Days to Maturity: 105 direct sow; 75 transplant
All-America Selections (AAS) Winner 2023
An F1 hybrid cayenne pepper, Wildcat is a fruit vegetable. The plant sets small, star-shaped "perfect" flowers, followed by extra-large, bright red fruits that average about 8 inches long and weigh 2 to 3 ounces. These long chilies are thick, fleshy, and straighter than most cayenne peppers. These fiery fruits have a smoky sweetness and a rating of 500 to 1500 units on the Scoville scale. Use fresh or dried and ground as a spice. Cayenne peppers are a good source of vitamin C.
An herbaceous, frost-tender, short-lived evergreen perennial, typically grown as an annual, Wildcat cayenne pepper is a member of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). The plant grows rapidly, forming a strong, compact, well-branched plant that requires no staking. It has a nice canopy of ovate, smooth-margined, dark green leaves and produces 20 to 25 peppers.
Cayenne pepper is easy to grow from seed, growing best in locations with full sun and fertile, organically rich, moist, well-draining soil, but it is adaptable to a wide range of soils. It is a low maintenance plant but pinching back young plants encourages bushiness. Wildcat, like all capsicums, is deer resistant and heat and drought tolerant. It has a high resistance to potato Y virus PVY:0 and tobamoviruses Tm:0 and an intermediate resistance to Foc.
A warm-season vegetable, sensitive to cold temperatures and frost, cayenne pepper seeds can be direct sown into warm spring soil after all threat of frost has passed. For an earlier harvest, seeds can be started indoors 6 to 8 weeks before transplanting. Flowers begin to set fruit with night temperatures between 55° and 75°F. Protect plants with row covers if temperatures are expected to dip below 50°F. Mulching helps to moderate soil temperature as well as to maintain soil moisture and control weeds.
If you plan to start your seeds indoors, be sure to check out our Bio Dome Seed Starter Kit. With the Bio Dome, you can control the temperature, light, and soil mix to ensure your seeds become strong for transplant.
