Tips for Growing Cayenne Peppers

Tips for Growing Cayenne Peppers Capsicum annuum ‘Cayenne’

Have you ever wondered where those flakes come from in those little packets that you use to top your pizza? Or that marvelous red powder that we use to flavor so many dishes?

Or how about what gives Crystal and Frank’s RedHot sauces their zing?

They all come from a group of chilis known as cayennes.

They’re not just for drying and sauces, though using them that way is extremely popular. Cayennes are also delicious eaten fresh. That is, if you like things hot.

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The citrusy, smoky, heat comes on fast and leaves just as quickly, which makes it more universally popular than those peppers with a lingering heat that builds and builds until you can’t take it anymore.

If you’re looking to add these long, lovely chilis to your garden, here’s what we’re going to discuss to make that happen:

Before we talk about soil, water, sun, and all that, we should clarify what exactly we’re talking about when we say “cayenne.”

“Cayenne” can be used as a catch-all term for a group of small red peppers in the Longum group.

It’s also a term for moderately spicy dried peppers or powder. Technically, there is a ‘Cayenne’ cultivar that is considered the standard, but most people refer to “cayenne” as a style.

Any pepper that is red, two to four inches long, narrow, slightly curved, and moderately spicy might be called cayenne, and there are dozens of cultivars. Thai peppers are considered cayennes, for example.

Cayennes are generally about five to 10 times hotter than a jalapeno at 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). But there are some cultivars that are