Ho Chi Minh Hot Pepper

Shiny 4–5" long cayenne peppers turn from green to bright yellow to orange-yellow. Vietnamese boat people shared these seeds with Minnesota farmer Steven Schwen in the 1980s, and he sent some to FedCo Seeds. Schwen named it Ho Chi Minh in honor of the Vietnamese revolutionary who led the Việt Minh, a national independence coalition that fought for Vietnamese freedom from French, and later US, and Japanese imperialism and colonialism. This pepper has a serious bite and is super prolific. 30,000 Scovilles.

Days to maturity: 68

Seeds per pack: 25

Planting / harvesting notes

Start seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before the last frost and transplant into garden well after the danger of frost. Keep seedlings moist but do not overwater. Transplants should be initially watered in well, and plants will be most productive with regular irrigation and full sun.

Seed keeping notes

Peppers are generally self-pollinating, though we isolate different varieties of the same species by at least 50 feet, in hopes that flying insects will not cross pollinate them unexpectedly. There are several important species of peppers, so check your scientific names! Pepper seeds are ripe when the fruits have turned their final fiery color - in this case, sunset-orange. Cut the fruit, scrape out seeds, and lay them out to dry on a labeled screen or paper product in a ventilated place away from direct sunlight for a week or two. Consider wearing gloves for your protection! Drying the peppers before seed extraction can slightly lower your germination rates, but works fine for home seed saving as long as the peppers do not rot.

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