Biggest Pepper in the WorldWant to grow the worlds largest pepper? Look no further than the Big Jim Chile, which holds the crown in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the biggest pepper in the world! Often exceeding 14 inches in length, this giant chile is sure to please with it's delicious smokey & buttery flavor after roasting. These extra-large peppers are also super fast growing, so you can start harvesting giant chile pods starting at just 78 days after starting seeds! We love using roasted Bi...
How to germinate pepper seeds fastLearn how to germinate pepper seeds fast! If you want to learn how to make peppers grow faster – it's good to start them indoors early, and keep them nice and warm between 80-90˚ F to sprout quickly. It's also wise to transplant them into larger containers if you have the room to let them grow deep root systems before transplanting into the garden (after all chance of frost has passed.) Most peppers also like the temperatures to be above 60˚ F – even at night, so hold off on planting...
Hatch Chile & Basil Pesto RecipeSpicy Hatch Chile & Basil Pesto Recipe: Roasted Hatch Chile (peeled, deseeded)Basil (you could also use Cilantro)1-2 Tablespoons of Olive OilLots of Garlic ClovesWalnutsSalt & Pepper to tasteSqueeze of lemon or limeBlend all ingredients together in a food processor. We use whatever we have on hand, you can make a big batch or a small batch, and vary up the ingredient proportions - every batch is unique to what we have to work with. You can also substitute out the walnuts for pine nuts...
How long to let pepper seeds go before giving up on them?Recent customer question: How long to let pepper seeds go without sprouting before giving up on them and trying more?Pepper seeds are slow to germinate, so we recommend waiting at least a month before giving up on them! Some super hot pepper seeds take 21+ days to sprout, so be patient and wait. Heat Helps!It IS important to keep pepper seeds warm for fastest and most successful germination, we like to use a heat mat to keep the pepper seeds at 80-90˚ F. If they are not kept warm, many super ...
Hatch Chile Guacamole RecipeHatch Chile Guacamole Recipe 2-3 Avocados 1/2 Cup Roasted Hatch Chile, diced1/2 Lime, juiced Cilantro (to taste), chopped (optional*) 2 Cloves of Garlic, minced1/4 cup Tomatoes, Chopped1 fresh Jalapeno, diced (optional for heat and crunch)Salt & Pepper Mash avocado, add lime juice, cilantro, Hatch chile, jalapeno, garlic, salt and pepper, mix lightly. Serve with chips, on tacos, burritos, sandwiches, tostadas... you name it! *Cilantro is optional for those of you who detest it. We ...
Soil for PeppersBest Soil for Peppers: Best Soil for Starting Pepper Seeds When starting pepper seeds indoors, it's important to use a good quality seed/seedling starting mix such as Coast of Maine's which performs very well with all pepper seeds. Be sure to use seedling mix rather than garden soil or top soil as seedling/seed mixes are created to be well-draining. We do not recommend using those small Jiffy Pots or peat for starting pepper seeds, as they just don't seem to like to germinate ve...
Short Season Heirloom TomatoesLooking to grow Short Season Heirloom Tomatoes this season? If you are looking to grow early tomato varieties, you've come to the right place. If you are in a short season climate, or, if you just want to enjoy juicy homegrown heirloom tomatoes from your garden, any of these varieties would be a great pick! Best Short Season Tomatoes: Heirloom Pineapple Tomato These plants will fruit fairly early, and also ripen quickly. In mid-summer, they seemed to stop blooming, then they put on ano...
Winter Sowing PeppersWinter Sowing Peppers Note: Peppers are very sensitive to frost. Winter Sowing outdoors is not generally the best way to start peppers if you live in a short-season climate and want to get a jump on the growing season – we recommend starting your peppers indoors about 8-10 weeks before the last chance of frost in a warm place for best success. Here's more of our top tips for growing peppers from seeds » That said, you can use Winter Sowing with Pepper Seeds, but it is important to wait u...
Best Habanero SeedsDo you love habaneros? If you haven't tried them, and you like hot peppers, you should grow habaneros!We think habaneros are one of the tastiest of all peppers – they have a great fruity flavor, aroma and lots of heat! Habaneros make some of the most flavorful hot sauces, and they are awesome in salsas. Easy to grow, Habanero seeds can be started indoors to get the plants growing strong before transplanting outside once the weather warms up and all chance of frost has passed. We have s...
Grow the Yellow Carolina Reaper!Yellow Carolina Reaper SeedsCustomer testimonials: We have grown Yellow Carolina Reaper alongside the traditional Red Carolina Reaper for a few years now and it is a customer favorite. The germination is always near perfect and it produces beautiful peppers on nice strong plants! I grew 3 Yellow Carolina Reaper plants from seed. I ordered from Sandia Seed Co. and they grew to be very large, robust plants and were absolutely loaded with peppers. These peppers are insanely hot, but have wond...
Habanero Pepper SeedsThe flavor of Habaneros are unlike any other hot pepper – they seem to be oozing with addictive flavor. We have recently been getting into Habanero-based hot sauces as the flavor is just so delicious, you can't stop drizzling on more. It's hard to describe, but most say they taste very spicy with fruity and sweet flavor. This mouth-watering hot pepper pairs nicely with carrots and fruits in hot sauces. We're going to save room for a Habanero Patch in our garden this year, and gro...
Tabasco Pepper PlantThe Tabasco pepper plant is a gorgeous and super tasty addition to any vegetable garden! Tabasco pepper plants are easy to grow from Tabasco Pepper seeds! What do Tabasco Pepper Plants look like?Tabasco Pepper Plants are 2’- 4’ tall and loaded with slender 1-1/2” pods that grow upright. Chiles mature from yellow-green to bright red and have a unique, smoky flavor that creates their distinctive tabasco taste.Tabasco pepper seeds for Sale Sandia Seed has the best Tabasco pepper seeds to grow in...
How to use Dried PeppersUsing dried peppers for recipes is a great way to add flavor and spice all year round with your harvest! If you dry your homegrown pepper harvest, you can use a food processor, coffee grinder, or spice grinder to chop up your dried peppers. We also like to use a pair of kitchen shears or scissors to "cut" up the peppers into foods, as shown above. This is an easy way to add just a few hot peppers to any dish. T Keeping your dried peppers whole and storing them in a cool dark dry place...
Winter SowingWinter Sowing: We just learned about Winter Sowing a few years ago, it's a wonderful way to start seeds using recycled containers outside! With winter sowing, you don't need room inside to start seeds, you can start them outdoors in the winter/spring months with recycled jugs and other containers. These containers serve as miniature greenhouses that do an incredible job of germinating all sorts of seeds including vegetables, herbs, and native plants. Winter Sowing Seeds in Milk...
Types of PeppersThere are many types of peppers to grow in your garden! There are the five major types of peppers: Capsicum annuum: Life span: 1.5-3 years These include a lot of the largest peppers including Bell Peppers, sweet/Italian Peppers, Serrano, Cayenne, Paprika, Hatch Chile Peppers, ornamental peppers like the gorgeous NuMex Twilight pepper, and all of the fast growing Jalapeños. These pepper plants can live between 1.5-3 years. We find that the New Mexican Chile varieties really produce t...
Grow Peppers in PotsDid you know you can grow peppers in pots? Most pepper varieties do great in pots! Check our list of Best Peppers to Grow in Pots Add some peppers to your garden this year! Growing peppers in pots is a great way to expand your garden, or peppers if you don't have a garden bed! You can place pots on patios, decks, or balconies to increase your harvest each season. The Easter Pepper, shown above, makes an absolutely stunning centerpiece in a tall ceramic pot in a pollinator garden. The lar...
Five Mild Green ChilesIf you like green chile but not the burn in your mouth we suggest growing a few of the milder varieties. AnaheimScoville 500-1,000 This can be is the mildest New Mexico pod-type pepper. It has less flavor than the NM 6-4. This heirloom has genetics that trace back to the original No. 9 pepper developed by Fabian Garcia in the early 1900s.Anaheim Sonora MildScoville 600 Very mild and like the Anaheim, but with larger pods. The flesh is thick and this variety is TMV resistant. Not heirloom....
What to plant in JanuaryAhhh, the middle of winter! It's just about now that we're excited to start planting seeds for spring. January is a good time to start planning what to plant in your garden if you haven't done it already. Deciding what vegetables to grow each year is part of the fun, though sometimes difficult to narrow down which varieties to grow! With over 100 peppers from around the world plus lots of veggies and tomato seeds, too, our Seed Catalog makes it hard to narrow down the choices! But...
Cabbage Salsa / Mexican Coleslaw RecipeIf you haven't had cabbage salsa before (also known as Mexican Coleslaw), you're missing out! This crunchy, spicy, tangy salsa is a real treat – eat it with tortilla chips, or serve as a delicious side or topping for tacos. We first had it at a Mexican restaurant in Colorado a few years back and it was so good we had to find some recipes. Here's our version that we make every summer now: Cabbage Salsa / Mexican Coleslaw Recipe Ingredients 4 cups chopped or shredded cabbage (we ...
Cool Weather VegetablesThere are a lot of cool weather vegetables that are great for winter growing as well as for early spring! Sandia Seed has a good selection of cool season vegetables that are great for growing in the cold months, especially early spring! When to plant cool weather crops:Cool-season vegetables can be planted anytime from several weeks to a couple of months before the last frost date. These early vegetables prefer cooler temperatures for growing. Some people start seeds indoors to get them ...
Biggest Pepper in the World
Want to grow the worlds largest pepper? Look no further than the Big Jim Chile, which holds the crown in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the biggest pepper in the world! Often exceeding 14 inches in length, this giant chile is sure to please with it's delicious smokey & buttery flavor after roasting. These extra-large peppers are also super fast growing, so you can start harvesting giant chile pods starting at just 78 days after starting seeds! We love using roasted Bi...
How to germinate pepper seeds fast
Learn how to germinate pepper seeds fast! If you want to learn how to make peppers grow faster – it's good to start them indoors early, and keep them nice and warm between 80-90˚ F to sprout quickly. It's also wise to transplant them into larger containers if you have the room to let them grow deep root systems before transplanting into the garden (after all chance of frost has passed.) Most peppers also like the temperatures to be above 60˚ F – even at night, so hold off on planting...
Hatch Chile & Basil Pesto Recipe
Spicy Hatch Chile & Basil Pesto Recipe: Roasted Hatch Chile (peeled, deseeded)Basil (you could also use Cilantro)1-2 Tablespoons of Olive OilLots of Garlic ClovesWalnutsSalt & Pepper to tasteSqueeze of lemon or limeBlend all ingredients together in a food processor. We use whatever we have on hand, you can make a big batch or a small batch, and vary up the ingredient proportions - every batch is unique to what we have to work with. You can also substitute out the walnuts for pine nuts...
How long to let pepper seeds go before giving up on them?
Recent customer question: How long to let pepper seeds go without sprouting before giving up on them and trying more?Pepper seeds are slow to germinate, so we recommend waiting at least a month before giving up on them! Some super hot pepper seeds take 21+ days to sprout, so be patient and wait. Heat Helps!It IS important to keep pepper seeds warm for fastest and most successful germination, we like to use a heat mat to keep the pepper seeds at 80-90˚ F. If they are not kept warm, many super ...
Hatch Chile Guacamole Recipe
Hatch Chile Guacamole Recipe 2-3 Avocados 1/2 Cup Roasted Hatch Chile, diced1/2 Lime, juiced Cilantro (to taste), chopped (optional*) 2 Cloves of Garlic, minced1/4 cup Tomatoes, Chopped1 fresh Jalapeno, diced (optional for heat and crunch)Salt & Pepper Mash avocado, add lime juice, cilantro, Hatch chile, jalapeno, garlic, salt and pepper, mix lightly. Serve with chips, on tacos, burritos, sandwiches, tostadas... you name it! *Cilantro is optional for those of you who detest it. We ...
Soil for Peppers
Best Soil for Peppers: Best Soil for Starting Pepper Seeds When starting pepper seeds indoors, it's important to use a good quality seed/seedling starting mix such as Coast of Maine's which performs very well with all pepper seeds. Be sure to use seedling mix rather than garden soil or top soil as seedling/seed mixes are created to be well-draining. We do not recommend using those small Jiffy Pots or peat for starting pepper seeds, as they just don't seem to like to germinate ve...
Short Season Heirloom Tomatoes
Looking to grow Short Season Heirloom Tomatoes this season? If you are looking to grow early tomato varieties, you've come to the right place. If you are in a short season climate, or, if you just want to enjoy juicy homegrown heirloom tomatoes from your garden, any of these varieties would be a great pick! Best Short Season Tomatoes: Heirloom Pineapple Tomato These plants will fruit fairly early, and also ripen quickly. In mid-summer, they seemed to stop blooming, then they put on ano...
Winter Sowing Peppers
Winter Sowing Peppers Note: Peppers are very sensitive to frost. Winter Sowing outdoors is not generally the best way to start peppers if you live in a short-season climate and want to get a jump on the growing season – we recommend starting your peppers indoors about 8-10 weeks before the last chance of frost in a warm place for best success. Here's more of our top tips for growing peppers from seeds » That said, you can use Winter Sowing with Pepper Seeds, but it is important to wait u...
Best Habanero Seeds
Do you love habaneros? If you haven't tried them, and you like hot peppers, you should grow habaneros!We think habaneros are one of the tastiest of all peppers – they have a great fruity flavor, aroma and lots of heat! Habaneros make some of the most flavorful hot sauces, and they are awesome in salsas. Easy to grow, Habanero seeds can be started indoors to get the plants growing strong before transplanting outside once the weather warms up and all chance of frost has passed. We have s...
Grow the Yellow Carolina Reaper!
Yellow Carolina Reaper SeedsCustomer testimonials: We have grown Yellow Carolina Reaper alongside the traditional Red Carolina Reaper for a few years now and it is a customer favorite. The germination is always near perfect and it produces beautiful peppers on nice strong plants! I grew 3 Yellow Carolina Reaper plants from seed. I ordered from Sandia Seed Co. and they grew to be very large, robust plants and were absolutely loaded with peppers. These peppers are insanely hot, but have wond...
Habanero Pepper Seeds
The flavor of Habaneros are unlike any other hot pepper – they seem to be oozing with addictive flavor. We have recently been getting into Habanero-based hot sauces as the flavor is just so delicious, you can't stop drizzling on more. It's hard to describe, but most say they taste very spicy with fruity and sweet flavor. This mouth-watering hot pepper pairs nicely with carrots and fruits in hot sauces. We're going to save room for a Habanero Patch in our garden this year, and gro...
Tabasco Pepper Plant
The Tabasco pepper plant is a gorgeous and super tasty addition to any vegetable garden! Tabasco pepper plants are easy to grow from Tabasco Pepper seeds! What do Tabasco Pepper Plants look like?Tabasco Pepper Plants are 2’- 4’ tall and loaded with slender 1-1/2” pods that grow upright. Chiles mature from yellow-green to bright red and have a unique, smoky flavor that creates their distinctive tabasco taste.Tabasco pepper seeds for Sale Sandia Seed has the best Tabasco pepper seeds to grow in...
How to use Dried Peppers
Using dried peppers for recipes is a great way to add flavor and spice all year round with your harvest! If you dry your homegrown pepper harvest, you can use a food processor, coffee grinder, or spice grinder to chop up your dried peppers. We also like to use a pair of kitchen shears or scissors to "cut" up the peppers into foods, as shown above. This is an easy way to add just a few hot peppers to any dish. T Keeping your dried peppers whole and storing them in a cool dark dry place...
Winter Sowing
Winter Sowing: We just learned about Winter Sowing a few years ago, it's a wonderful way to start seeds using recycled containers outside! With winter sowing, you don't need room inside to start seeds, you can start them outdoors in the winter/spring months with recycled jugs and other containers. These containers serve as miniature greenhouses that do an incredible job of germinating all sorts of seeds including vegetables, herbs, and native plants. Winter Sowing Seeds in Milk...
Types of Peppers
There are many types of peppers to grow in your garden! There are the five major types of peppers: Capsicum annuum: Life span: 1.5-3 years These include a lot of the largest peppers including Bell Peppers, sweet/Italian Peppers, Serrano, Cayenne, Paprika, Hatch Chile Peppers, ornamental peppers like the gorgeous NuMex Twilight pepper, and all of the fast growing Jalapeños. These pepper plants can live between 1.5-3 years. We find that the New Mexican Chile varieties really produce t...
Grow Peppers in Pots
Did you know you can grow peppers in pots? Most pepper varieties do great in pots! Check our list of Best Peppers to Grow in Pots Add some peppers to your garden this year! Growing peppers in pots is a great way to expand your garden, or peppers if you don't have a garden bed! You can place pots on patios, decks, or balconies to increase your harvest each season. The Easter Pepper, shown above, makes an absolutely stunning centerpiece in a tall ceramic pot in a pollinator garden. The lar...
Five Mild Green Chiles
If you like green chile but not the burn in your mouth we suggest growing a few of the milder varieties. AnaheimScoville 500-1,000 This can be is the mildest New Mexico pod-type pepper. It has less flavor than the NM 6-4. This heirloom has genetics that trace back to the original No. 9 pepper developed by Fabian Garcia in the early 1900s.Anaheim Sonora MildScoville 600 Very mild and like the Anaheim, but with larger pods. The flesh is thick and this variety is TMV resistant. Not heirloom....
What to plant in January
Ahhh, the middle of winter! It's just about now that we're excited to start planting seeds for spring. January is a good time to start planning what to plant in your garden if you haven't done it already. Deciding what vegetables to grow each year is part of the fun, though sometimes difficult to narrow down which varieties to grow! With over 100 peppers from around the world plus lots of veggies and tomato seeds, too, our Seed Catalog makes it hard to narrow down the choices! But...
Cabbage Salsa / Mexican Coleslaw Recipe
If you haven't had cabbage salsa before (also known as Mexican Coleslaw), you're missing out! This crunchy, spicy, tangy salsa is a real treat – eat it with tortilla chips, or serve as a delicious side or topping for tacos. We first had it at a Mexican restaurant in Colorado a few years back and it was so good we had to find some recipes. Here's our version that we make every summer now: Cabbage Salsa / Mexican Coleslaw Recipe Ingredients 4 cups chopped or shredded cabbage (we ...
Cool Weather Vegetables
There are a lot of cool weather vegetables that are great for winter growing as well as for early spring! Sandia Seed has a good selection of cool season vegetables that are great for growing in the cold months, especially early spring! When to plant cool weather crops:Cool-season vegetables can be planted anytime from several weeks to a couple of months before the last frost date. These early vegetables prefer cooler temperatures for growing. Some people start seeds indoors to get them ...
