Candlelight Mutant Pepper Seeds

Candlelight Mutant is a weird little Capsicum annuum that looks like something went wrong during development. In this case, that is exactly the appeal.

The variety was discovered around 2009 by Rauno, also known as Bluesman, in Finland. Candlelight carries a heritable filiform mutation that interferes with normal leaf development. The result is thin, twisted, almost thread-like foliage. The peppers can grow oddly shaped as well. Plants stay fairly compact, so they work well in containers.

Pods and Heat

The peppers are small, usually around 1 inch long, and ripen from green to red. Fruit produce very few seeds, or none at all.

Heat can vary quite a bit. Expect roughly 1,000 to 8,000 SHU, with many landing somewhere around 2,500 SHU. We list it with the mild peppers, but it is definitely not sweet.

Growing

This one is mostly grown because it looks bizarre. As always with peppers, start your seeds in quality seed starting mix. Lightly damp but not soaking wet. Warm environment for germination, 75-90F surface. Complete the final transplant outside once threat of frost is over… or even better hold off until nighttime temperatures are consistently above 55F. The plant is compact, ornamental, and unlike just about anything else in the garden.

You can eat the peppers, of course. Use them anywhere you want a little mild heat. But realistically, most people grow Candlelight Mutant because of how odd it looks.