Long Red Thin Cayenne Pepper Seeds

Long Red Thin Cayenne pepper seeds grow into bushy plants reaching 31–36 in, bearing red fruit about 5-6 in long. Heat category: Hot. It is especially suited to drying, flakes or powder, fresh hot-pepper use, cooking, and open-pollinated seed saving with isolation. Maturity is 70-79 Days.

Minimum seeds per packet: 50 seeds.

About Long Red Thin Cayenne

Long Red Thin Cayenne is a hot chile pepper grown as Capsicum annuum L. Plants have a bushy habit and reach 31–36 in; support is listed as stake. The principal mature or market color is Red, with fruit described as about 5-6 in long. Reproductive classification: Open-Pollinated (OP). Maturity: 70-79 Days. Names associated with this variety include Long Red Thin Cayenne pepper, Pepper Seeds - Hot - Long Red Thin Cayenne Pepper.

• Scientific name:Capsicum annuum L.
• Life cycle:Annual
• Planting season:Spring
• Growth habit:Bush
• Plant height:31–36 in
• Sunlight:Full sun
• Seed depth:1/4 in
• Germination:7–14 Days at 75–90 °F
• Spacing:18 in between plants; 24 in between rows
• Soil:Loamy; pH 6.0–6.5
• Water:Moderate
• Support:Stake
• Reproductive type:Open-Pollinated (OP)
• Fruit:Red; About 5-6 in long
• Heat:Hot; Not standardized

History and seedkeeping context

Cornell records Cayenne Long with aliases including Cayenne Long Thin. The North American cultivar archive separately records the Long Slim or Long Red cayenne type as open-pollinated, slender, wrinkled, very hot, and dark green maturing bright red. Together the records support the long thin cayenne identity without collapsing every long red cayenne into one strain.

Long Red Thin, Cayenne Long Thin, and Long Slim are overlapping trade names, but seed lots can differ. This page preserves the documented type and aliases while avoiding an unsupported claim that all records represent the same maintained population. The available sources do not establish a named person’s tribal identity.

Cornell lists Cayenne Long at 60 to 85 days, while the North American archive gives 75 days for the closely matching Long Slim or Long Red cayenne record.

Fruit, flavor, and kitchen use

The narrow red pods are especially useful for drying into flakes and powder, but they also work fresh in sauces, stir-fries, pickles, and cooked dishes. Split fruit for faster, safer drying. Heat intensity can vary with growing conditions and individual fruit. Pungency varies with genetics, temperature, water stress, fruit position, and ripeness; any heat figure is a range, not a promise for every pod. Long Red Thin Cayenne is especially useful for drying, flakes or powder, fresh hot-pepper use, cooking, and open-pollinated seed saving with isolation. Flavor and eating quality are described as heat intensity can vary with growing conditions and individual fruit. Pungency varies with genetics, temperature, water stress, fruit position, and ripeness; any heat figure is a range, not a promise for every pod. Heat classification: Hot; listed range: Not standardized. Pungency can shift with genetics, weather, water stress, and ripeness.

How to grow Long Red Thin Cayenne

Start Long Red Thin Cayenne indoors about 8 to 10 weeks before the last expected frost. Sow 1/4 in deep in a warm, evenly moist seed-starting mix; expect 7–14 Days near 75–90 °F. Provide strong light as soon as seedlings emerge, pot up before roots become crowded, and harden plants gradually before transplanting after nights are reliably warm.

Plant in full sun with loamy soil near pH 6.0–6.5. Space plants 18 in apart and rows 24 in apart. Maintain moderate moisture, mulch after the soil warms, and avoid excessive nitrogen. Install stake early where the bushy plant or fruit load warrants it. Mature height is 31–36 in.

Season care

• Warmth matters most during germination; keep Long Red Thin Cayenne seed warm without leaving the medium saturated. • Harden seedlings gradually and wait for warm nights before transplanting, because cold soil and wind can stall peppers for weeks. • Install stake before branches carry a heavy crop, and keep moisture even while fruit is setting. • Harvest at the color stage suited to the recipe, but leave fruit fully mature on selected plants when saving seed. • Use 70-79 Days as a planning range rather than a guaranteed calendar date; weather and transplant stress can shift first harvest.

Harvest and maturity

70-79 Days from transplant to first representative harvest; the same value is used in every description. Peppers can often be used at an immature green or transitional color, but fully ripe color is required for mature seed.

Saving seed

Peppers are largely self-pollinating but insect movement can produce crosses. To save Long Red Thin Cayenne true to type, grow several healthy representative plants, isolate them from compatible pepper varieties or use blossom bags or cages, and remove clear off-types before flowering. Allow selected fruit to reach full biological color, handle hot fruit with gloves, remove the seed, dry it in a thin labeled layer until fully hard and dry, then store it cool, dark, and dry. Keep the harvest year, source, isolation method, and selection notes with the lot.

Common questions