Chocolate Habanero Chilli Pepper – 5 Seeds

Chocolate Habanero chilli pepper, also known as brown or black Habanero or Congo Black, has little to do with the sweet treat we associate chocolate with, save for the rich colour of its skin. This variety is from the Caribbean one of hottest and largest of the Habanero family. It is popular in local cuisine, used in chutneys, sauces and marinades and mixes especially well with fruit in salsas. It has a unique rich, smoky flavour unlike any other chilli pepper.

The Chocolate Habanero is a hotter pepper than its orange cousins. It packs a punch far spicier than regular Habanero, with 425,000 Scoville units in each pepper.  This is an extremely hot chilli.

Chocolate Habaneros take longer to grow than other varieties of Habaneros but they’re worth waiting for. They also grow a bit larger than other habs and come in at approximately 3” long by 2” wide. They start off an emerald green and mature to a luscious chocolate brown color approximately 100 days after transplanting. The Chocolate Habanero chilli pepper thrives in hot climates and is especially popular in Mexican Cuisine.

Cooks love to use Chocolate Habs to spice up numerous dishes and these really shine when added to salsas, Stir-fries and sauces – especially Mexican moles and Jamaican Jerk Sauce. If using them in a salsa we’ve found the best results when paring them with earthier and more pungent fruits like raisins and apricots.

Growing Chocolate Habanero Chilli Pepper

Indoor Sowing: Mid Winter, Late Winter and Early Spring.

Direct Sowing: Not Recommended.

• Peppers take a long time to grow large enough from seeds to produce mature fruit, and they require a fairly long growing season.
• The best way to get a good crop is by planting the seeds indoors 8-12 weeks before your average last frost date.
• Soak your seeds overnight in warm water to help them germinate faster.
• Sow the Pepper Seeds about 1/4-inch deep in a moist sterile potting mixture.
• Mist the potting mix with water daily so it stays moist, or seal the pots in plastic bags so they don’t dry out.
• For best germination, keep the soil between 23 and 26 degrees Celsius.
• The pots won’t require light until the seeds sprout.
• Peppers typically require 14 days to germinate, but they may take as few as seven or as many as 30 days or longer to sprout.
• After the seeds have germinated, place the pot on a light windowsill or in a heated greenhouse.
• When they are 2.5cm tall prick out seedlings, moving each into their own 10cm pot. Make sure the roots are well covered and the leaves are just above the surface of the compost.
• Water and place in a light spot indoors.
• While plants are still growing indoors, move into 13cm pots filled with general purpose compost when roots begin to show through the drainage holes in the base.
• When plants are about 20cm tall, or before if they start to lean, stake with a stick.
• Pinch out the tops of peppers when they are about 30cm tall to encourage lots of branches.
• Plants are ready to go when all danger of frost has passed.
• Either plant directly into the ground, spacing them 45cm apart or transfer them to 22cm pots to give them plenty of space to grow.
• Make sure you water regularly, especially in hot weather and feed every two weeks with a general purpose liquid fertilizer. Feeding should start when the flowers first appear and should continue until the fruit have been harvested.