Matchbox Pepper | Capsicum annuum | Certified Organic
Tiny, spicy peppers are beautiful on the bush and dried.
Just like its namesake, this little pepper can light a big fire in your mouth. Small fruits in dark greens, light greens, yellow greens, and reds completely cover the sprawling, low-growing, bushy plants, which have attractive, deep green, semi-glossy leaves. It only takes one match to light a fire, and just one of these little peppers will lend a fruity and flavorful heat to any dish. Like it hot? Two will crackle, three will smoke, and four will blaze!
This compact and decorative plant is a terrific option for container gardens. The plants are unbelievably pretty; their dozens of bright red fruit look outstanding against the profusion of tiny, slightly waxy leaves. Its thicker skin means that Matchbox does not dry as easily as Cayenne, but it will do fine in a dehydrator. A couple plants will keep you in chilies all season or all year.
Sow indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost, then transplant 3 weeks after last frost. Requires heat for germination, which can take 10-14 days. Transplant once weather has settled, usually 2 weeks after tomatoes have been transplanted (peppers will tolerate earlier transplanting but won't grow much).
Days to Germination 7-14 days
Days to Maturity 75 days from transplant
Planting Depth ¼"
Spacing in Row 18"
Spacing Between Rows 36"
Height at Maturity 30"
Sun Preference Full Sun
Artwork by Ryan Cronin. Matchbox pepper needed art to match its hot flavor. Ryan's Rust-O-Leum painting uses clashing colors and bold taste to communicate the experience of cooking with this hot pepper, which was bred in the Northeast by Roberta Bailey.
About Hudson Valley Seed Company
They are a values-driven seed company that practices and celebrates responsible seed production and stewardship. Hudson Valley are best known for their beautiful artist-design seed packs (Art Packs) that appeal to gardeners, gift buyers, and lovers of art and nature.
These Art Packs, most fundamentally, tell stories. Hudson Valley challenges artists to convey in a manner that is fully their own, the history and meaning of the seed variety contained in each pack. These stories were once integral to traditional societies-stories of seeds were often origin stories for entire communities and peoples, and the lore and beliefs that accumulated around seed varieties reflected the nearly familial way in which gardeners and farmers regarded their crops. Our society is, by and large, no longer connected to plants this way. But we like to think these Art Packs help to stitch our fragmented world back together: useful seeds, evocative art, both equally valuable to our experience of being human.