The Collector's Box

Ten varieties. A whole season, start to finish.

This is the full run. It opens with peppers he'll be eating out of the pan in ten weeks and finishes with two that sit above 2,000,000 SHU. Enough range that he can plant the lot and have something coming off the plant from midsummer through to the first cold night.

Ten packs, 10+ seeds each. Worth $114.90, yours for $100.

What's in it

Shishito — 50 to 200 SHU. Blistered in a hot pan with salt, gone in ninety seconds. First to crop at 60 to 75 days.

Pepperoncini (Friggitello) — 100 to 500 SHU. The Italian pickling pepper. Thin walled, gently tangy, ends up in every sandwich he makes for the rest of the year. 70 to 80 days.

Pimientos de Padrón — 500 to 2,500 SHU. Most are mild, one in a dozen bites, and that's the whole game. Quick at 60 to 75 days.

Poblano — 1,000 to 2,000 SHU. Big, thick walled and built for stuffing and roasting. Dry them and they're anchos. 75 to 90 days.

Mirasol (Guajillo) — 2,500 to 5,000 SHU. The backbone of Mexican cooking. Grown to be dried, where it turns sweet and berry-like. 80 to 100 days.

Jalapeño — 2,500 to 8,000 SHU. The known quantity. Heavy cropper, good fresh, better pickled. 70 to 80 days.

Peter Pepper (Orange) — 5,000 to 30,000 SHU. A genuinely good eating pepper with a shape that has made it famous for other reasons. He'll work it out. 90 to 100 days.

Rocoto (Red) — 30,000 to 100,000 SHU. Capsicum pubescens, so it's a different animal entirely: black seeds, furry leaves, thick apple-crisp flesh and a heat that arrives late. It handles cooler conditions better than most, but it's slow. 120 to 150 days, so this is the one to start first.

Carolina Reaper (Red) — 1,400,000 to 2,200,000 SHU. No introduction needed. Fruity for about a second and a half. 100 to 120 days.

Primotalii — 1,600,000 to 2,200,000 SHU. The one he probably hasn't grown. Reaper-level heat out of the UK, and a good excuse for him to tell you about Scoville ratings over dinner. 100 to 130 days.

Why this one

Most gift bundles are five of the same thing in different colours. This is a proper spread: two supers for bragging rights, a Rocoto for the grower who wants a challenge, and six varieties that will actually get cooked.

Comes with our sowing and growing notes. The Rocoto and the two supers want the longest season, so he'll want them in a tray sooner rather than later.