Pequin pepper plants

The little oval one. Hotter than it looks, and not a chiltepin.

By Debra Austin

Species: Capsicum annuum

Pequin, piquin, and the spelling

Pequin and piquin are the same pepper under two spellings. The pod is small, oval or slightly conical, and it points up or out on a woody little plant. Chiltepin and tepin are the round cousin. People mix the seed constantly. Pod shape is the check: round is chiltepin, longer is pequin.

We list both spellings when the grower used them. Grande Pequin, NuMex Bailey Pequin, African Pequin Yellow, a purple cross, and a variegated chile pequin are the plants that carry the name here. A chile tepin does not, and it stays on the wild page.

How hot pequin peppers are

Most of the pequins on our table sit around 30,000 to 60,000 SHU. Grande Pequin is listed a bit higher, 40,000 to 70,000. NuMex Bailey Pequin is the outlier, listed at 100,000 to 140,000. Size is a bad guide. The smallest pod on the plant is often the one that bites.

What a pequin is for

Pequin is a salsa and vinegar pepper. It gets crushed into a bowl, not stuffed. The heat hits quickly and leaves more quickly than a habanero, which is why a salsa made with it tastes bright instead of heavy. Dry the extra pods. They keep.

Growing pequin plants

Treat it like a small woody perennial, not like a jalapeno you pull in October. It handles a pot, it takes a bit of shade better than a bell pepper does, and it will live for years if you bring it inside before a frost. Germination from saved seed is slow. A live plant skips that wait.

Do not crowd it against a larger chinense. The pequin will look finished while the habanero is still a seedling, then it will still be fruiting when the habanero finally starts.

The Pequin we grow

Questions people ask

How hot is a pequin pepper?

The pequins we list mostly run 30,000 to 60,000 SHU. NuMex Bailey Pequin is listed higher, at 100,000 to 140,000.

Is pequin the same as chiltepin?

No. Chiltepin pods are round. Pequin pods are oval or short-conical. Both are small wild-type annuums, and seed sellers mix them up.

Is piquin a different pepper?

Same pepper, other spelling. We match both words so a plant titled either way lands on this page.