Thai chili peppers are not my usual jam. And by jam, I don’t mean pepper jam or jelly. Give me a jalapeño at 2,500-8,000 units on the Scoville heat scale or maybe even a serrano (10,000-23,000) if I’m feeling daring and that’s about it. Thai chilis are 60,000-100,000 Scovilles, and for me that can be too much heat. You, on the other hand, might find that level of spicy heat delightful. And if you do, I have a wonderful new Thai chili pepper for your consideration.

A New Thai Chili

Skyline Red Thai Chili will be new on the garden center benches starting the spring of 2025. But it came in a preview sample box of new veggies that I received from Ball Seed Company, so I was able to test it out and tell you about it from experience. The descriptive text that accompanies it calls it “mildly hot.” That’s because they have bred this variety to have a heat level of just 3,000-4,000 Scovilles. So, Skyline may have the short and slender look of a traditional Thai chili, but it has the heat level that puts it in the more-palatable-for-some range of a jalapeño.

Growing Skyline

What I loved about Skyline Red Thai Chili is its near-perfect growing habit. It grew to be a very upright plant, maybe 3 ft. tall at most. Its branches were strong, and there were many of them. And despite the number of branches the plant didn’t tip over due to all the fruit.

Speak of its fruits—this Thai chili produces quite a few! The neat thing about it is the fruits sort of grew all in a cluster and pointed upward, like all these little fingers. And as they ripened and turned red their placement high on the plant made them easy to spot.

We had the perfect pepper growing summer this year. The temperatures were warm to hot, but with a Goldilocks-level of rain—not too much, not too little. When it was quite hot, Skyline did a great job getting through the heat without too much stress; i.e. it didn’t wilt. And after suffering a spate of marauding earwigs, it bounced back really well, put out a whole bunch of new leaves and flowers, and is still producing peppers even as nights fall into the mid 30s.

In fact, I’m harvesting the rest of the Thai chili peppers today, whether they are ripe or not. I’ll slide each onto a string and hang them to dry. My midwinter spicy stews will appreciate these bits of dried summer.