Thanks for those names, I will look them up with the local seed suppliers! I very much want to explore the whole wide world of sweet peppers beyond bell peppers. I guess it means I have to get serious about seed-starting, as there aren't too many varieties I'm just going to find at the plant nursery. I know, because I've looked!

Oh I have another question to ask of you! Since leaving fruit on the plant to ripen stops the plant from producing more fruit, do you recommend picking green bell peppers for most of the growing season to get more use out of the plant, and then just leaving some fruit toward the end of the season to become fully ripe? Because I'd probably have less problem with only getting a few ripe fruits from the plant if I could be picking & eating green fruits all summer.

I found a local seed supplier for the Bull's Horn peppers, they look great! Do you think that mid-spring is too late to be starting seeds for those?

Thanks for your help,
Slashy

I've got some apple pepper seeds. This is a smaller - medium sweet pepper that has a bit thicker walls than other bell peppers. It starts out green, and if left on plant to mature will turn bright red to maroonish. The plants I grew last year were in containers, all organic. They each produced over 50 peppers. The branches of one broke entirely off due to the weight of the fruit. I have never seen a sweet large pepper plant produce like these. I would be happy to send you some seeds - if they make it through your customs. I purchased the plants from Cross Country Nurseries. LMK Thanks Timo

I will recommend Cubanelle and Italian sweet peppers.

Cubanelle peppers.

{{gwi:118122}}

Italian sweet peppers.

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Both are very productive and have their own taste.

Slashy, what you suggest above is what I do with many of my peppers, especially the bells. I pick them green as they reach full size, and then allow the last crop to set (late August in my climate) to hang on so that the mature and turn red, yellow, or orange before being killed by frost in October.

Um, without knowing the particulars of the climate in Sydney (I believe that's where you are, if memory serves), I'd say that it's probably not too late to start some new ones, especially since you indicated that you don't have frost, and the plant from last year survived the winter for you to grow again.

Dennis
SE Michigan

slashy,
most prolific and best tasting bell i've ever had was orange sun.

had 1 plant this year and it produced 15 bells, approx. 5 or 6 full size with the remainder from 1/3 to full size. barr 1 that only got to an inch before i popped it in my mouth. i let about a half dozen mature to orange and they were particulary sweet and flavorful.

be nice to see a thread on the most prolific,best tasting bell or other, best fryer,best stuffer etc. hopefully maybe everyone will chime in.

with so many varieties out there it would help separate the chaff from the wheat :)

regards,
wildlifeman

Slashy - seeing as you're in Australia like me, try The Diggers Club and Eden Seeds - they both have wonderful rare and heirloom and often unusual varieties as well as more conventional stuff. And they are obviously specialised in this climate.

I grew Carmen peppers last year and was very impressed with them. They were sweet, flavorful, and prolific. Up till then, I had never been successful growing peppers. I grew two plants and had about a dozen fruit from each, and probably would have had more if they'd been in a sunnier/better location.

I believe bell peppers will continue to mature after picking -- it seems like I read that you should pick them at the first sign of color change. That way, they'll sweeten up and have that not-a-green-bell-pepper flavor. That's what I did with my yellow bells last year.

Of course, I didn't get a lot of peppers because my tomatoes had them shaded out. First year boo boo on my part.

Hi istara- those Eden & Diggers Club supply just about ALL my seed, plus Green Harvest. They do have great varieties but between all of them I wasn't able to find all the varieties recommended on this thread. I found quite a few though and now have seed for Jimmy Nardello, Lipstick & Corno de Toro sweet peppers, which I'll be sowing shortly and hoping I'm not too late in the year for!

The most prolific sweet pepper I have grown is Alma Paprika. This is a smallish, thick-fleshed sweet pepper, kind of a "cheese" shape, with an occasional hottie just to make life interesting. It was bred for making (sweet) paprika, but you can eat them fresh or fry them for sauce. I've grown this variety for four years now, and it has produced the most of any of the 30+ varieties of sweet, non-bell peppers I have grown in that time period.

This is one I planted new this year in the garden - Capsicum "Marconi Rosso." The problem I had with comparing it to other varieties was that I promptly got it mixed up with my other Marconi and Giant Marconi pepper plants. I've grown them for 5 or 6 years.

The only way I've ever been able to get those Italian sweet peppers to turn red in my garden is to wait until they are just changing color (and the frost is right around the corner), pick them, and hang in my kitchen. So Marconi Rosso or not, most of these Italian sweets are used green.

Giant Marconi is my favorite. It is especially tender and, well, giant. However, it isn't as prolific as regular Marconi. And, in looking around for capsicum (.au), I think you may not have a source for that one and maybe not for the "regular" Marconi, either. However, if I can get the Marconi Rosso lost amongst these other varieties - I suppose it doesn't much matter at the dinner table. Or, it wouldn't to me. If you try 'em, I hope you like 'em, Slashy.

Steve

For me, Red Ruffled is the most prolific sweet pepper I've ever grown. Last weekend, while I was attempting to put my summer garden to bed, I picked 21 ripe fruit off of one plant. The fruit are flattened, about 2 1/2-3" across, deep red, and ruffled. They are thick-fleshed and very, very sweet.

This link is good for identifying varieties:

http://www.tomatogrowers.com/sweet.htm

These are the earliest and most prolific peppers I've ever grown - and they produced for over two months (I'm in France) but I don't what variety they are. Does anyone know?

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:118116}}

Hi Slashy,
I've had big harvests in the past from Jimmy Nardello capsicum (seeds from Diggers), which is one of the thin-walled, long pointy types.

Sadly we had a poor year for capsicums & chilis this year because spring and summer were quite cool, and we seemed to get all our summer heat in about ten stupendously hot days. Ah well, such are the joys of gardening....

I just bought some "sweet red bell & sweet yellow bell peppers." Do I pick them while still green, so they keep producing, or do I pick them as soon as they change to the appropriate color as stated in the name of said bell peppers? Or do I let them reach their full color for a couple of days? Also, when I pick them, are they ready to eat, or do I need to set them on my counter for any length of time?

As you can probably tell, my fiance and I are growing our first garden together, and trying to make as few mistakes as possible! I remember being a little girl out in my daddy's garden, but he always held my hand and helped me pick everything. Plus, since I was only 6-8 years old, I don't recall all of the things he taught me (I am now 34). Daddy died in 2004 and my fiance is trying to help me deal with hard emotional times by planting "Daddy's Garden" this year. Any advice will help!!! Thank you sooo much!

What are you guys/gals feeding those peppers, they are so big and abundant? My bells come out 1/2 size and fewer than I expect a plant to produce. What types am I growing, Carmen, and King Arthur.

Thanks.

In my experience with moving a lot and gardening in different soils and different growing zones, pepper yield is highly dependent on getting the right variety for the right garden. A problem made harder by the fact that all the nurseries in the US seem to sell the exact, same California Wonder, Yellow Bell, Purple Bell, Cubanelle, and Sweet Banana with little or no attempt made to match the local conditions.

In Western PA my dad and I grew California wonders and Sweet Bananas while other varieties struggled. In New England my Purple Bells and Sweet Bananas were OK but California Wonder was useless.

Here in the south my Purple Bells burned up in the sun but this year's attempt at Cubanelles looks promising. Sweet Banana's gave me 2/3 of the peppers I got (not saying much), during the 2006 drought.

When you find a pepper that works in your conditions stick with it.

hardworkinghippy, those look like "gypsy" to me, and they are quite productive for me as well.

slashy did you know Peppers are perennials? Thats right, you dont have to regrow the plant every year. You can keep one plant you like in a 2 gallon pot, and keep it as a houseplant.They can live for years and years.

Wendy_Dave you can pick bell peppers when green and use them, it does help the productivity of the plant to harvest the early peppers and allow the later ones to stay on the plant until they turn color. I also pick any bells that develop in the crook of a branch so that they don't break the branches as they get larger.

Its a wonderful thing to garden, particularly when you garden with memories of family.

Giant Marconi Hybrid grew very well for me in the north. I live in Wisconsin. The only way I can get a great harvest is to grow my peppers in containers on a sunny cement patio. The Marconis are huge, delicious and abundant. I pick them at 1/3 to 1/2 red in order to get them off the plant. They finish ripening inside the house. I start the seed in February and plant out the last week of May.

Here you can see the partially green peppers, some were Marconi and little ones were Ace.

We get loads and loads of red wonderful sweet peppers from our Carmen plants, and sweet bananas also make lots here in our Georgia garden. Same problem with bells, have just started picking giant red ones, but only a few per plant. My husband grumbled that he preferred red bells, so I cooked some of each for a taste test and he liked the Carmens best.

My favorite sweet pepper are called "Lunchbox Peppers". They have the taste of capsicums, yet even sweeter. I haven't encountered a spicy one ever. The best part is that they're small peppers, so the plants are supposed to grow flush with fruit. Like someone else mentioned, you should pick the peppers as soon as they're ripening if you want to encourage the plant to set more fruit. If you let the fruit ripen entirely on the plant, you might signal the end of growing to the plant.

Also, KUDOS TO YOU for growing capsicum as a perennial. That's ludicrous to me in southeast MA, where next week is expected to be our first frost week and all of my peppers are going to die.

OP: I studied exchange in New Zealand, arriving July 1st. Of course my American palette wanted the taste of native, N. American veggies. Lo and behold, capsicum peppers were typically $15-17 per kg. About $6 per bell pepper!!!! Power to you for growing them on your own!

New Ace and King Arthur have made loads of sweet red bell peppers this year.

The "white" peppers (those that are cream colored when immature) are very high yielders, but hard to ripen. "Alma Paprika" (mentioned earlier in the thread) is one of those, as is "Feyer Ozon". Both are very compact plants that bear heavily. I've also grown several high-yielding European varieties, "Suptol" and "Taltos". The photo below is of a single plant of "Taltos", pulled just before frost & stripped of leaves:
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With some reservations, I agree with those that recommend "Cubanelle". It has very large peppers (some 7-8" long) and is incredibly high yielding. So high yielding, in fact, that it requires support to keep the peppers from pulling the plant over, and they are packed in so tightly together that it is hard to pick one without damaging others. Rot can be a problem too, and because it starts from the inside, the peppers might appear normal (for a time) until they are cut open. I've been trying to save seed this year, and it has been frustrating to see so many full-grown peppers begin to change color, only to suddenly turn to mush. To get the full benefit of the huge yield, I recommend picking them green.

While I have not grown "Carmen" personally, a gardening friend does, and her plants are loaded, with many ripe.

"Sweet Chocolate" (not to be confused with "Chocolate Bell") has elongated bell-like peppers. They tolerate cooler weather, the yield per plant can be huge, and they ripen quickly to a brick red/brown. Thinner walls than a bell though, more like a frying pepper. This one too requires support, otherwise the high pod yield will pull the plant over, or break branches.

One of my favorites is another European variety, "Elephant Ear". It has conical peppers 6-8" long that resemble the "Giant Marconi" above, but wider at the shoulder & tapering to a point. The walls are as thick as bells, and the average weight this year has been over 5 ounces per pepper. This has not been a great year for peppers here, but about half of the "Elephant Ear" peppers have ripened, and most of the rest are changing color. I am getting about 8-10 peppers per plant.

But for fresh eating & great salsa, I like the "cheese" peppers. They are pumpkin shaped, have very thick walls, and ripen earlier than most bells. "Tennessee Cheese" ripens early, and has a pretty good yield of 2 1/2" wide peppers that are deep red when mature. The walls are often over 1/4" thick, and have less juice than most peppers, so they don't turn to mush when chopped... one of my favorites for adding body to canned salsa. "Greygo" is probably the largest cheese pepper, 4" wide X 2" deep, and average 4 ounces or better. This is my favorite ripe pepper, DW & I eat them like apples... delicious.

While the OP is about sweet peppers, even some hot peppers can be sweet under some conditions. That is the case for "Pizza Pepper", from Territorial. The plants are loaded with very large jalapeno-like peppers, 3-4" long & up to 2" wide, with walls nearly 1/4" thick. They can be spicy if harvested during warm weather. When it gets cool though, especially close to frost, most of the immature peppers become almost completely sweet, with a very crunchy texture. Harvested under those conditions, this is my favorite pepper for fresh eating, truly gourmet quality. They also have remarkable storage qualities; I keep them in buckets in an unheated garage for a month with few losses, and in the refrigerator for two months.

Over the Labor Day weekend, I visited Heritage Farm (SSE's Iowa headquarters) and walked through most of their trials & preservation gardens. The pepper plot was really interesting - it was how I discovered some of the European peppers that I grow in years past. Saw some great prospects for the future, including "Melrose", a frying pepper sold by several companies. The plants were loaded with 5" long X 1.5" wide peppers tapering to a point, very deep red when mature. It was the last days of August, and not only were nearly all of those peppers ripe, they were shriveling & drying on the plant!!! Early, heavy bearing... looks to be worth trying.

Carmen, Gypsy and Diablo Sweet did extremely well for me this year.

I grow Gypsy hybrid and Orange blaze. From 25 plants I am getting about 120-150 liters of peppers a season. Only pick green ones very early in the season (just few) when I can't wait for fresh pepper in my salad and at the end of the season when it's getting cold. Every year I pant another variety of classic red bell pepper hopping that this one will be early and prolific. Every fall I promise myself not to waist garden space is red bell and just plant what I know works the best, but in spring, can't resist to try something new. No luck so far)

I too love peppers but have had years where the harvest is anemic. I've learned that a key reason for this is by the time the soil warms up enough for peppers to sprout outdoors [ I'm in zone 6 ] it's late enough in the season that the plants don't have time to both grow and produce! I normally prefer seeds, but this year am going to get a jump on things with pre-started plants to maximize pepper production. I'm also going to use 5 gallon buckets designed with a self-watering wicking system - here's plans for it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSl8s4hyVZY&t=241s

Sweet Banana, Carmen, Cubanelle, and Flavorburst have worked wonderfully for me. I've also had good luck with some generic red/orange/yellow bells from Home Depot. That said, sweet peppers have always been tough for me.

Old thread, but the same issues are around. Not sure why Americans seem to only think of blocky bells for sweet peppers which are okay but tend to be hard to ripen and not productive in mediocre growing conditions. Bananas are very easy and productive but taste bland fresh. There are very many variations on sweet peppers, may be harder to find plants but look around and try different types.

European varieties have many nice types, usually cone shaped or oblong, and they have been bred to grow in shorter European summers.

Andrew, did you know that it's best to sow pepper seeds before tomatoes? Took me years to learn that one and I always wondered why my pepper seedlings were so much smaller than my tomatoes at planting out time. Now that I start them earlier, I manage to get a big harvest of red peppers before the frost hits!

Noki33 could you name some of those great European varieties?

Linda

Linda - I tried VERY EARLY sowing last season, but what I've run into is if the soil temperature isn't reasonably high [ I'm zone 6 ] the peppers just sort of SULK for a long time, not gaining any growth until the temperatures warm up quite a bit. I had tiny seedling indoors in February, then moved them to a cold frame to give them an 'early spring' but they just sort of stayed static until early summer temperatures broke them out of their topor.

Hi Andrew, I didn't mean to plant them out early. They DO require warm weather to thrive. Instead, I start them early and keep them inside until the weather warms up. At least they are a decent size at plant-out. I'm lucky to have grow lights and some sunny window sills to enable me to do this......

Linda