Hot Pepper Varieties - What's the Difference??

Hot pepper varieties span the spectrum of sizes, colors, shapes and heat levels. Here is a partial list of common varieties of hot peppers that can easily be grown by the backyard gardener. The list includes fruit descriptions and heat levels. Please note - days to harvest are counted when the seedling is transplanted.

• Anaheim Mild-4"-6" long, green to red, mild - 1,000 Scoville units, ready in 80 days


• Long Red Cayenne-5" long, slender, green to red, very hot - 40,000 Scoville units, ready in 75 days


• Thai Hot-1" long, green to red, extremely hot - 80,000 Scoville units, ready in 65 days


• Habanero-2" round, green to orange, unbelievably hot - 300,000 Scoville units, ready in 95 days


• Jalapeno-3"-4"long, green to red, hot - 6,000 Scoville units, ready in 75 days
• Hungarian Wax-7" long, yellow to red, mildly hot - 7,500 Scoville units, ready in 70 days

• Serrano Chili-2" long, green to red, hot - 15,000 Scoville units, ready in 75 days


• Hot Banana-6" long, yellow to orange to red, mild - 1,000 Scoville units, ready in 75 days


• Hot Red Cherry-1" round, green to red, hot - 5,500 Scoville units, ready in 80 days


• Pablano-4" by 2", green to red, mild - 1,500 Scoville units, ready in 65 days


• Tabasco-1.5" long, green to red, fairly hot pepper variety - 40,000 Scoville units, ready in 80 days

• Ghost Chili - 3 inches long and 1 inch wide, orange to red, similar to the habanero, but much hotter with a tougher skin, one of the hottest peppers - 1,000,000 Scoville units, difficult to grow, can take up 90 days to mature after transplanting

Hot Mariachi - 4" long and cone shaped, yellow to orange to red, mild - 200 Scoville units, ready in 65 days

Cowhorn - a large version of the Cayenne pepper, 12" long and curled at the end, red to green, hot - 50,000 Scoville units, ready in 75 days

Pasilla Bajio - this hot pepper variety turns from dark green to chocolate colored, 7" peppers are curved like fingers, good for mole and other sauces, mild - 750 Scoville units, ready in 85 days

Kung Pao - 4" curved and slender peppers, green to red, used in Asian dishes, hot - 10,000 Scoville units, ready in 85 days

Pepperoncini - 5"-6" long, light green to light yellow, good for pickling, ready in 85 days, mild - 250 Scoville units

Santa Fe Grande - 2" cone shaped peppers, yellow to orange to red, mild - 1,000 Scoville units, ready in 80 days

Caribbean Red - 1" egg shape, green to deep red, extremely hot - 400,000 Scoville units, ready in 90 days

Carolina Reaper - 1" across and wrinkled, green to red, features a pointed tail, deemed hottest pepper in the world in 2013, some have measured more than 2.2 million Scoville units, ready in 90 days

Obviously this is just a small list. There are literally hundreds of varieties of peppers available to the backyard gardener. These varieties can be found in online stores, seed catalogs, garden shops, etc... If you are interested in other varieties of peppers, consult the seed packets for further fruit information.

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