Orange Spice Jalapeño Pepper Seeds

Orange Spice Jalapeño pepper seeds grow into upright, erect plants reaching 25–30 in, bearing orange fruit about 3 in long, jalapeño-shaped fruit. Heat category: Hot. It is especially suited to orange salsa, colorful pickles, roasting, jalapeño poppers, hot sauce, and high-heat jalapeño gardens. Maturity is 70-79 Days.

About Orange Spice Jalapeño

Orange Spice 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 Orange, with fruit described as about 3 in long, jalapeño-shaped fruit. Reproductive classification: Open-Pollinated (OP). Maturity: 70-79 Days. Names associated with this variety include Orange Jalapeño, Pepper Seeds - Hot - Orange Spice 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:Orange; About 3 in long, jalapeño-shaped fruit
• Heat:Hot; About 79,000 SHU

History and seedkeeping context

Jalapeño is a Mexican Capsicum annuum pod type, but NuMex Orange Spice is a modern United States cultivar rather than an old landrace or heirloom. New Mexico State University developed it as part of a three-color jalapeño series. The breeding population began with a 1995 cross between Permagreen bell pepper and Early Jalapeño, followed by selection for jalapeño form, stable mature color, and horticultural performance.

NMSU released NuMex Orange Spice in 2015 with NuMex Lemon Spice and NuMex Pumpkin Spice. The institutional record distinguishes Orange Spice from its sister cultivars. Its mature fruit is bright orange, its pods are significantly longer than Early Jalapeño, and the skin develops epidermal reticulation, the cork-like surface checking familiar on many jalapeños.

Those figures make Orange Spice the hottest member of the trio, but field heat still varies with environment and plant stress. The word Orange in the name identifies mature fruit color. NMSU did not document an orange, citrus, or tropical flavor, so this page describes it as a hot jalapeño rather than turning color into an unsupported flavor claim.

The available sources do not establish a named person’s tribal identity. New Mexico State University reports that NuMex Orange Spice came from a 1995 cross between Permagreen bell pepper and Early Jalapeño. Its ripe fruit is bright orange, and NMSU measured substantially more heat than in the Lemon Spice and Pumpkin Spice selections.

Fruit, flavor, and kitchen use

Harvest glossy green pods for the familiar green-jalapeño stage or allow them to ripen bright orange for full color. Use the firm fruit fresh in salsa and pico de gallo, slice it for pickling and nachos, roast or grill it, or stuff it for jalapeño poppers. The orange stage adds strong visual contrast to mixed-color relishes, fermented hot sauces, pepper jellies, and dried chile blends. NMSU heat figures are cultivar averages, not a promise for every pod. Taste cautiously and wear gloves when cutting ripe fruit or processing seed. Orange Spice Jalapeño is especially useful for orange salsa, colorful pickles, roasting, jalapeño poppers, hot sauce, and high-heat jalapeño gardens. Flavor and eating quality are described as hot jalapeño flavor; Orange describes mature color, not a documented citrus or orange flavor. Heat classification: Hot; listed range: About 79,000 SHU. Pungency can shift with genetics, weather, water stress, and ripeness.

How to grow Orange Spice Jalapeño

Start Orange Spice 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 Orange Spice 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 Orange Spice 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