Variety field guide
What to expect from Craig’s Grande Jalapeño Pepper Seeds
Craig’s Grande Jalapeño pepper seeds produce green hot chile pepper fruit about 3-4 in long on upright, erect plants reaching 25–30 in; maturity is 70-79 Days.
Read the complete product descriptionTraits, flavor, garden use, variety notes, and the full catalog record
Craig’s Grande Jalapeño pepper seeds grow into upright, erect plants reaching 25–30 in, bearing green fruit about 3-4 in long. Heat category: Hot. It is especially suited to stuffing, roasting, drying, pickling, fresh use, and seed saving from confirmed open-pollinated stock. Maturity is 70-79 Days.
About Craig’s Grande Jalapeño
Craig’s Grande Jalapeño is a hot chile pepper grown as Capsicum annuum L. Plants have an upright, erect habit and reach 25–30 in; support is listed as stake. The principal mature or market color is Green, with fruit described as about 3-4 in long. Reproductive classification: Open-Pollinated (OP). Maturity: 70-79 Days. Names associated with this variety include Pepper Seeds - Hot Pepper - Craig’s Grande Jalapeño.
- Scientific name:Capsicum annuum L.
- Life cycle:Annual
- Planting season:Spring
- Growth habit:Upright/Erect
- Plant height:25–30 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:Green; About 3-4 in long
- Heat:Hot; 3,000-8,000 SHU
History and seedkeeping context
The available institutional source documents the cultivar’s current horticultural profile but does not provide a breeder biography or original release history. Grande is treated as a size descriptor within the cultivar name, not as proof of a separate breeding program. The cultivar record is presented at the level supported by the surviving evidence.
Botanical identity, maintained seed-lot traits, documented breeding records, and regional food use are kept separate so that uncertainty is not turned into a stronger origin claim than the sources can support. The available sources do not establish a named person’s tribal identity. Cornell Cooperative Extension documents Craig’s Grande Jalapeño as a Capsicum annuum jalapeño with fruit about 3 to 4 inches long, plants approximately 24 to 36 inches tall, a 70-day maturity reference, and uses including salsa, stuffing, and pickling.
Cornell Cooperative Extension lists Craig’s Grande Jalapeño at 70 days. The publication uses transplant-oriented vegetable timing, and the value is placed in 70–89 Days as a regional reference.
Fruit, flavor, and kitchen use
The larger jalapeño fruit are suited to stuffing, poppers, roasting, grilling, salsa, pickling, and fresh slices. Harvest green or allow selected pods to turn red. 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. Craig’s Grande Jalapeño is especially useful for stuffing, roasting, drying, pickling, fresh use, and seed saving from confirmed open-pollinated stock. 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: 3,000-8,000 SHU. Pungency can shift with genetics, weather, water stress, and ripeness.
How to grow Craig’s Grande Jalapeño
Start Craig’s Grande Jalapeño 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 upright, erect plant or fruit load warrants it. Mature height is 25–30 in.
Season care
• Warmth matters most during germination; keep Craig’s Grande Jalapeño 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 Craig’s Grande Jalapeño 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
When is Craig’s Grande Jalapeño ready?
Plan around 70-79 Days. The listed range is a planning guide, and weather, transplant stress, and harvest stage can shift the actual date.
How long does germination take?
Expect 7–14 Days near 75–90 °F. Cooler media, excess water, old seed, or uneven moisture can delay emergence.
How large does it grow?
Expect about 25–30 in. Growth habit: Upright/Erect. Support: Stake.
How is it used?
Stuffing, roasting, drying, pickling, fresh use, and seed saving from confirmed open-pollinated stock
Can I save seed?
Peppers are largely self-pollinating but insect movement can produce crosses.





