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Chile Chiltepin (Chile Tepin)
Capsicum annuum
The chiltepin is a small but powerful wild pepper, often called the mother of all chiles. Native to the Sonoran region and parts of Mexico and the Southwest, this pepper grows naturally on bushes covered in tiny green fruits that ripen to bright red. High heat! Use for salsas (especially molcajete salsas) with tomatoes and garlic.
Sometimes also called Chile Piquin or Chile Pequin in Monteray, which is a very similar pepper with slight regional differences.
Days to maturity: 90-100
Seeds per pack: 25
Germination rate: 89% on 3/21/2025
Planting / harvesting notes
Start seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before the last frost and transplant into the 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 100 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, red. Cut the fruit (consider wearing gloves), 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. 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.
