I planted a white hab last year and it wasn't extremely hot. It was hot toward the seed end but not at the tip. It did not have the same shape as a normal hab either, so I wondered what made it a hab. One parent, I suppose.

Burpee sells Zavory.

Leslie

There's both a red and an orange version of a mild habanero out there, and both have been available for several years.

I've grown a red mild habanero called "Zavory" and a mild orange hab called Suave Orange.

Renee's Garden Seeds has a packet that contains seeds for both the orange and the red Suave habanero pepper.

I've linked her pepper page below.

I am sure that Tomato Growers Supply and Totally Tomatoes always carry either Zavory or Suave or both although I didn't go to their websites to check and see.

As grown in my garden in multiple years, both the mild habaneros were much milder than the jalapenos we grow. I'd bet their Scoville Heat Unit rating is probably 800-1000, and most of the jalapenos I grow are 3,000 to maybe 8,000 or 10,000 Scoville Heat Units. The mild habaneros are so mild that we stopped growing them. They are really, really mild.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Suave Pepper at Renee's Garden Seeds

Dawn,

It's a shame you've stopped growing them! Don't you just love the ability to smell their fruitiness without gasping in asthmatic pain?!

Seedmama, But I like gasping in pain!

And, no, I don't miss them.

We have a pretty stedfast rule, if we don't love to eat it, we don't grow it, so...out they went!

I will offer a word of advice to anyone who wants to grow hot habaneros and mild ones: when you harvest, keep them separate and put them in clearly labeled 'hot' and 'mild' bags in the house. Otherwise, someday, someone will think they are picking up a mild pepper and will take a big bite out of it....and that's when they'll learn they're biting into a pepper with 180,000 to 300,000 Scoville Heat Units instead of one that has 800 or 1000. Experience is a great teacher.

Dawn

It could be the $10,000 winner on America's Funniest Videos.

Probably could have been but I was home alone at the time and there wasn't anybody standing around in the kitchen with me shooting a video. I did survive the experience.

Oh dear. I didn't realize it was YOUR experience. I am so sorry. I remember the first time I processed habs for jelly. Even with precautions, I thought I might die, and that was just the aroma.

lol

I was so careful when harvesting them and thought I was equally careful at keeping them segregated in the kitchen. Apparently I wasn't as careful as I thought.

I always wear latex or nitrile gloves when processing peppers, especially if making multiple batches of jelly in one day, but with the habs, I have to wear double gloves or triple gloves to keep the capsaicin from working its way through the gloves and setting my hands on fire.

Hmmmmm, Do you suppose this hab eating incident happened the same year the pepper eating roommate went to Pennsylvania during gardening harvest season? LOL LOL LOL

The NMSU Chile Institute sells mild hab's (Red & Orange Suave). I've linked their website below. I ordered several things from them last year and was very pleased with my order.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chile Pepper Institute

Does anyone know where I can buy actual peppers and not just the seeds?

Try Cross Country Nurseries. My brother, and his friend (both in NJ) purchased an assortment of c. chinese pepper plants, from these people, this last spring. They were quite pleased. When we visited out there, in October, he showed me a plant covered in elongated yellow fruit. The fruit was hot enough to make you catch your breath, when you took a bite. But it was absolutely delicious. I believe this company sells it as Aji Yellow 2.

I only grew one habanero plant, this year, as I purchased the plant (locally). My seed didn't sprout. I didn't notice that the tag said "World's hottest habanero," only seeing "habanero." The plant only produced about a dozen fruit. Only two ripened before frost. So, I decided to cut them and get seed for next year. As was my habit, I took a nibble of the end of the pod, while I was getting the seed. WOW WOW WOW! That was painful!!! Turns out it was a fatali habanero.

I wasn't wearing gloves, and that stuff stayed on me for two days. I kept getting myself in the eye.

I had a problem with dry skin on my face and hands. On day #2 I put a generous amount of hand lotion on my hands and massaged it into my face as well. My face turned bright red and remained that way for two more days! When it returned to its normal color, it skin particles flaked off!

Fortunately, I saved seed from Aji Yellow 2, from my brother. I'm going to grow that one in 2013. I like heat. But I don't need it so extreme.

Incidentally, the fatali pod, from which I harvested seed, dried on our kitchen table. For a couple of weeks I'd pick it up about once a day and nibble on it, just a little, only to stop and think, "this is the hottest pepper I've ever tried!." It was like a hot slap in the face.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Here is a link that might be useful: Cross Country Nurseries

Congressman,

Do you mean you want to buy the actual peppers for eating? I don't know where you live, but here in southern OK, and also across the Red River in north central Texas where I usually buy groceries, they are available in most grocery stores for at least a portion of the year. I don't see them very often between January and March, but otherwise can find them in one store or another, if needed, at any other time. I've seen them everywhere from Wal-Mart to Central Market. You also sometimes can find them in various ethnic markets. If you cannot find any locally, you can order them online from various sellers of fresh produce. I've linked one of them below for you.

George, I love Fatali. I grew it from the early 2000s through about 2008 or so. I've grown all kinds of habaneros in every available color (chocolate, orange, red, yellow, white, peach, mustard, etc.) but nowadays the only one I grow is the variety 'Chichen Itza' because it produces so many peppers per plant. I have to be really careful about how many of these plants I put into the ground or I can grow a lifetime supply of habs in just one year. The first couple of years I planted 'Chichen Itza', I planted 8 plants. Next year I intend to put only 2 of them in the ground. Really, one plant is all I need, but I'll plant two in case one dies.

To process habaneros, I used to wear double and triple latex medical-type gloves. Nowadays I order extra-thick latex gloves from a medical supply store so I only have to wear 1 layer of gloves. I also have to take Bendaryl every 4 hours when processing peppers and making Habanero Gold jelly. Otherwise, I sneeze non-stop, my eyes water, etc. I'm not taking about the typical hot pepper discomfort you get from processing peppers and inhaling the fumes. It is more like an allergic reaction to them. I sneeze until I throw up without the Benadryl. It doesn't happen with any other sort of hot pepper---just with the habaneros.

I still have 'Chichen Itza' growing in the greenhouse, and I've made tons of Habanero Gold jelly and also have frozen lots of habs for next year.

I love the beauty of the Chichen Itza (and all other) habanero plants when they are covered in ripening fruit. That almost neon-orange color stands out so much against the green foliage. I'd grow them just as ornamentals even if we didn't eat the peppers.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: Melissa's Produce