Habanero Red - Chilli Plant

Habanero Red is one of the best-known representatives of Capsicum chinense. Characteristic are its bold heat, intense fruity aroma and the typical red, lantern-shaped fruit. If you grow habanero not just for the heat but also for its pronounced aroma, this is a proven classic.

How hot is Habanero Red?

At around 100,000 to 350,000 Scoville, Habanero Red is among the very hot chillies. Despite this heat, its fruity-floral aroma stays clearly noticeable – it's exactly this combination of flavour and heat that makes classic habaneros so versatile. With its high heat, Habanero Red is a clear heat 8–10 variety and can be found in the chilli plants with heat level 8–10 category. In the kitchen, it suits chilli sauces, salsas, marinades, chutneys and fermented preparations.

Fruit and growth of Habanero Red

The lantern-shaped, slightly wrinkled fruit starts green and ripens to a bold red when fully ripe. Fruit of around 3–5 cm is typical; during the main harvest, we regularly pick specimens of up to around 7 cm as well. The bushy plant reaches around 60–100 cm, and in our greenhouse regularly up to around 150 cm by the end of the season.

Growing Habanero Red in a pot or garden

Habanero Red loves warmth. A sunny and sheltered spot, along with a long growing season, create ideal conditions for a good harvest. The plant also grows very well in a pot, provided it has enough root room. We recommend at least 8 litres, ideally 10 litres; 15–20 litres is ideal. The plant should only go outside permanently once no more cold nights are expected; it can be overwintered frost-free.

If you'd like to get to know more members of this aromatic chilli group, you'll find various habanero plants and closely related Capsicum chinense varieties in our range. A noticeably darker alternative is, for example, Habanero Chocolate.

From our Habanero Red straight into the jar

We don't just grow Habanero Red as a young plant for our range. We also process the fruit from our own growing in several of our chilli specialities.

Our Wilder Osten combines Habanero Red with bell pepper and a fine mustard note into a versatile chilli sauce with bold but balanced heat. For our habanero chilli powder, the ripe fruit is dried and ground into a richly aromatic, single-variety powder. Our Rotes Gold chilli paste also gets its characteristic heat from Habanero Red.

That means you can grow the very same chilli variety we use for our own products, and later harvest it fresh from your own garden or balcony.

Raised by us in Illmitz

We raise our Habanero Red ourselves in Illmitz. We accompany the variety from seed to ripe fruit and therefore know exactly how it develops under our conditions.

For us, Habanero Red is a variety that especially rewards you when it gets enough warmth, sun and root room. Give it these conditions, and you'll be rewarded with a vigorous plant and aromatic, very hot fruit.