Chili Pepper Seeds: From Mild Anaheim to 2.2 Million SHU Reaper

Two plants, one plan: a jalapeño for the salsa bowl and something silly hot for the shelf. Both go in a pot, both want warmth, and both take longer than you expect. Here's the heat ladder first, then how to get from seed to harvest.

From a 500 SHU Anaheim to a 2.2 Million SHU Reaper

Scoville numbers are the quickest way to choose. This is how the varieties on this shelf line up:

• Anaheim: from 500 SHU, plenty of flavour, barely any burn
• Biquinho: 500 to 1,000 SHU
• Jalapeño M: 5,000 to 15,000 SHU
• Serrano and Cayenne Long Slim: 30,000 to 50,000 SHU
• Habanero Orange: around 100,000 SHU, climbing to 350,000
• Dorset Naga Black: 800,000 SHU
• Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper): over 1 million SHU
• Carolina Reaper: 2.2 million SHU

Pick the Pepper You'll Actually Cook With

Heat is only half the decision. Hungarian Yellow Hot Wax (Capsicum annuum) is the one we hand to first-timers, since it shrugs off a cool summer and hands you a pile of moderately hot pods for the barbecue. Jalapeño M keeps pushing out new blossoms all season, so you get a rolling supply instead of one glut. Biquinho pods are small and crunchy, tangy with a sweet little beak on the end, more snack than sauce. Can't decide? The Spicy Variety Pack walks you up from Anaheim through Jalapeño, Serrano and Habanero Orange to Carolina Reaper. Watch out with the curated packs, though: one pack per variety means one shot at each, so if you know you want six Serrano plants, buy the single variety instead.

Warm Soil, Cling Film, and a Long Wait

Skip the propagator and sow straight into the final pot, which saves you a transplant later. Poke a hole about 1cm deep, drop the seed in, cover lightly and water. Stretch cling film over the pot and punch a few holes in it for air exchange. Keep the soil moist, never soggy. Soil at 25 to 28°C gives the highest germination rate. Then wait: germination runs from a few days to over three weeks, and the hotter varieties are usually slowest, so a quiet pot after ten days is not a dead pot. Pot size sets the pace, with a bigger pot meaning a longer cycle and a bigger harvest. Once the seedling shows, pull the film off, give it as much light as you can, water it like a house plant and feed with a tomato feed. A little extra calcium through a foliar spray keeps blossom-end rot off your fruit.

Gloves On for Picking, Drying, and Storing

Dates are a guide, colour is the truth. Cayenne Long Slim needs around 85 days and gives 12cm pods on a plant about 75cm tall. Anaheim takes roughly 95 days and finishes at 15 to 25cm. Serrano wants about 100 days and picks at 7 to 10cm, dark green just shifting into red. Use the pull test: ripe pods come away with almost no force, stubborn ones need a few more days. Wear gloves when you handle pods and seeds, and keep your fingers away from your eyes. Fresh pods hold a week or two in the fridge, thin-walled types like cayenne dry well on a string, and thicker pods freeze whole for winter chilli.

What Lands in the Envelope, and What to Do With It

Seed amounts go by weight, so the count per pack is approximate. Put the packet somewhere cool and dry the day it arrives and it'll still be good next spring, which means you can sow half now and keep half back. Everything goes out in plain, discreet packaging. First season? Sow Hungarian Yellow Hot Wax and Jalapeño M side by side and leave the Reaper for year two, once you know how long your windowsill can keep a plant happy.