Mexican Sunrise F1 Hot Pepper Seeds

Days to Maturity: 80 to 85 direct sow; 60 to 65 transplant

All-America Selections (AAS) Winner 2018

A Hungarian hot pepper, Mexican Sunrise F1 is a fruit vegetable. As ornamental as it is productive, the plant creates a beautiful display of peppers in a spectrum of colors from lime green to yellow then orange and red as the fruits mature. The plant sets small, star-shaped "perfect" flowers, followed by attractive 6- to 7-inch, conical, pendant-shaped peppers, weighing up to 2 ounces. These chilies are thick-walled and semi-hot, having a sweet, savory flavor. They can be eaten at any stage, and they can be pickled. Hot peppers are a good source of vitamin C.

An herbaceous, frost-tender, short-lived evergreen perennial, typically grown as an annual, Mexican Sunrise Hot Pepper is a member of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). It grows rapidly, forming a compact, well-branched, bushy plant that produces 40+ fruits over the season.

Hot pepper is easy to grow from seed, growing best in locations with full sun and fertile, organically rich, moist, well-draining soil, but it is adaptable to a wide range of soils. The plant is a low maintenance but pinching back young plants encourages bushiness. Mexican Sunrise F1 Hot Pepper like all capsicums, is deer resistant and heat and drought tolerant, but it is also remarkably tolerant of cool conditions and resistant to Tobacco Mosaic Virus TMV.

A warm-season vegetable, sensitive to cold temperatures and frost, hot pepper seeds can be direct sown into warm spring soil after all threat of frost has passed. For an earlier harvest, seeds can be started indoors 6 to 8 weeks before transplanting. Flowers begin to set fruit with night temperatures between 55° and 75°F. Protect plants with row covers if temperatures are expected to dip below 50°F. Mulching helps to moderate soil temperature as well as to maintain soil moisture and control weeds.

If you plan to start your seeds indoors, be sure to check out our Bio Dome Seed Starter Kit. With the Bio Dome, you can control the temperature, light, and soil mix to ensure your seeds become strong for transplant.