'Grim Reaper Red' Hot Pepper Breeders Mix

Capsicum chinense

Origin: Cooley Springs, South Carolina

Improvement status: Breeding population

Seeds per packet: ~10

Germination tested 09/2025: 90%

Life cycle: Annual

This beautiful pepper comes from hot pepper breeder Kevin Bane of Cooley Springs, South Carolina. He got his initial seeds for this population in the mail from his friend Donnie Armstrong shortly before Donnie passed away. Kevin says those seeds sat in a hot garage for three years, and when planted just one sprouted. Though it was expected to be red, that plant had chocolate-colored fruit. Subsequent generations have brought the red back. Kevin is excited to get these seeds out there in honor of Donnie, who showered everyone who asked with the best seeds he could and never asked for anything in return. Donnie lived in Tennessee and was an architect for the US government. You can expect this line to be somewhat more stable than most of Kevin's offerings here, but you should still expect some instability and diversity.