Red Hot Cherry Chilli - Seeds

Red Hot Cherry Chilli - Seeds

$5.80
$5.80
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Red Hot Cherry Chilli - Seeds
  • Red Hot Cherry Chilli - Seeds
Red Hot Cherry Chilli - Seeds

Red Hot Cherry Chilli - Seeds

$5.80
$5.80

Minimum 30 seeds per packet.

Postage included. Bundle to save. Raised from heirloom seed at Turtledove Farm.

Can't be posted to Western Australia.

Capsicum annuum


A round, cherry-shaped chilli about 3–4cm across. The fruit ripens from glossy green to deep ruby red on a sturdy, compact bush. The walls are thick and juicy, which is what makes it the classic pickling chilli: it stays firm and crunchy in the jar. The round shape is easy to hollow out and stuff with cheese, tuna or prosciutto. Heat is gentle to medium with real sweetness behind it, hot enough to notice but mild enough to eat whole. Plants crop heavily, and a bush full of red fruit looks like a small cherry tree. Compact bush — a single stake helps under a heavy crop. SHU 3,000–5,000 (mild–medium)

Days to harvest75–80 days from transplant
Fruit sizeRound, 3–4cm across
Sowing depth5mm
Germination7–14 days at soil temperature 25–30°C
Spacing45–60cm apart
AspectFull sun; well-drained soil rich in organic matter
Frost toleranceFrost-tender. Plant out only once frosts have finished.
LifecycleTender perennial, usually grown as an annual. It can be kept over winter under cover in a frost-free spot.
Container suitableYes

Growing notes

A hot, sunny, sheltered position suits it best. Thick-walled chillies need a long warm run to colour up fully and sweeten.

Soil preparation: Dig in well-rotted compost before planting, with a balanced feed. Too much nitrogen gives you leaves at the expense of fruit.

Support: A single stake at planting time keeps the bush upright once it's loaded with heavy, thick-walled fruit.

Containers: Grows well in a pot of 20L or more. Keep water and feed steady, since pots dry out faster than beds.

Watering & feeding: Water deeply and consistently at the base. Uneven watering can cause blossom-end rot in thick-walled fruit. Side-dress with a potassium-rich feed once flowering starts.

Harvest: Pick green for a firmer, sharper pickle, or leave the fruit to ripen fully red for the sweetest flavour and best colour. Cut with a short stem attached rather than pulling. Picking regularly keeps the plant setting new fruit.

Timing: First fruit ready around 75–80 days from transplant.

Short season tips


Sow indoors on bottom heat 8–10 weeks before your last frost. In Coonabarabran and similar inland zones, plant out from late October once nights stay above 12–15°C. If autumn frost threatens before the crop has coloured, pick the full-sized green fruit and pickle it green. Green cherry chillies make an excellent pickle in their own right.

Origin


Chillies are native to the Americas, and cherry-fruited types turn up in American and European garden records from at least the nineteenth century. The round shape and thick walls made them the favourite chilli for the preserving jar. Italian-American families in particular made the pickled and stuffed hot cherry pepper a kitchen staple, and it's still sold that way in delicatessens today. It has stayed in cultivation because nothing else fills a pickling jar quite as well.

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