Pathfinder Serrano Pepper Seeds

Days to Maturity: 75 to 80

A serrano pepper, Pathfinder is grown as a fruit vegetable. The plant sets small, star-shaped "perfect" flowers, followed by cylindrical to blunt dark green fruits, averaging 4½ to 5 inches in length and 1 ounce in weight. The fruits have thick walls and an excellent shelf life. These chili peppers are hot, rating 10,000 to 25,000 units on the Scoville scale. Similar to jalapeno, serrano peppers have a delicious spicy kick, but hotter, perfect for salsas, sauces, relishes, garnishes, and hot sauces. Hot peppers are a good source of vitamin C.

An herbaceous, frost-tender, short-lived evergreen perennial, typically grown as an annual, Pathfinder Serrano Pepper is a member of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). The plant grows rapidly, forming a medium-sized plant with excellent foliage cover, and produces heavy yields all season.

Pathfinder 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. The plant is a low maintenance but pinching back young plants encourages bushiness. Pathfinder, like all capsicums, is deer resistant and heat and drought tolerant. It has a high resistance to tobamovirus Tm: 0 and xanthomonas X spp: 0-3, 7, 8 and an Intermediate resistance to root knot Mi and phytophthora root rot Pc.

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