NuMex Big Jim is a large-fruited New Mexican chilli released by Roy Nakayama at New Mexico State University in 1975. Its long, fleshy pods are useful for stuffing and green-chile cooking, and ripe fruit can be used for dried red products. Heat varies between plants; NMSU's current cultivar guide reports a mean of about 6,500 SHU.
History & lineage
Roy Nakayama released NuMex Big Jim at NMSU in 1975. Its large pods helped establish it as a home-garden and culinary cultivar, particularly for chiles rellenos. The later NuMex Heritage Big Jim is a separate selection and should not be treated as an interchangeable name.
Culinary uses
Roast and peel the green pods for sauces, or fill them for chiles rellenos. Ripe red pods can be used for dried chilli products. Taste before using a large quantity because pungency can vary noticeably between plants.
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 7-14 days. 80 days to maturity is an ordinary season here — sow in February and it will ripen without a fight.
At 60–90 cm this is a substantial plant. Give it a 10-litre pot or a greenhouse border, and stake it before the fruit sets rather than after. 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.
Thick walls suit it to stuffing, roasting and fresh use rather than drying.
Read from this variety's own record — the figures are in the panel opposite.
