NuMex Big Jim
Open-pollinated pepper
- Breeding
- Open-pollinated
- Growth habit
- -
- Days to maturity
- 75-80 days 1 independent reference · basis unstated
- Fruit
- red
- Weight
- -
- Bred by
- NMSU Chile Pepper Institute The Chile Cultivars of New Mexico State University, 1913-2022 (Circular 706) and Chile Pepper Institute research and variety releases
Grey captions say what stands behind that particular figure. Breeding, growth habit and fruit characters carry no caption because they rest on the record's sources as a whole rather than citing their own; closing that gap is ordinary outstanding work, not a finished job.
The breeder attribution here is supported by The Chile Cultivars of New Mexico State University, 1913-2022 (Circular 706) and Chile Pepper Institute research and variety releases. These claims name their own evidence rather than resting on the record's source list as a whole, because a species that distinguishes a variety, or an attribution to a breeding programme, is worth being able to check on its own.
Also known as
| Name | Kind | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Hatch | Shared name (ambiguous) | Hatch is a valley in New Mexico, not a variety. Chile grown there is sold under the place name whatever cultivar it actually is. |
Commonly confused with
These are different varieties. A name shared between them does not make them the same seed.
- different variety
NuMex Heritage Big Jim
Heritage Big Jim is a 2011 re-selection made because commercial Big Jim seed had drifted; the two are not interchangeable.
Origin & history
Released by New Mexico State University in 1975 and once recognized by Guinness as the largest chile pepper, with pods reaching a foot. Bred for the roasting drum and the freezer, not the spice rack.
Measurements
| Measurement | Value | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Days to maturity | 75-80 days | Consensus range across the cited independent references. |
| Pod length | 25-30 cm | |
| Scoville heat | 6,500 SHU | Cultivar mean measured by high-performance liquid chromatography and published in NMSU Circular 706. |
Against the rest of the pepper database
Where this variety sits among every pepper we hold a comparable figure for. Position is not merit: earlier is not better than later, and hotter is not better than milder. Only cultivar-level figures are compared, never trial results, and maturity is only ranked against figures counted the same way.
earlier than 71% of the 252 peppers we hold a figure for. None of these figures state whether they are counted from sowing or from transplant, so they are ranked against each other on the assumption that suppliers use one convention, which is not something any of them says.
longer than 96% of the 27 peppers we hold a figure for.
hotter than 53% of the 249 peppers we hold a figure for.
Traits
Disease resistance
No documented disease resistance, typical of heirlooms and older open-pollinated varieties. See pepper diseases for the cultural playbook that fills the gap.
Related varieties
- open-pollinated
Lumbre
75-90 days
- open-pollinated
NuMex Heritage Big Jim
75-90 days
- open-pollinated
NuMex Joe E. Parker
75-80 days
- open-pollinated
NuMex Sandia Select
75-95 days
- open-pollinated
Alcalde Improved
70-85 days
- open-pollinated
Anaheim
75-80 days
Explore all pepper varieties · compare any two · when to plant it where you are
Sources & References
Evidence: 2 sources, all independent references.
- Chile Pepper Institute research and variety releases · New Mexico State University, University or Government
- The Chile Cultivars of New Mexico State University, 1913-2022 (Circular 706) · New Mexico State University Chile Pepper Institute (2023-02), University or Government