• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

Cachucha / Ajicito

Was asked about providing Cachucha / Ajicito for 2016.  I have no experience with this specifically, but have grown other small sweet peppers and found them not to be any more challenging than full size bells. 

Hoping someone has grown this one and might have some insight.
 
The aji citos I grew two years ago were not sweet - in fact they were the hottest ajis I ever ate!  I looked up the Cachucha and it's shaped more like a pumpkin or brazilian starfish - the aji citos I grew were more like Aji Lemon/pendant shaped pods.  Maybe I didn't grow an aji cito after all? 
 
mpicante said:
I believe the Aji Cachucha gets people confused.One is from Cuba and is a c.chinense and the other from Puerto Rico(sometimes called aji dulce) and i believe is a baccatum.
I am certainly confused as the request comes from an Indian grocery wholesaler.  Gonna scope out their site, see if they already offer them, look at their photos, read their description and see what they are likely asking for.
 
SmokenFire said:
The aji citos I grew two years ago were not sweet - in fact they were the hottest ajis I ever ate!  I looked up the Cachucha and it's shaped more like a pumpkin or brazilian starfish - the aji citos I grew were more like Aji Lemon/pendant shaped pods.  Maybe I didn't grow an aji cito after all? 
No, you did. Apparently there was some confusion with nomenclature when all these new chilies were being introduced to N. America according to thechilewoman. The aji cito is the hottest c. baccattum. It's tube shaped and yellow.

There is a mushroom looking one (which I mistakenly bought from thechilewoman) which is sweet and not hot. When she acquired it in the early days, it too was called aji cito. It is in fact aji dulce and mentioned above this post.
 
Hot Stuff - So the aji dulce is sometimes mistakenly called aji citro?  Sorry, head is spinning around a bit.  If we stick with the culturally more accurate names, I think you are saying aji dulce is sweet and aji citro is hot?  If so, I again feel like a stupid American... you know, like the egg fooyoung thing.
 
ajdrew said:
Hot Stuff - So the aji dulce is sometimes mistakenly called aji citro?  Sorry, head is spinning around a bit.  If we stick with the culturally more accurate names, I think you are saying aji dulce is sweet and aji citro is hot?  If so, I again feel like a stupid American... you know, like the egg fooyoung thing.
Yes. There was a number of chilies that shared names around 10 years or so ago when chilies were first getting popular and more varieties were coming into the states. So always make sure the picture (or that your have a picture) of the chili when you are buying seeds. I thought in 2014 I was getting the aji cito baccattum but I got the one that was actually also called aji dulce c. chinense.

It would help if seed sellers made sure they used the latin variety names with the pepper seeds they had listed.

Aji cito, which is yellow, and tube shaped is 100k shu. Aji Dulce is mushroom shaped and sweet.
 
I'd agree with the cito being quite spicy. I'm growing it and it's actually one that I really like, it will definitely be one that I grow in years to come. 
 
Back
Top