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Name That Plant!Hot Peppers

What kind of pepper plants are these?

Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC

11 months ago

I usually grow habaneros and scorpions, but my greenhouse had a major malfunction and none of my seeds grew :-( So my buddy gave me a bunch of his excess.

He didn't mark, though!! He said that he thinks these are Scotch Bonnets, Carolina Reapers, and Thai Peppers. But he's not positive, and has no idea which is which :-/

I tried to sort them to groups that I think are the same for these pics.

These are currently 8-12" tall:

Then these are about a little taller than the first, and the leaves are lighter in color:

And these are currently the tallest:

This is important to me to figure out before planting because I'm going to have to plant them along with flowers, and need to plan the best way for them to get the most sun.

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Comments (3)

beesneeds
11 months ago
I'm afraid the best you may be able to do right now is what you are doing- grouping them by height. In general, carolina reapers are going to be the tallest and biggest, then scotch bonnets, then the thai peppers which should remain much smaller. Carolina reapers and scotch bonnets will have similar growth patterns, though carolina reapers can get a more branchy. All three plants have similar white flowers, though scotch bonnets can get a little more cream or show their green centers a bit less. Beyond that it's going to be rather difficult to ID them till they start fruiting.
Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC
Original Author
11 months ago
I gotcha. I hoped that the yellow-ish leaves of the second set would be a good hint to which it might be, at least. My plant app just says "hot pepper" for all of them! LOL

There's a cultivar of Reaper that they sell locally, Smokin' Eds. I don't know if that's a common one? I planted them last year and they stayed at about 18" tall!

Worst case scenario, I'll find out when I bite into one... :-O
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beesneeds
11 months ago
Smokin Eds are smaller, but happy ones should have hit around three feet. There's a few things that can keep plants on the smaller side. But I will try not to derail there.

The yellowish leaves could be an indicator- but it can just be they need some food, lol. It's not always a reliable indicator for idenification.

You shouldn't have to eat one to tell I hope. All three plants have fruits that look different.

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