on peppers refers to the number of days after you set your transplants out, not from the time you sow the seeds. If you are planting seeds, check with the seed company to see how they measure “Days to Harvest”.

RESISTANCES LEGEND

TMV - TOBACCO MOSAIC VIRIUS

BLS - Bacterial Leaf Spot

Want to dry your peppers? Check out this site! Hot stuff to know about peppers!

HOT STUFF TO KNOW ABOUT PEPPERS!

  • Bell peppers are the only members of the pepper family

    that don’t produce capsaicin. The stuff that makes peppers hot. 

  • Peppers are a fruit.

  • Christopher Columbus named them, while searching for peppercorn.

  • China is the largest supplier of peppers in the world, followed by Mexico and Indonesia.

  • World wide, peppers are used as a vegetable and not just for spice or flavor.       

  • Peppers originated in Mexico.

  • Chili peppers are second to salt, in volumes produced worldwide. 

  • Keep elephants out of your garden with a spray made of chili peppers.

  • Full sun is non-negotiable.

  • Well drained soil is a must.

  • Peppers do will in pots, since most of the plants don’t get very large.

  • Peppers can be added to your sunny flower beds, no one will ever know!

  • Mulch them with a thick layer of pine needles, to help prevent disease. 

  • Use an all-purpose, organic fertilizer like Microlife or Medina Growin’ Green.

  • Always cut peppers off the plant, never pull them off. 

  • Peppers are a great source of fiber, Potassium, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A.

  • Letting bell peppers turn red provides Lycopene, more Beta Carotene, vitamins C & A than green peppers. 

  • Peppers are a nightshade and related to tomatoes and potatoes.