Padron
Arguably the smartest chilli choice for an Irish season, because you harvest it small and green and never wait for it to ripen.
Padron peppers come from Galicia in north west Spain, a green, wet, Atlantic place with a climate closer to Ireland's than anywhere else that grows chillies seriously. They are picked immature at three to five centimetres, fried whole in olive oil and eaten with salt, and that is the whole point: because the crop is harvested green and small, none of the ripening that defeats Irish chilli growers is required. Most fruit are mild, but the tradition holds that roughly one in ten comes up hot, which is part of the fun and occasionally part of the problem.
Quick facts
- Botanical name
- Capsicum annuum
- Type
- Open pollinated
- Category
- Small green frying pepper
- Difficulty
- Challenging
- Hardiness
- Tender, no frost tolerance
- In Ireland
- Needs a greenhouse or tunnel
- Germination
- 7 to 21 days at 25 to 30C
- Sowing depth
- 5mm
- Spacing
- 45cm apart, 50cm between rows
- Height
- 60cm
- Position
- Full sun
- Containers
- Grows well in pots
- Sowing to harvest
- 18 to 26 weeks
- Harvest
- July to October
Sowing and harvest calendar for Padron
Months shaded below are the reliable windows for Irish conditions.
Where to buy Padron chilli seeds in Ireland
Irish suppliers that stock this, so postage stays domestic and seed arrives in time to sow. These are plain links, not paid placements.
Order online
- Seedaholic Irish Detailed packet notes, posted from Co. Galway Family run in Clonbur since 2005, deep heirloom range with detailed growing notes on every packet. Visit Seedaholic , Co. Galway
- Quickcrop Irish Sowing months listed on every product, ships nationwide Ballymote based, lists sowing and harvest months per product and ships across Ireland. Visit Quickcrop , Co. Sligo
- Brown Envelope Seeds Irish Organic seed grown and saved in West Cork Grows and saves its own certified organic seed in West Cork, so the varieties are already adapted to Irish conditions. Visit Brown Envelope Seeds , Co. Cork
Why it suits Ireland
Every other chilli on this site asks the Irish season for something it struggles to give: another six weeks of warmth at the end to turn green fruit red. Padron does not ask for it at all. The fruit is harvested green and immature, so the moment the plant is setting, you are harvesting.
The origin helps too. Galicia is Atlantic, cloudy and wet by Spanish standards, and while it is warmer than Ireland it is not a desert pepper climate. These plants are used to humidity.
The practical result is that a Padron in an Irish polytunnel or greenhouse is one of the most productive chillies you can grow, and cropping starts weeks before a cayenne on the same bench shows any colour.
Growing notes
Sow January to March with bottom heat at 25 to 30C. A February sowing is ideal, since you are not chasing a ripening date and a March sowing still crops well.
Pot on into a 10 litre pot or a greenhouse border at 45cm spacing. Plants reach around 60cm and crop heavily, so support them once they are loaded.
Pinch out the growing tip at 20cm. Feed with high potash tomato feed from first fruit set and water evenly, which keeps the fruit mild as well as keeping the plant productive.
Pick every two or three days from July, cutting the small fruit off with the short stalk left on. Consistent picking is what keeps a Padron producing into October; a plant left with big fruit hanging on it slows right down.
To cook them, fry whole in hot olive oil until the skins blister, then salt heavily. They do not keep well, dry poorly and are not worth freezing, so grow enough to eat rather than enough to store.
Common questions
Is it true that only some Padrons are hot?
That is the tradition, usually given as about one in ten, and there is real variation between individual fruit on the same plant. It is not random in the way it is often told, though: heat rises sharply as the fruit gets bigger and older, and it rises with stress, so a hot dry spell or a plant kept short of water will produce a higher proportion of hot ones. Picking small and keeping the plants evenly watered gives you a milder batch. In cool damp Irish conditions most fruit come out on the mild side.
When exactly should I pick them?
At three to five centimetres, while they are still bright green, glossy and firm. That is much smaller than instinct suggests and you have to be disciplined about it. Left to grow to seven or eight centimetres they become tough, noticeably hotter and far less pleasant fried. Check the plants every two or three days once cropping starts, because they size up faster than you expect in warm weather.
Can I let some ripen to red?
You can, and they turn red and considerably hotter, but there is little reason to in Ireland. Ripening ties the plant up for weeks and slows further production, and this is a variety whose entire advantage here is that it does not need ripening. If you want ripe red chillies, grow a cayenne alongside it.
More chillies to consider
Apache F1
AGMF1 hybrid / Compact hot chilli
The best chilli for a windowsill or a small greenhouse: knee high, heavy cropping, and genuinely hot despite the size.
Growing notes and stockistsHungarian Hot Wax
AGMOpen pollinated / Early wax type, mild to medium heat
The most forgiving chilli for a cool Irish greenhouse: early, mild, and perfectly usable at the pale yellow stage before it ever turns red.
Growing notes and stockistsJalapeno
Open pollinated / Medium heat, thick walled
The chilli everyone recognises, and a fair choice here because you pick it green anyway, so the Irish season never has to ripen it.
Growing notes and stockistsCayenne
Open pollinated / Long thin drying chilli, hot
The one to grow if you want your own dried chilli flakes, but it needs a January sowing and a warm greenhouse to finish properly.
Growing notes and stockists