Pepper Hot, Anaheim

80 days. This legendary extra large and mild chili pepper of Anaheim, California, is a staple of Southwestern cuisine. It is a perfect roasting or frying pepper, but it also great stuffed, added to tamales, or chopped into salsa. A mild- to medium-heat chili, it ranks about 500-2,500 SHU on the Scoville scale. The Anaheim pepper is a descendant of a landrace of New Mexican chilies originally grown by Pueblo and Hispano communities. In the late 1800s, a California rancher named Emilio Ortega encountered the New Mexico chili and fell in love with it. He returned home with seeds and selected and adapted for a more mild pepper, thus creating the Anaheim. Ortega found this pepper so beloved by friends and neighbors that he began canning it at his mother’s adobe home to sell. This became the first commercial food operation in California’s history. The Ortega family developed a range of Southwestern food products, and the brand became a major household name.

• 8-12 hours of Sun
• Sprouts in 7-10 Days
• Ideal Temperature: 70-95 Degrees F
• Seed Depth: 1/4"
• Plant Spacing: 14-18"
• Frost Hardy: No
• Capsicum annuum

Growing Tips: Start indoors in bright light 8-12 weeks before last frost date. Heat mat helps to warm soil and speed germination. Peppers often appreciate a bit of afternoon shade during the hottest summer weather.