Chilli Open-pollinated

Aji Delight Chilli

The aji with all the flavour and none of the heat - a baccatum sweet pepper

£2.49approx. 10 seeds

A genuine rarity - an aji with the full fruity baccatum flavour but no heat at all. Sweet, crunchy, faintly apple-like pods on a hugely productive plant. The chilli for people who don't like chilli heat.

Heat level 1/10
Sweet
Scoville No heat (0 SHU)
Sowing months
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Harvest months
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Height
75-120cm
Spread
50-70cm
Spacing
50-60cm
Position
Full sun. Greenhouse or polytunnel best in the UK. Frost-tender. Spreading - give room.
Soil
Fertile, well-drained. Water freely in growth.
About this variety

A baccatum aji with no heat at all. That is a genuine rarity. The no-heat mutation turns up often enough among the annuum peppers and almost never in this species, so what you get here is the full fruity aji character with none of the burn. It looks every inch a hot pepper, glossy and tapered and ripening to a deep red, and then behaves like a tomato.

The pods are bullet-shaped, 7 to 8cm, with firm thick walls and a real crunch. The flavour is sweet, fruity and aromatic with the bright freshness the ajis are known for, and most growers pick up a distinct note of apple in it. Since there is nothing to manage, you can use them by the handful: raw in salads, through an omelette, chargrilled until the skin lifts away, or dried and ground into a mild fragrant paprika.

It is an easy plant, vigorous and spreading, and it crops heavily and keeps cropping the more you pick. It also ripens earlier than most baccatums, which matters in a short British season. If you want a first chilli, or one the children can eat straight off the plant, this is it.

Plant alongside

Aji Delight Chilli pairs beautifully with these kitchen garden companions