Last edited by shiny on November 08, 2026. View history
Espelette Pepper
A variety of chilli pepper
How to sow Espelette Pepper: Direct seed indoors, transplant seedlings outside after hardening off
Sun requirement for Espelette Pepper: Plant in Full Sun
The Espelette pepper (French: piment d'Espelette French pronunciation: [pi.mɑ̃ dɛs.pə.lɛt] ; Basque: Ezpeletako biperra) is a variety of Capsicum annuum that is cultivated in the French commune of Espelette, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, traditionally the northern territory of the Basque people. On 1 June 2000, it was classified as an AOC product and was confirmed as a PDO (French: AOP, Appellation d'origine protégée) product on 22 August 2002. Its flavor is described as sweet, fruity, and berry-like with a mild heat.
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Espelette pepper facts
Lifespan
Crop cycle
Max altitude
Optimal light
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For Espelette Pepper, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 8°C and a shortest growing cycle of 60 days at its best temperature, about 930 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your Espelette Pepper will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Plant Espelette Peppers with
ginger
Photos
Photos
Espelette pepper harvests
Video
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Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 60 to 180 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Capsicum annuum L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Solanales Solanaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | moderate |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours) |
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