Hot Sauce GardenGrow your own Hot Sauce Garden One of the reasons many gardeners grow hot peppers is to make their own hot sauces and salsas. Once you start growing peppers, you'll discover the full range of complex flavor and different kinds of heat peppers of the world provide for your tastebuds. It's addictive, too, the more varieties of peppers you taste, the more you want to try! And the more heat you try, the more heat you crave! But you don't need to grow extra hot peppers to make hot sa...
Growing Peppers in ColoradoThere are many different growing zones in Colorado, and you can grow peppers in any areas that you can grow tomatoes and other veggies! For Colorado gardeners, starting peppers indoors is a must with short season gardening, we recommend starting your pepper seeds at least 6-8 weeks before mid-to-late May when you will transplant them into the garden. Use a seedling heat mat to keep the pepper seeds warm during germination, they like to germinate around 80˚F! Choose short season peppers for...
Beginner‑Friendly Hot PeppersAt Sandia Seed we LOVE peppers, and we enjoy helping people grow their own peppers from seed! We think some of the best peppers for beginners to grow are the fastest growing peppers, including Jalapeños, Green Chiles, and Serranos. Why? Because they germinate fast, grow quickly, and produce a lot of peppers for a longer season so beginners are more likely to have success! And who doesn't like MORE peppers? Beginner's and experts alike will like all of these peppers we mention below. ...
Hot Sauce Ingredient IdeasHot Sauces are made from lots of ingredients beyond just hot peppers! Many recipes include fruit, juice (lime, lemon), different types of vinegar, ginger, mustard seeds, carrots, garlic, onions and other ingredients to add more flavor and thicken or extend sauces. It's fun to grow many of your own hot sauce ingredients in your garden for the freshest flavors. Hot sauce is a great way to preserve your harvest for year-round use. Grow your own Hot Sauce Garden and make your own hot sauce t...
Best Vinegar for Hot SauceMaking your own hot sauce recipes from homegrown hot peppers? Some people like to make fermented hot sauce recipes (and SOMETIMES they add vinegar at the end after it's fermented), some like to cook hot peppers down in a sauce pan and add vinegar for a quick hot sauce, and some people like to pickle whole hot peppers in vinegar for a spicy vinegar treat. You can even add lime or lemon juice to hot sauces for a tropical burst of flavor and acidity. There is no wrong way to make hot sauce, ...
Best Peppers for Hot SauceWe've picked out our favorite peppers for hot sauce (and some of your favorites) that you can grow in your garden to make hot sauce! Find our favorite hot sauce recipes and make them your own with any of these hot peppers. You can use any hot pepper or combination of peppers to make hot sauce, so don't feel limited, experiment! The sky's the limit. You'll find that some you love some peppers even more than others, but it's fun to try them all. Hot sauce captures the essenc...
Ten great peppers for pots in small spaces!Peppers are a great vegetable to grow on a patio, deck or sunny balcony. So if you don't have a lot of space, you can still grow some peppers! Some people even grow them under lights indoors, year-round! Above are Fire and Ice peppers growing in a glorious blue ceramic pot – this variety is perfect for patio containers as it really looks like fire at the end of the season with colorful yellow to orange to red peppers growing upwards. Most peppers grow great in pots and containers – and ca...
What peppers would you consider a must grow?While there are hundreds of peppers of the world you can grow (see just some of them above), we have a (fairly long & evergrowing) list of our favorite peppers that we grow each and every season. Many of these varieties are hard to find at the store, so they are great to grow – plus, all homegrown peppers (like tomatoes) taste better than store-bought! You can also let them fully ripen to get the maximum flavor that you'll want to taste and grow again and again. Here's our top pi...
Best Peppers for SalsaIf you love salsa like us, growing hot peppers from seed is a great way to step up your salsa game! Best Peppers in Salsa: With tons of different peppers to choose from in different heat levels, flavors and colors, don't limit yourself to just Jalapenos and Serranos – which are the most popular choices – be sure to try all sorts of hot peppers in your salsa to taste the rainbow of flavors! Roasted Anaheim chile, green chile and poblano peppers offer a milder, smoky flavor. Or for a wi...
Hottest Peppers ScaleHottest Peppers Scale Sandia Seed's list of their 101 peppers of the world, in order of their heat Scoville scale ratings: Bell Chocolate Sweet - 0 ScovillesBell Golden Cal Wonder - 0Bell Green Cal Wonder - 0Bell Orange Mini Snacker 0Bell Purple Beauty - 0Cubanelle - 0Fushimi - 0Jimmy Nardello - 0Marconi Red - 0Pimiento - 0Shishito - 0Sweet Cherry - 0Trick or Treat NuMex Habanero - 0Gypsy Pepper - 0Padron 0-100Paprika 0-100Alma Paprika 0-500Piquillo 0-500Pimento Sheepnose 0-500Sweet Ba...
NEW SEEDS FOR 2025WE HAVE NEW SEEDS ARRIVING! We are excited to announce the addition of new seeds to our mid-season lineup.New seeds now available: Gypsy Sweet Pepper This super fast growing sweet pepper has a fantastic sweet flavor and is never bitter like a bell pepper can be. The plants produce an unbelievable amount of fruit all season that you can enjoy early at the yellow-green stage or wait until they fully ripen to orange-red. Sun Gold F1 TomatoThese bright golden orange tomatoes have a sweet, juicy,...
Types of Peppers to GrowAt Sandia Seed we have seeds for over 101 peppers of the world to grow in your garden! There are many types of peppers to grow, ranging from sweet to super hot, so there is a pepper for everyone. What is the Best Pepper to Grow? Golly, it's really hard to choose just one pepper considering the huge range of flavors, heat levels and colors they provide. Sorry, but it's just too hard to narrow down to just one pepper, so here are a few of our top favorites for the best peppers to ...
How to Dry PeppersHere are our top ways you can dry peppers: 1. Make Chile Ristras!Chile Ristras can be made from lots of different kinds of peppers, not just the common New Mexico and Hatch chile varieties. This is a great way to store your peppers for the winter. You want to string up the peppers so that they get maximum airflow and hang them in a dry sunny place to dry out. Then you can use them in your kitchen for recipes and making red chile sauces. Growing chile that have thin flesh and are suited to d...
Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Shrimp RecipeThis recipe was inspired by a similar dish we enjoy at La Vaquita Marina Restaurant, San Felipe, Baja California. It has amazing flavor and is easy to make. The Poblano peppers have mild to medium heat and make this meal a crowd pleaser. Poblano pepper heat is at 500 to 1,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Shrimp Yields: 4 servings Ingredients 4 poblano peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup diced sweet yellow onion 1 lb. medium fresh shr...
Salad Garden KitHere's the best Salad Garden Kit! This Organic Seed Starter Kit comes bundled with 20 of the easiest-to-grow vegetable seeds so you can have a huge garden to eat from all year-round! We have picked the fastest and easiest-to-grow vegetable seeds so that you can grow plenty for daily salads and beyond! Grow our Little Gem Lettuce Seeds for a very crispy and tasty cross between butterhead and romaine lettuce. Chef's love it! Also in our Salad Garden Kit are our Nasturtiums which are...
List of Peppers by HeatHere is our 2026 list of all of our peppers from around the world based on their heat level, from sweet to super hot! Find the perfect pepper with the just the right amount of heat (or lack thereof) from our list of over 100+ peppers of the world! The very hottest chile you can grow from seed* is the Carolina Reaper but there are lots of other super hot peppers to choose from that also pack a lot of heat like the Bhut Jolokia Ghost Pepper. Make sure to grow some specialty sweet peppers near t...
Gardening Gift BasketsLooking for unusual gardening gifts for your Mom, Dad or other family and gardener friends? This organic food garden seed collection is the perfect unusual gift that is sure to please any gardener in your life! It's not exactly a gardening gift basket, but it's even better! It comes with a garden tote that is perfect for collecting veggies in the garden or sharing the harvest, or shopping! The Organic Food Garden Seed Collection is designed as the perfect gift for gardeners! A one...
Packet Contains 30 SeedsWant to maximize your budget? Or are you planting a big garden such as a community garden?Many of our seed packets contain 30 seeds or more. Check out all of these vegetable seeds that have at least 30 seeds so you can plant a large garden and grow a lot of food: Discounted Seed 3-Packs Get the most seeds for your buck with discounted seed packets including three of our most popular varieties. Our Jalapeno M, Poblano and Serrano Tampiqueño 3-pack, each with 30 seeds per packet, with a total ...
How to Make a RistraHow to Make a Ristra Make your own Ristra from your homegrown chile to preserve your harvest for year-round use in the kitchen. Lots of chiles can be made into ristras, check out our collection of Ristra Chile Seeds. Any of our Red chile Seeds can be grown to make Ristras. Harvest the chiles when they are completely red and still firm.Ristras are highly decorative and look amazing hanging in or around your home during the holiday season. We personally think Ristras are better than holiday lig...
Chili Oil RecipeHomemade chili oil is a thoughtful, flavorful gift and kitchen staple that’s easy to make and looks beautiful in a jar! If you grow your own chiles, this is a great way to use them long after the season is over. There’s something special about giving a homemade gift that people can actually use — and a bottle of chili oil adds a fiery, aromatic touch to any kitchen. It’s perfect for drizzling over noodles, pizza, burritos, eggs, or grilled vegetables. See a couple recipes below, plus lots of ...
Hot Sauce Garden
Grow your own Hot Sauce Garden One of the reasons many gardeners grow hot peppers is to make their own hot sauces and salsas. Once you start growing peppers, you'll discover the full range of complex flavor and different kinds of heat peppers of the world provide for your tastebuds. It's addictive, too, the more varieties of peppers you taste, the more you want to try! And the more heat you try, the more heat you crave! But you don't need to grow extra hot peppers to make hot sa...
Growing Peppers in Colorado
There are many different growing zones in Colorado, and you can grow peppers in any areas that you can grow tomatoes and other veggies! For Colorado gardeners, starting peppers indoors is a must with short season gardening, we recommend starting your pepper seeds at least 6-8 weeks before mid-to-late May when you will transplant them into the garden. Use a seedling heat mat to keep the pepper seeds warm during germination, they like to germinate around 80˚F! Choose short season peppers for...
Beginner‑Friendly Hot Peppers
At Sandia Seed we LOVE peppers, and we enjoy helping people grow their own peppers from seed! We think some of the best peppers for beginners to grow are the fastest growing peppers, including Jalapeños, Green Chiles, and Serranos. Why? Because they germinate fast, grow quickly, and produce a lot of peppers for a longer season so beginners are more likely to have success! And who doesn't like MORE peppers? Beginner's and experts alike will like all of these peppers we mention below. ...
Hot Sauce Ingredient Ideas
Hot Sauces are made from lots of ingredients beyond just hot peppers! Many recipes include fruit, juice (lime, lemon), different types of vinegar, ginger, mustard seeds, carrots, garlic, onions and other ingredients to add more flavor and thicken or extend sauces. It's fun to grow many of your own hot sauce ingredients in your garden for the freshest flavors. Hot sauce is a great way to preserve your harvest for year-round use. Grow your own Hot Sauce Garden and make your own hot sauce t...
Best Vinegar for Hot Sauce
Making your own hot sauce recipes from homegrown hot peppers? Some people like to make fermented hot sauce recipes (and SOMETIMES they add vinegar at the end after it's fermented), some like to cook hot peppers down in a sauce pan and add vinegar for a quick hot sauce, and some people like to pickle whole hot peppers in vinegar for a spicy vinegar treat. You can even add lime or lemon juice to hot sauces for a tropical burst of flavor and acidity. There is no wrong way to make hot sauce, ...
Best Peppers for Hot Sauce
We've picked out our favorite peppers for hot sauce (and some of your favorites) that you can grow in your garden to make hot sauce! Find our favorite hot sauce recipes and make them your own with any of these hot peppers. You can use any hot pepper or combination of peppers to make hot sauce, so don't feel limited, experiment! The sky's the limit. You'll find that some you love some peppers even more than others, but it's fun to try them all. Hot sauce captures the essenc...
Ten great peppers for pots in small spaces!
Peppers are a great vegetable to grow on a patio, deck or sunny balcony. So if you don't have a lot of space, you can still grow some peppers! Some people even grow them under lights indoors, year-round! Above are Fire and Ice peppers growing in a glorious blue ceramic pot – this variety is perfect for patio containers as it really looks like fire at the end of the season with colorful yellow to orange to red peppers growing upwards. Most peppers grow great in pots and containers – and ca...
What peppers would you consider a must grow?
While there are hundreds of peppers of the world you can grow (see just some of them above), we have a (fairly long & evergrowing) list of our favorite peppers that we grow each and every season. Many of these varieties are hard to find at the store, so they are great to grow – plus, all homegrown peppers (like tomatoes) taste better than store-bought! You can also let them fully ripen to get the maximum flavor that you'll want to taste and grow again and again. Here's our top pi...
Best Peppers for Salsa
If you love salsa like us, growing hot peppers from seed is a great way to step up your salsa game! Best Peppers in Salsa: With tons of different peppers to choose from in different heat levels, flavors and colors, don't limit yourself to just Jalapenos and Serranos – which are the most popular choices – be sure to try all sorts of hot peppers in your salsa to taste the rainbow of flavors! Roasted Anaheim chile, green chile and poblano peppers offer a milder, smoky flavor. Or for a wi...
Hottest Peppers Scale
Hottest Peppers Scale Sandia Seed's list of their 101 peppers of the world, in order of their heat Scoville scale ratings: Bell Chocolate Sweet - 0 ScovillesBell Golden Cal Wonder - 0Bell Green Cal Wonder - 0Bell Orange Mini Snacker 0Bell Purple Beauty - 0Cubanelle - 0Fushimi - 0Jimmy Nardello - 0Marconi Red - 0Pimiento - 0Shishito - 0Sweet Cherry - 0Trick or Treat NuMex Habanero - 0Gypsy Pepper - 0Padron 0-100Paprika 0-100Alma Paprika 0-500Piquillo 0-500Pimento Sheepnose 0-500Sweet Ba...
NEW SEEDS FOR 2025
WE HAVE NEW SEEDS ARRIVING! We are excited to announce the addition of new seeds to our mid-season lineup.New seeds now available: Gypsy Sweet Pepper This super fast growing sweet pepper has a fantastic sweet flavor and is never bitter like a bell pepper can be. The plants produce an unbelievable amount of fruit all season that you can enjoy early at the yellow-green stage or wait until they fully ripen to orange-red. Sun Gold F1 TomatoThese bright golden orange tomatoes have a sweet, juicy,...
Types of Peppers to Grow
At Sandia Seed we have seeds for over 101 peppers of the world to grow in your garden! There are many types of peppers to grow, ranging from sweet to super hot, so there is a pepper for everyone. What is the Best Pepper to Grow? Golly, it's really hard to choose just one pepper considering the huge range of flavors, heat levels and colors they provide. Sorry, but it's just too hard to narrow down to just one pepper, so here are a few of our top favorites for the best peppers to ...
How to Dry Peppers
Here are our top ways you can dry peppers: 1. Make Chile Ristras!Chile Ristras can be made from lots of different kinds of peppers, not just the common New Mexico and Hatch chile varieties. This is a great way to store your peppers for the winter. You want to string up the peppers so that they get maximum airflow and hang them in a dry sunny place to dry out. Then you can use them in your kitchen for recipes and making red chile sauces. Growing chile that have thin flesh and are suited to d...
Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Shrimp Recipe
This recipe was inspired by a similar dish we enjoy at La Vaquita Marina Restaurant, San Felipe, Baja California. It has amazing flavor and is easy to make. The Poblano peppers have mild to medium heat and make this meal a crowd pleaser. Poblano pepper heat is at 500 to 1,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU). Poblano Peppers Stuffed with Shrimp Yields: 4 servings Ingredients 4 poblano peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup diced sweet yellow onion 1 lb. medium fresh shr...
Salad Garden Kit
Here's the best Salad Garden Kit! This Organic Seed Starter Kit comes bundled with 20 of the easiest-to-grow vegetable seeds so you can have a huge garden to eat from all year-round! We have picked the fastest and easiest-to-grow vegetable seeds so that you can grow plenty for daily salads and beyond! Grow our Little Gem Lettuce Seeds for a very crispy and tasty cross between butterhead and romaine lettuce. Chef's love it! Also in our Salad Garden Kit are our Nasturtiums which are...
List of Peppers by Heat
Here is our 2026 list of all of our peppers from around the world based on their heat level, from sweet to super hot! Find the perfect pepper with the just the right amount of heat (or lack thereof) from our list of over 100+ peppers of the world! The very hottest chile you can grow from seed* is the Carolina Reaper but there are lots of other super hot peppers to choose from that also pack a lot of heat like the Bhut Jolokia Ghost Pepper. Make sure to grow some specialty sweet peppers near t...
Gardening Gift Baskets
Looking for unusual gardening gifts for your Mom, Dad or other family and gardener friends? This organic food garden seed collection is the perfect unusual gift that is sure to please any gardener in your life! It's not exactly a gardening gift basket, but it's even better! It comes with a garden tote that is perfect for collecting veggies in the garden or sharing the harvest, or shopping! The Organic Food Garden Seed Collection is designed as the perfect gift for gardeners! A one...
Packet Contains 30 Seeds
Want to maximize your budget? Or are you planting a big garden such as a community garden?Many of our seed packets contain 30 seeds or more. Check out all of these vegetable seeds that have at least 30 seeds so you can plant a large garden and grow a lot of food: Discounted Seed 3-Packs Get the most seeds for your buck with discounted seed packets including three of our most popular varieties. Our Jalapeno M, Poblano and Serrano Tampiqueño 3-pack, each with 30 seeds per packet, with a total ...
How to Make a Ristra
How to Make a Ristra Make your own Ristra from your homegrown chile to preserve your harvest for year-round use in the kitchen. Lots of chiles can be made into ristras, check out our collection of Ristra Chile Seeds. Any of our Red chile Seeds can be grown to make Ristras. Harvest the chiles when they are completely red and still firm.Ristras are highly decorative and look amazing hanging in or around your home during the holiday season. We personally think Ristras are better than holiday lig...
Chili Oil Recipe
Homemade chili oil is a thoughtful, flavorful gift and kitchen staple that’s easy to make and looks beautiful in a jar! If you grow your own chiles, this is a great way to use them long after the season is over. There’s something special about giving a homemade gift that people can actually use — and a bottle of chili oil adds a fiery, aromatic touch to any kitchen. It’s perfect for drizzling over noodles, pizza, burritos, eggs, or grilled vegetables. See a couple recipes below, plus lots of ...
