Hot Pepper 'NuMex Sandia'

Online description of Sandia are all over the place. I've seen fruit size from 4 to 8 inches, and anywhere from 500 to 30K scovilles. I g...Read Moreave it a try to fill an empty spot in my pepper bed.

Plant stayed smallish, around 16-18" with average production. Chiles were 5-7" long, curved or hooked, and lumpy. Thin flesh and lots of seeds. Seems more suited to drying and grinding than anything else. Mild heat, maybe a little hotter than a Big Jim.

I grew eight pepper varieties this year under identical conditions... Sandia was the only one to get blossom end rot, and about 2/3 of the crop too! Won't be growing this one again.

I'm also shocked, for different reasons than the other guy.

I'm shocked to be only the second positive review for this cul...Read Moretivar. This is Albuquerque's favorite chile pepper. We Albuquerqueans (among many others) are madly in love this pepper, and for good reason. One of the best ever, without a doubt.

"This one's too hot!" said Goldilocks, after she tasted Papa Bear's chile peppers.

"This one's too mild!" said Goldilocks, after she tasted Mama Bear's chile peppers.

"This one's juuuuuust right," said Goldilocks, after she tasted Baby Bear's chile peppers.

Then she ate the whole batch, and didn't leave any for Baby Bear.
(What a selfish little trollop that Goldilocks was.)

Baby Bear was growing Sandia, of course.

If you're not accustomed to even moderately potent chile heat, i.e. you start out with what's called "gringo tastes," you might find this one a tad or two too hot at first, but just use it in moderation, give yourself a little time to build up a bit of tolerance. (And always keep some milk, cheese, yogurt, some sort of milk product close at hand to neutralize the heat, when experimenting with unfamiliar hot peppers. Never know when you might hit a real scorcher.)

It almost ought to go without saying, while you're building up a tolerance to Sandia's solidly middle-of-the-road heat, you'll also be cultivating a permanent love for its rich, hearty, quintessential chile pepper flavor.

I was shocked at the success of this plant in my awful heavy clay, West Virginia soil. I got the seeds from "Seeds of Change" and grew th...Read Moreem on a dare. I had 100% germination. The plants were tall and lush and and kept producing with each picking (late July to first frost in October). Actually hotter than I expected. I roasted them on the grill each time and it reminded me of the years I lived in New Mexico. Plus the slugs left them alone! Definitely a winner I would recommend.

This NuMex type pepper is smaller and hotter than Big Jim and Joe E. Parker, delivering pungent 4 to 6 inch peppers. They turn bright sca...Read Morerlet when ripe. 75-80 days.