Varieties I've grown

Capsicum annuum

Most widely cultivated pepper species.

Annum plants often have white flowers with no spots, and huge variety of fruit morphologies. Think bell peppers, jalapeños, cayennes, etc.

• Santaka
  medium-hot2025, 2026

  Stupid productive in my climate and took up very little space. Great compact plants for a balcony. Tasted great in stir fry dishes and made for incredible flakes when dried. Honestly have no clue how I have no images of this one. Probably ate them all too quick.

• Black Pearl
  medium-hot unripe, hot when ripe2025
  

  Extremely beautiful plant with nice dark purple leaves and gorgeous fruit that ripens from dark purple to bright red. Lowkey did not taste fantastic. Couldn't really find a great use for them as they dried poorly and they didnt cook super well into foods. Also, since the fruits are pretty small if you don't cut them up well enough you will get huge heat blasts in your meal.

• Gold Nugget
  idk yet!2026
  

  Stil growing, no notes.

• Thunder Mountain Longhorn
  idk yet!2026
  

  Stil growing, no notes.

• Hungarian Hot Wax
  idk yet!2026
  

  Stil growing, no notes.

Capsicum chinense

The often scary, habanero type peppers.

Many of the peppers we think of as scary wrinkly ugly ones are in this species. Scorpions, reapers, bonnets, etc etc. Often these peppers have a fruity flavor to them which creates some of the more interesting flavors that peppers can produce.

• Aji Charapita
  very hot2025
  

  Tiny beautiful little orange fruits that will beat the fuck out of you if you aren't careful. I don't care how tiny these things are, they were the hottest peppers I grew in 2025. Picking them and processing them can be quite labor-intensive but it is worth it. They make for fantastic dried flakes, and cook very well into most foods. If you are cooking with them be careful though, not cutting them up properly will result in heat shotgun blasts to your mouth. This plant also is quite space consuming as it tends to grow outwards.

• Scotch Bonnet
  hot2025
  

  The national pepper of Jamaica. Incredible plant that produces a fruit which is crucial to many recipes such as Jamaican jerk. It has a near citrusy flavor to it which is so delicious and cooks so well into many different foods. These are such a delicious fruit and aren't commonly found in grocery stores in the US, that I think everyone should try growing it. Scotch Bonnet plants do take quite a while to produce fruit but if you have the patience, they are well worth it.

Capsicum baccatum

The Aji peppers

Typically branching plants with fruity, often citrusy pods—Aji amarillo, Aji lemons, Aji Pineapple. White spotted flowers make this species fairly distinguishable from the others.

No varieties listed yet for this species.

Capsicum frutescens

The poorly defined ones.

This species is particularly hard to distringuish from the others. Many grow in a shrub like fashion (frustescems - shrubs). The Tobasco pepper is carrying this species' popularity in the US.

No varieties listed yet for this species.

Capsicum pubescens

The 'Hairy' ones

The leaves of this species grow hairy, and the seeds are black. This species developed at high altitudes in the Andes mountains and is more cold tolerant than the others.

No varieties listed yet for this species.