Premium NuMex Las Cruces Cayenne Pepper Seeds for Planting - Hot & Spicy Chili Pepper Variety - Perfect for Home Gardens, Cooking & Canning

Product Description

Pepper Description: This is our favorite cayenne pepper! ‘NuMex Las Cruces’ originated from a hybridization between two of the most prominent cultivars, Large Red Thick and Mesilla, grown in southern New Mexico. ‘Large Red Thick’ is an open-pollinated cultivar that in southern New Mexico is favored because of its early maturity date (≈70 d) and has large fruits. ‘Mesilla’ is an F1 hybrid that has high yield but is late-maturing (≈90 d). The two parents were hybridized to combine the earliness and large fruits of ‘Large Red Thick’ with the high yield of ‘Mesilla’. At hybridization, selecting for curly top resistance was not planned. Beginning with the F2 progeny, single plant selection using phenotypic recurrent selection with pedigree breeding for earliness, desirable fruit shape, and size, yield, and ease of destemming was accomplished. After five generations of selfing, seed from the single plant selection, New Mexico Breeding Line 03C477-4, was increased under insect-proof cages (Bosland, 1993). This increased seed became ‘NuMex Las Cruces’ and was used in subsequent field plot trials.