Halloween Gold Pumpkin Peppers™ Pepper Seeds

Days to Maturity: 85 to 95

A member of the Pumpkin Peppers™ series, Halloween Gold, an F1 hybrid, is grown as a fruit vegetable. Ornamental as well as productive, this pot pepper sets small, star-shaped "perfect" flowers, followed by sweet, pumpkin-shaped peppers. The small, glossy fruits start out purple black but turn bright orange as they mature. Sweet peppers are a good source of vitamin C.

Typically grown as an annual, this herbaceous, frost-tender, short-lived evergreen perennial is a member of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Halloween Gold Pumpkin Peppers™ Pepper grows rapidly, forming an upright, large branching plant with smooth-margined dark green leaves. The sturdy plant produces a continuous harvest, with regrowth after the first harvest and first fruits presenting centrally. It can be container grown outdoors or indoors and is suitable for a hanging basket. If grown indoors, plant in a 5- to 7-inch pot with good drainage and place on a sunny windowsill or counter.

Halloween Gold is easy to grow from seed. It prefers full sun and fertile, organically rich, moist, well-draining soil with an acidic pH between 5.8 and 6.5, but it is adaptable to a wide range of soils. The plant is low maintenance but pinching back young plants encourages bushiness. Halloween Gold, like all capsicums, is deer resistant and heat and drought tolerant.

A warm-season vegetable, sensitive to cold temperatures and frost, pumpkin 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.