What Types Of Peppers Should You Grow? (This Will Help You Decide)

With so many chile varieties out there, it's hard to decide what types of peppers you should grow.

It's really all about preference.

Chile colors can be anything from purple, to bright orange, to brown and even blue. Heat levels may range from the sweetest bell pepper to the burn-your-intestines Trinidad Scorpions.

You can even select hot pepper plants by measurement. (For example, NuMex Twilight is nice and compact.)

Below is just a sampling of choices available to you.

(By the way, if you prefer to select your peppers based on how you can use them in the kitchen, check out this post.)

Chillies are listed by a selection of exotic colors.

(Please note, we don't include green and red because most chillies start off the former and end up the latter.)

This list doesn't include every possible variety, but it will give you a good idea of what's available.

Brown:

• Chocolate Habanero (Congo Black)
• Bhut Jolokia Chocolate
• Trinidad Douglah
• Trinidad Congo Brown
• Trinidad 7 Pod Brown
• Aji Panca (Aji Brown)
• Black Naga
• Chocolate Scotch Bonnet
• Miniature Chocolate
• Aji Brown
• Chilhuacle Negro
• Pasilla

Black:

• Black Hungarian
• Royal Black
• Black Jalapeno
• Black Pearl
• Black Scorpion Tongue
• Little Nubian

Purple:

• Purple Jalapeño
• Purple Bhut Jolokia
• Pimenta da Neyde
• Purple Beauty Bell Pepper
• Explosive Ember
• Fluorescent Purple
• Large Purple Cayenne
• Firecracker Pequin

​Yellow:

• Yellow 7 Pot
• Yellow Jalapeno Pepper (Jaloro)
• Lemon Drop
• Aji Pineapple
• Trinidad Perfume
• Fatalii
• Yellow Rocoto (Manzano)
• Scotch Bonnet Yellow
• Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Yellow
• Bhut Jolokia Yellow
• Trinidad Congo Yellow
• Trinidad Morovas
• Trinidad Scorpion Yellow
• Yellow Devil's Tongue
• Big Sun (Yellow Sun) Habanero
• Golden Cayenne
• Peter Pepper Yellow

White:

• Yucatan White Habanero
• Peruvian White Lightening
• White Bhut Jolokia
• Giant White Habanero

Blue:

• Filius Blue

Multicolored:

• NuMex Twilight
• Jalapeno Piñata
• Aji Omnicolor
• Hot Fish
• Chinese Five Color
• Marbles

You can pick your peppers by heat level, from mild to having to wear a gas mask when preparing the spicier ones. (I'm not kidding about the gas mask!)

Below is just a sampling of each heat level category.

Mild:

• Pasilla
• Poblano
• Anaheim
• Trinidad Perfume
• Banana Pepper
• Cubanelle
• Pepperoncini
• Hatch Chile Peppers
• Guajillo
• Aji Brown
• Aji Panca
• Ancho
• Bishop's Hat
• Cherry
• Chilhuacle varieties
• Chupetinha (Pimenta Bico)
• Georgia Flame
• Jalapeno Fooled You
• Medusa
• Peri Peri

Hot:

• African Devil
• Habanero
• Serrano
• Aji Lemon Drop
• Fresno
• Puya
• Santaka
• Charleston Hot
• Jamaican Hot
• Scotch Bonnet
• Fatalii
• Caribbean Red
• Beni Highlands
• Bonda Ma Jacques
• Brown Rocoto
• Bulgarian Apple
• Chicken Heart
• Ecuadorian Hot
• Goats Weed
• Hinkle Hatz
• ​Hot Fish
  

Super Hot:

• Trinidad Scorpion
• Trinidad Scorpion Butch T
• Trinidad Scorpion Moruga
• Carolina Reaper (HP22B)
• ​Bhut Jolokia / Naga Jolokia / Ghost Pepper
• Naga Morich (Dorset Naga)
• 7 pot (7 pod) pepper
• Trinidad Douglah (7 Pod Brown)
• 7 Pod Jonah
• 7 Pod Barrackpore
• 7 Pod Brain Strain
• 7 Pod Primo
• Trinidad Scorpion Moruga Blend
• Bhut Jolokia Indian Carbon
• Trinidad Morovas
• Trinidad Congo

Many hot pepper plants typically grow between 2 to 4 feet tall, depending on variety.

When plants are 2 feet or smaller, we list this as "compact," and when 4 feet and higher, we label it as "tall."

Ornamental varieties, such as Black Pearl and Medusa, are good examples of compact-size plants.

If you grow tall varieties, you'll need plant supports such as a plant stakes or tomato cages.

Compact:

• Black Pearl
• Filius Blue
• NuMex Twilight
• White Habanero
• Marbles
• Royal Black
• Aji Omnicolor
• Chinese Giant
• Firecracker Pequin
• Little Nubian
• Medusa's Head
• Miniature Chocolate
• Abbraccio

Tall:

• Brazilian Starfish
• Habanero Tree (Habanero de Arbol)
• Giant Marconi Red
• Bishop's Crown (Christmas Bell)
• Rain Forest
• Aji Amarillo

​Please l​et me know what your favorite pepper is below!

​And for those of you looking for complete, how-to steps on all indoor growing phases, from ​germinating your seeds to growing them to the point ​where they can safely go outside… Make sure to check out the updated and expanded Pepper Seed Starting Guide. I personally use this resource to ​start my abundant pepper garden each season, and I’m always here to answer questions!