Garden Salsa Hybrid Pepper Seeds

Days to Maturity: 73 from transplant

Developed just for salsa, this medium-hot chile pepper turns out to be heavy bearing and delicious, too. Boasting just the right amount of heat, it can be picked green for salsa or allowed to turn red for full nutritional kick and use in salads, sauces, and more.

Garden Salsa Hybrid scores 3,000 Scovilles on the heat index, which gives it a nice little bite in salsa but doesn't produce so much heat that diners have to be warned before they try it. It's a great all-purpose pepper, because it does offer a nicely nuanced flavor that works in a variety of dishes.

Expect these long, skinny peppers to reach 8 or 9 inches long but just about an inch in diameter at the widest point (the shoulders). The skin is thin, glossy, and firm, protecting the succulent flesh within, you can even dry Garden Salsa Hybrid and then grind it into spice. Adaptable and generous with the yields, this is a dependable pepper you will come back to season after season in the vegetable garden. The plant's resistance to tobacco mosaic virus makes it far more likely to deliver big crops every time.

Start the seeds indoors or, in climate with short growing seasons, outdoors at least one week after last frost. If starting indoors, allow 7 to 10 weeks for the seeds to mature into seedlings large enough to transplant safely. Fertilize when the blooms appear, and water well. The fruit is most nutritious if allowed to ripen to red on the plant, but it can be picked green with full flavor.