How to Grow Pink Reaper Chillies from Seed

September 16, 2026

Chilli Growing Guides · Capsicum chinense

How to Grow Pink Reaper Chillies from Seed

Gnarled peach-pink pods over dark foliage, grown for colour above all. A variable cross, so expect surprises.

Pink Reaper is sold in Britain as a cross between the Carolina Reaper and Pink Tiger, and it is grown for the colour above all. The pods are gnarled and textured, ripening to a soft peach-pink with small tail-like points from the Reaper side. The dark foliage comes from the Pink Tiger parent and sets the pods off well.

Some plain speaking: the name is attached to at least three different plants by different sellers, so what arrives in a packet is not consistent across the trade. Pink Tiger is itself unstable, so this cross segregates, and pod colour and shape vary from plant to plant.

Quick Facts at a Glance

Species

Capsicum chinense

Heat

Untested, possibly well below 1 million SHU

Sow

January to February

Harvest

September to November

Foliage

Dark, ornamental

Difficulty

Full growing method

Pink Reaper is grown like every other Capsicum chinense. Our species guide covers sowing temperatures, potting on, feeding, pollination, overwintering and problems step by step.

Read the Capsicum chinense guide →

About this Variety

The fruit

Gnarled, textured pods ripening to soft peach-pink, with small tail-like points.

Variation

Pod colour and shape vary from plant to plant, and some seedlings will look nothing like the photograph.

The heat

Sellers quote around a million Scoville, but nothing has been tested and the Pink Tiger parent is not a superhot, so the real figure may be a good deal lower.

Growing note

Plants run tall on thin stems and need staking once fruit sets.

Handling

Treat it as a superhot until you know otherwise: wear gloves and eye protection when picking and processing, and keep fruit away from children and pets.