Apache

A compact F1 dwarf bred for small spaces, and one of the most widely sold chilli plants in British garden centres. Apache reaches only about 45cm but crops heavily — well over a hundred pods in a good season — with a medium-hot 70,000 to 80,000 SHU that sits comfortably above a jalapeño. It holds an RHS Award of Garden Merit, and its size makes it a realistic windowsill or patio plant rather than a greenhouse commitment.

Culinary uses

Fresh in salsas and stir-fries; dried and flaked; a practical windowsill chilli for everyday cooking heat.

Growing it in the UK

Annuum is the forgiving group, and the right place to start. Seed germinates readily in warmth, the season is short enough to finish outdoors in a good summer, and February to early March is soon enough to sow. Germination is given as 7–21 days.

At 40–45 cm it is a windowsill or small-pot plant — a 3-litre pot is plenty, and it will not need staking. The compact habit makes it a good container plant and an easy one to keep on a windowsill. The record puts the yield at heavy, so start feeding weekly with something high in potassium as soon as the first fruit sets — a plant carrying that much will run out of steam otherwise.

It is hot enough that gloves are sensible when you are preparing a batch, and that a seeded pod is a very different proposition from a whole one. Thin walls dry quickly, which makes a glut easy to deal with.

Read from this variety's own record — the figures are in the panel opposite.