Developed by USDA Vegetable Lab, Charleston, SC. Ideal for home gardeners who want a high yielding compact plant (18″-24″). Pepper starts out yellow-green, changes to golden yellow, bright orange, and then to a deep red at maturity. Mature pods are about 5-6″ long and very hot (100,000 Scoville heat units). Matures in 65 – 75 days and has resistance to many types of rootknot nematodes. NOTE: Normal foliage color is a yellow green. Please do not mistake this for a nitrogen deficiency.
Heat or pungency of peppers are rated in Scoville Heat Units (SHU- 0 to 300,000). Hot growing conditions, full sun and adequate but not excessive moisture generally promote pungency. Too much water, nitrogen or low temperatures will drain the taste. Fruits ripening at 85º- 95º have more pungency than those maturing at 65º – 70º. The pungency increases tenfold when the fruits are dehydrated.