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Chilli seeds buying guide

Updated: 21 October 2026

You are about to order one packet, and the heat on the title, the seed count, and the plant size do not line up. A £3.45 packet of ten seeds can be a cooking chilli, a tall bush, or a superhot, and one heat bullet describes a different variety. This chilli seeds buying guide ranks the checks: the heat you will use, a listing that does not contradict itself, then seed count and habit. The twelve amazon.co.uk rows from 19 October 2026 are in the [Chili seeds comparison](/hub/herb-seeds/chili-seeds). Peter F. compared those listings and public UK guides. He did not grow the seed in a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are about to order one packet, and the heat on the title, the seed count, and the plant size do not line up.

Our top picks

PRIMERASEMILLAS.COM Piri Piri

Best overall

PRIMERASEMILLAS.COM Piri Piri
7.4/10about £3.45
View offer
JustSeed JustSeed Jalapeno

Rank 2

JustSeed JustSeed Jalapeno
8.2/10about £4.35
View offer
SPECIALITYSEEDS.COM Thai Dragon

Alternative

SPECIALITYSEEDS.COM Thai Dragon
5.0/10about £3.45
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Match the heat to the cooking you do
  2. 2.Read the listing for a contradiction
  3. 3.Count the seeds, then the reviews
  4. 4.Match the plant to the space

Match the heat to the cooking you do

Which? puts jalapeños around 2,500–10,000 Scoville heat units and habaneros around 100,000–350,000. Those bands are types, not a test of any ASIN, and heat also moves with ripeness. JustSeed prints no figure. Scotch Bonnet Red prints around 300,000, Piri Piri and Tabasco over 100,000, Bolivian Rainbow 30,000–50,000, and Basket of Fire about 80,000. The 10/10 rows are Scorpion Yellow around 1,600,000, Scorpion Chocolate around 1,200,000, and both Reaper colours around 2,000,000. The RHS jalapeño band, 2,500–8,000, is narrower than Which?. Do not merge the two ranges into one measurement of this packet.

Read the listing for a contradiction

A listed Scoville figure is the seller’s text, not a Winthrop test. The 2017 Guinness average of 1,641,183 does not repair a bad bullet. Thai Dragon says 5/10, while about 800,000 describes Bhut Jolokia Chocolate. Jamaican Red is both 7/10 very spicy and mild, yet spicy, at around 200,000. Leave both until the page agrees with itself. The Piri Piri title also says Grow Tabasco Birds Eye Chillies, and the Tabasco title says the reverse, with nearly the same body. Heirloom is not a legal grade, none says F1, and in England these packets are standard seed under The Seed Marketing Regulations 2011. A distance sale of Capsicum seed needs a plant passport from the seller. These fields show no number. A wrong variety is a Consumer Rights Act 2015 complaint. You do not issue the passport.
PRIMERASEMILLAS.COM Piri Piri

Testsieger

PRIMERASEMILLAS.COM Piri Piri
7.4/10about £3.45
View offer

Count the seeds, then the reviews

JustSeed is 60 seeds at £4.35, with 4.2 from 61 reviews. Piri Piri is 4.5 from 16, with two texts about plants, which is why it is the best value among the £3.45 packets. Scorpion Yellow is 5.0 from 8 and the only review body is Good. Basket of Fire, Reaper Chocolate, and Jamaican Red had no star line. A 12 month guarantee is seller text. No UK statutory pepper germination percentage was retrieved. The jalapeño organic-registration line is not a certificate.

Match the plant to the space

Bolivian Rainbow and Basket of Fire are described as compact dwarf bushes. Thai Dragon, Piri Piri, and Tabasco are described as tall. No row gives a height in centimetres. The RHS figure of about 20–30 cm is for compact windowsill varieties in general, not a measurement of these packets. Basket of Fire does not say F1, so shop heights for an F1 stay off it. Medium bushes cover the Scorpions, the Reapers, Scotch Bonnet Red, and Jamaican Red. The jalapeño habit is not stated. Seller lines of 12°C or 15°C do not replace the RHS night minimum of 12°C, usually late May or early June.

Common questions

What should I check before I buy chilli seeds?
Check the heat you will cook with, then whether the listing contradicts itself, then the seed count and the habit. In this set that means skipping a 10/10 packet if you wanted a jalapeño, rejecting the Thai Dragon heat bullet and the Jamaican Red mild-versus-very-spicy wording, and comparing 10 seeds at 34.5p with 60 seeds at about 7p. The packet price is the last check. The figures are the amazon.co.uk snapshot of 19 October 2026.
How hot is a jalapeño compared with a Scotch bonnet?
Which? puts jalapeños around 2,500–10,000 Scoville heat units and habaneros around 100,000–350,000. The RHS prints Scotch bonnet at 100,000–350,000 and a narrower jalapeño band of 2,500–8,000. Scotch Bonnet Red in this set prints a seller figure around 300,000. The JustSeed jalapeño prints no Scoville figure, so those bands describe the types, not a test of that packet.
Does a 10-seed packet at £3.45 cost less than a 60-seed packet at £4.35?
The packet is cheaper. The seed is not. £3.45 for 10 seeds is 34.5p each. £4.35 for 60 JustSeed jalapeño seeds is about 7p each. £3.95 for 10 seeds is 39.5p. Other shops were often cheaper per packet around 20 October 2026. That does not change the count inside this twelve.
Can I trust a Scoville number printed on the listing?
Treat it as the seller's claim. Use it to see whether the packet is a cooking chilli or a superhot, and drop it when the same bullet describes another variety, as on Thai Dragon. It is not the Guinness average, and it is not a certificate of what your plant will measure in your garden.
Which packets in this set are described as compact or tall?
Bolivian Rainbow and Basket of Fire use compact dwarf wording. Thai Dragon, Piri Piri, and Tabasco are described as tall. The others are medium bushes or, in the jalapeño's case, silent on habit. No row here gives a height in centimetres you can plan a sill from.
Is a 5.0 from two reviews enough?
No. Trinidad Scorpion Chocolate is 5.0 from two reviews, and the only written review talks about arrival and a heated tray. That is not evidence it grows better than a packet with 16 or 61 reviews. Basket of Fire, Carolina Reaper Chocolate, and Jamaican Red had no star line in this capture.
Do I need a plant passport before I sow?
The seller must be able to issue a Great Britain plant passport for Capsicum seed on a distance sale, including a small packet. You do not issue it. These files do not show a passport number. This page does not say that sowing without one in your hand is unlawful.

Related pages

Best chilli seeds

Carolina Reaper seeds

Growing chillies indoors

Chili seeds

How to sow chilli seeds in the UK from late winter

Sources

Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts on these twelve listings were read on 19 October 2026. Page updated 21 October 2026.

  1. RHS: grow your own chilli pepper (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. RHS: Capsicum chinense Carolina Reaper (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. Kew: chillies (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. Which?: how to grow chillies (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK: plants that need a plant passport in Great Britain (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK: issuing plant passports in Great Britain (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. The Seed Marketing Regulations 2011, Schedule 3 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. Guinness World Records archive: hottest chilli, 2017 (retrieved 19 October 2026)