The pepper encyclopaedia has an overview of all the chilli peppers I grow, or have tried to grow, in my garden. I review each pepper, based on my experience with it, and mention the conditions under which I grew it. The list is in alphabetical order of variety name. For all other plants, see the Plant encyclopaedia.
The Scoville scale is used to measure how spicy peppers are, based on the concentration of capsaicinoids per dry weight. I only grow peppers up to around 500,000 Scoville units, as there is some evidence that the super hot peppers can have negative effects on cardiovascular health – and in any case, my heat tolerance isn’t such that I enjoy anything above 500,000 Scoville units! Here is a table with the pepper varieties I have grown categorized by Scoville category:
| Scoville units | Pepper varieties |
| 100,000 – 500,000 | Scotch Bonnet Orange |
| 50,000 – 100,000 | Aurora (decorative), Bird pepper |
| 25,000 – 50,000 | Cayenne Golden, Cayenne Long Slim, Rooster spur |
| 10,000 – 25,000 | Chile de arbol, Takanotsume |
| 2,500 – 10,000 | Espelette, Hungarian Hot Wax, Jalapeño |
| 0 – 2,500 | Anaheim, Golden Greek Pepperoncini, Shishito |
| Mild peppers | Carliston mild, Himotogarashi |
Anaheim
Capsicum annuum ‘Anaheim’. Scoville units: 500 – 2500. Chili from New Mexico/California.
Aurora
Capsicum annuum ‘Aurora’. Scoville units: 50,000 – 100,000. Decorative pepper, though edible.
Bird pepper
Capsicum frutescens. Unknown cultivar from Thailand. Scoville units: 50,000 – 100,000.
Carliston mild
Capsicum annuum ‘Carliston mild’. Mild pepper (no Scoville scale). Used in Eastern Mediterranean cuisine. All four peppers in the picture are Carliston milds. They are normally harvested when completely green (third from the left) but retain their flavour and have just the slightest hint of spiciness when red. Good sauteéd and incorporated in tomato sauce. An easy plant that takes a bit of time to produce, but once it gets going easily produces large, sturdy peppers.
Cayenne Golden
Capsicum annuum ‘Cayenne Golden’. Scoville units: 30,000 – 50,000. Cayenne peppers were spread across the world by Portuguese traders and are used in many different cuisines.
Growing for the first time in 2024. Growing specifically to compliment the red Cayenne Long Slim.
Cayenne Long Slim
Capsicum annuum ‘Cayenne Long Slim’. Scoville units: 30,000 – 50,000. Cayenne peppers were spread across the world by Portuguese traders and are used in many different cuisines.
Excellent cayenne, fruiting readily and abundantly. Due to shape and thin flesh, easy to dry with a lovely deep, slightly sweet flavour. Recommended.
Chile de arbol
Capsicum annuum ‘Chile de arbol’. Scoville units: approx. 15,000-30,000. Originally from Mexico. Slightly less hot than cayennes and supposedly excellent for drying.
Espelette
Capsicum annuum ‘Espelette’. Scoville units: approx. 4,000. Originally from Mexico. Used in Basque cuisine.
No peppers survived in 2021 growing season; no harvest.
Golden Greek Pepperoncini
Capsicum annuum ‘Golden Greek Pepperoncini’. Scoville units: 1 – 1,000. Most are mild, with an occasional random pepper being spicy. Used in Greek cuisine. Often served as a shared platter, which can turn into ‘pepper roulette’ as you never know whether the pepper you are about to eat will be mild or spicy. An easy, productive plant.
Himotogarashi
Capsicum annuum ‘Himotogarashi’. Scoville units: 0. A traditional Japanese pepper from the Nara prefecture, known as a traditional product of the old Yamato province (‘Yamato yasai’, yasai meaning ‘vegetable’).
Growing for the first time in 2024.
Hungarian Hot Wax
Capsicum annuum ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’. Scoville units: 5,000 – 10,000. A good pepper for milder climates.
Growing for the first time in 2024.
Jalapeño
Capsicum annuum ‘Jalapeño’. Scoville units: 2,500 – 8,000. A basis of Mexican cuisine, when smoked these peppers are known as chipotle.
Growing for the first time in 2024.
Rooster spur
Capsicum annuum ‘Rooster spur’. Scoville units: 30,000 – 50,000. Chili from Mississippi.
Scotch Bonnet Orange
Capsicum chinense ‘Scotch Bonnet Orange’. Scoville units: 150,000 – 325,000. Used in Carribean, particularly Jamaican, cuisine.
Sowed 14 seeds on 22/02 in potting soil for seedlings, without soaking seeds. 79% germination rate achieved by day 15. Four plants survived to maturity. Flowers appeared to have more difficulty fertilizing than the Capsicum annuum varieties. While these plants produced a grand total of 2 peppers in the first year, they did extremely well after having been overwintered. The two plants that were overwintered produced over 40 pods together in their second years.
Shishito
Capsicum annuum ‘Shishito’. Scoville units: 0-200. Used in Japanese cuisine, can be an ingredient in tempura. Most are mild but occasionally one will be spicier. Most similar European pepper is the pepperoncini.
Growing for the first time in 2024.
Takanotsume
Capsicum annuum ‘Takanotsume’. Scoville units: 30,000-50,000. Used in Japanese cuisine, particularly as an ingredient of shichimi spice mix.
Growing for the first time in 2024.
Peppers & Poppies 