Last edited on 30 Oct 2026. View history
Carolina Reaper
A variety of Capsicum chinense
How to sow Carolina Reaper: Direct seed indoors, transplant seedlings outside after hardening off
Sun requirement for Carolina Reaper: Plant in Full Sun
Capiscum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae that produces peppers. The Capiscum genus contains 20-27 species of peppers which vary in color, shape, size, and heat. 5 species are domesticated. Most peppers are green when unripe and change color as the fruit matures. The fruit of most species contains capsaicin, which gives hot peppers their spiciness. Bell peppers (Capsicum annuum) are an exception: they do not contain capsaicin due to a recessive gene, and are therefore not spicy. The Scoville scale is used to measure the relative heat of peppers. Bell peppers have a rating of 0-25 Scoville Heat Units (SHU), jalapenos are between 2,500-10,000 SHU. All peppers, regardless of species, prefer a long, warm growing season and well-drained soil high in organic matter. Seeds can be started indoors 8-10 weeks before hardening off and transplanting. In cooler climates, it can be preferable to grow peppers in containers indoors to extend the growing season and prevent frost from killing plants. Peppers have an upright growing habit and can benefit from staking to help the plant support the fruits.
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Carolina reaper facts
Lifespan
Germination
10–14 days median of members' seed packetsWhat are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For Carolina Reaper, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 15°C and a shortest growing cycle of 120 days at its best temperature, about 960 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your Carolina Reaper will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
How members grow Carolina Reapers
Sunniness
Planted from
Photos
PhotosCarolina reaper crops
Video
Where Carolina Reapers grow
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Who's planted Carolina Reapers
- shiny seedlings frames · Wellington, NZ
- Hopeman15 Garden · Potsdam, Germany
shiny
Carolina reaper harvests
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Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Capsicum chinense Jacq.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Solanales Solanaceae |
|---|---|
| Optimal temperature | 20 - 26 °C |
| Absolute temperature | 15 - 32 °C |
| Optimal rainfall | 600 - 1250 mm/year |
| Absolute rainfall | 500 - 1500 mm/year |
| Optimal soil pH | 6.0 - 6.5 |
| Absolute soil pH | 5.3 - 7.0 |
| Crop cycle | 120 - 150 days |
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | heavy, medium |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
| Optimal light | very bright |
Learn more about Carolina Reapers
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