Anaheim chile
Capsicum annuum
Also known as: New Mexico chile, Hatch chile (specifically grown in Hatch, NM), California chile (dried form), Long green chile
Quick facts
- Category
- fruiting
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Days to harvest
- 70 to 90 days
- Harvest type
- continuous production over weeks or months
- Spacing
- 50 cm between plants
Environment
- Temperature
- 18–32°C
- pH
- 6 to 6.8
- EC (hydroponic)
- 1.8 to 2.6 mS/cm
- Daily light
- 22 to 30 mol/m²/day (strict, will fail outside this range)
Climate and zones
- USDA zones
- 5 to 12 (winter low around -29°C or warmer)
- Frost tolerance
- frost sensitive (dies at first frost)
- Season
- warm (summer crops, frost-sensitive)
Viable growing environments:
- outdoor in growing season (annual)
- unheated greenhouse / hoop house
- heated greenhouse
- indoor (heated home)
- indoor hydroponics under grow lights
USDA zone bounds reflect outdoor year-round survival. Anywhere outside the bounded zone range, this crop still grows as an annual in the warm months (outdoor_seasonal), under cover (greenhouse), or indoors under lights.
Growing systems
Anaheim chile works in:
- drip / Dutch buckets
- media bed (ebb and flow)
- soil bed
Growing media
The substrate the roots sit in. Choice depends on the system (clay pebbles don't fit NFT channels; rockwool isn't used in media beds) and the crop (anaheim chile works in the media listed below).
| Medium | pH effect | Water retention | Bacterial surface |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expanded clay pebbles (LECA) | neutral / inert | low | high |
| Coco coir (Coconut coir) | slightly acidic | high | moderate |
| Perlite (Expanded volcanic glass) | neutral / inert | very low | low |
| Rockwool (Mineral wool) | alkaline until pre-soaked | very high | low |
| Soil-based mix (Potting soil) | varies by source | high | high |
Bacterial surface area matters for aquaponics: clay pebbles, lava rock, and pumice double as biofilter substrate. Low-surface media (rockwool, perlite, pea gravel) work in hydroponics but need a separate biofilter in aquaponics.
Nutrient demand by stage
NPK ratios are relative weights at each growth stage; the nutrient mix calculator scales them to absolute grams or ml. EC targets shift through the plant's life: seedlings need a much lighter solution than fruiting adults.
| Stage | N | P | K | EC target (mS/cm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| seedling | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.2 |
| vegetative | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1.8 |
| flowering | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2.2 |
| fruiting | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2.4 |
Companion-growing notes
- Heavy uptake of potassium, calcium. Co-grown crops with the same demand will end up deficient even at "correct" EC. Plan around this in shared reservoirs.
Aquaponics suitability
Compatible with typical aquaponics nutrient profiles. Fish waste provides enough nitrogen for healthy growth; supplemental potassium, calcium, and iron may still be needed depending on fish stocking density.
Care notes
A productive hydroponic pepper for growers who want large, mild chiles for roasting and stuffing. EC 2.0-3.0 mS/cm. pH 5.8-6.5. Temperature: 21–29°C. Full sun or strong supplemental light (DLI 18-25 mol/m2/day). Plants are medium-sized (60–80 cm) and produce well in Dutch bucket, DWC, or drip systems. Fruits are large and heavy; support the main stems with stakes or cages as fruit load increases. Harvest green for fresh use (70-80 days from transplant) or let fruits ripen to red for drying (90-100 days). Calcium supplementation prevents blossom end rot on the large fruits. Potassium and magnesium are important during fruiting. Anaheim chiles are heavy producers: a well-fed plant yields 15-25 fruits over a season. For fire-roasted green chile (the New Mexican staple), harvest when fruits are full-sized and dark green, then char the skin on a grill or under a broiler. The thick walls hold up well to roasting. A practical and rewarding hydroponic pepper crop. Green chile season (August-September in New Mexico) is a cultural event in the southwestern US, with roadside roasting operations filling the air with the distinctive smoky aroma. Growing Anaheim or New Mexican chiles hydroponically extends the season and provides roasting-quality peppers outside the traditional growing region. The thick-walled fruits hold up well to freezing: roast, peel, and freeze in flat bags for year-round green chile use.
Notable varieties
A starting shortlist of cultivars worth knowing about. Not exhaustive: the seed catalogs list hundreds of named varieties. These are the ones home growers commonly choose between.
| Cultivar | Type | Breeder / origin | Days | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaheim | open-pollinated | 75 | The original California variety, mild (500-1,000 Scoville). What most supermarket 'Anaheim peppers' are. Productive, easy. | |
| NuMex Big Jim | open-pollinated | New Mexico State University, 1975 | 80 | The largest New Mexico chile (up to 30 cm), Guinness record holder. Moderate heat (2,500-3,000 Scoville). The classic chile relleno pepper for New Mexicans. |
| NuMex Sandia | open-pollinated | New Mexico State University, 1956 | 80 | Hotter than Anaheim (5,000-8,000 Scoville), thinner walls, the variety most Hatch Valley growers plant. Skin slips easily after roasting. |
| NuMex Joe E. Parker | open-pollinated | New Mexico State University, 1990 | 80 | Disease-improved Anaheim type, moderate heat (1,500-3,000), the most-grown New Mexico chile for home and small commercial use. |
Plan a setup with Anaheim chile
Verified against: chile-pepper-institute-nmsu, new-mexico-state-university, u-of-arizona-cooperative-extension. Last reviewed 2026-05-15.