RHS Journals
The Garden
April 2007
Turn up the heat
Enjoyed in Central and South America for thousands of years, the bewildering range of chillies available today reflects their importance to cuisines worldwide
Images: Tim Sandall
Recommended cultivars
AGM cultivars - all are selections of Capsicum annuum unless stated otherwise
1 ‘Thai Dragon’
2 ‘Apache’
3 ‘Fresno’
4 ‘Lemon Drop’ (C. baccatum)
5 ‘Fuego’
6 ‘Firecracker Piquin’
7 ‘Holiday Marble’
8 ‘Navaho’
9 ‘Habañero’ (C. chinense)
10 ‘Filus Blue’
11 ‘Antillais Caribbean’ (C. chinense)
12 ‘Pasilla Bajio’
13 ‘Pinocchio’s Nose’
14 ‘Fiësta’
15 ‘Chocolate Habañero’ (C. chinense)
16 ‘Summer Heat’
17 ‘Tricolor Variegatum’
18 ‘Demon Red’ (C. frutescens)
In 2006, the RHS held a chilli trial to recommend the best cultivars for the Award of Garden Merit (AGM).
Entries: 51 cultivars were supplied by British, Dutch and American seed companies.
Trial site: Unheated polytunnel at RHS Garden Wisley.
Sowing dates: Capsicum annuum cultivars (the bulk of those trialled) were sown 24 February; those from other species, which tend to mature later, were sown earlier (30 January).
Selection criteria: quality; ease of cultivation; earliness; size of plant; and culinary usefulness.
2 ‘Apache’: decorative bushy plant that does well both in small and large pots. Heavy crops of hot fruit.
11 ‘Antillais Caribbean’ (C. chinense): small, blocky fruits are extremely hot. Late cropping; sow a month earlier than C. annuum.
18 ‘Demon Red’ (C. frutescens): small, ornamental plants that produce an abundant crop of hot, elongated fruit, ideal for Thai cooking.
‘Etna’: shiny, extra-hot fruits, produced in erect bunches on compact plants; well suited to pots.
14 ‘Fiësta’: conical, ornamental, medium-hot fruit produced on compact plants; well-suited to pots.
10 Filus Blue’: highly decorative, mildly hot fruit are produced on plants with purple-tinged leaves. P
6 ‘Firecracker Piquin’: small but extremely hot fruit in a range of colours on attractive plants.
3 ‘Fresno’: extra-hot, conical fruit with medium-thick flesh. Abundantly produced on upright plants.
5 ‘Fuego’: large, early crop of medium-hot fruit, from plants with an open growth habit.
9 ‘Habañero’ (C. chinense): extremely hot, blocky fruits grow on productive, compact plants; good in pots. Late cropping: sow three or four weeks earlier than C. annuum cultivars.
‘Hungarian Hot Wax’ (right): easy and versatile, medium-hot, conical fruit are a spicy alternative to sweet peppers.
8 ‘Navaho’: sturdy plants with stiff stems producing large, semi-hot fruit with thick flesh. Perfect for stuffing.
‘Prairie Fire’: short, spreading plants covered in a mass of tiny but hot and colourful chillies. Creating an attractive display, plants are ideal in pots and superb on a windowsill.
16 ‘Summer Heat’: early, hot, jalapeño-type chilli. Torpedo-shaped fruit, prone to growing cork-like striations on their surface, a trait supposedly favoured by Mexican cooks.
Super Chilli: high yields of extra-hot fruit from ornamental plants good in pots (agm subject to confirmation of the cultivar name).
1 ‘Thai Dragon’: prolific producer of extremely hot fruit. Rampant plants that may need tying-in but respond well to stopping.
17 ‘Tricolor Variegatum’: highly colourful, hot fruit, produced on plants with purple leaves splashed with cream and green. Spreading habit.
Worth trying:
Although not quite up to AGM standard, the following cultivars also performed well:
4 ‘Lemon Drop’ (C. baccatum): extra hot, yellow fruit with a distinct citrus flavour.
12 ‘Pasilla Bajio’: mild- to medium-hot, long fruit much used in Mexico.
15 ‘Chocolate Habañero’ (C. chinense): brown-skinned version of blocky ‘Habanero’, if anything even hotter.
7 ‘Holiday Marble’: compact plants, medium-hot, tiny round fruit.
13 ‘Pinocchio’s Nose’ (also sold as Joe’s Long Cayenne): slender, hot red fruit up to 25cm (10in) long.
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