Sweet & Hot peppers

[smallblueplanet]

veg4681 or can I call you Ami?!

I'm trying to be sensible with the varieties we grow (fat chance!) and so it'll probably be the ones that are 'doers', with an experiment or two!

So in the greenhouse borders we found Cubanelle, Topepo Rosso and Hot Portugal did really well, ie more than one pepper every month or plant! Jalapeno because we like them pickled and Hanoi Red cos they seem prolific and hottish to dry and save for the rest of the year.

Cubanelle is a type of sweet pepper (more often found abroad) its early, prolific and long fruiting - oh and they taste and smell like real peppers! Topepo Rosso we only grew last year but they were fairly prolific and like small blocky sweet peppers - very tasty. When we've tried to grow sweet peppers (like the ones you see in the supermarket) before you often seem only to get one or two fruits per plant, not good when they're taking up room in the greenhouse. Hot Portugal were prolific, big, hottish and easy to grow.

Never tried saving seeds as we only use 1 or 2 seeds per year and so there's normally plenty in a pkt. That's why I've swopped away some pepper seeds, they'll only be wasted, I can't use them all. (But there'll probably still be some spares. )

- wish these were mine!

[veg4681]

we found Cubanelle, Topepo Rosso and Hot Portugal did really well, ie more than one pepper every month or plant!
and Hanoi Red cos they seem prolific and hottish to dry and save for the rest of the year.

Cubanelle is a type of sweet pepper (more often found abroad) its early, prolific and long fruiting - oh and they taste and smell like real peppers! Topepo Rosso we only grew last year but they were fairly prolific and like small blocky sweet peppers - very tasty. When we've tried to grow sweet peppers (like the ones you see in the supermarket) before you often seem only to get one or two fruits per plant, not good when they're taking up room in the greenhouse. Hot Portugal were prolific, big, hottish and easy to grow.

[ATTACH]3642[/ATTACH] - wish these were mine!

Hmmm...Hanoi Red must be originally from Vietnam. Sorry, do you still want my Fuego, sounds like it can do the flamenco or even tango .

How many variety of sweet peppers did you grow before stumbling upon Hot Portugal as the best one that is closer to standard supermarket looking peppers? The sweet peppers in most gardening books usually look rubbish (not even close to 'basic range' of supermarket pepper) so I imagined that is as best as it gets in UK climate .

Are the 3 peppers you mentioned your best recommendations although I don't mind the compromise of having smaller chilli-looking sweet pepper. The one and only sweet pepper seeds I've got is California Wonder (as common as Aubergine BB) and the name makes me uneasy, as we all know California is mostly sunny. I bought it last year before I got into variety researching.

Re the picture, yeah you can buy the peppers in kilo in countries like that, so cheap you don't really need to grow them yourself or get your gardener to grow all your wonderful stuffs and give away all the excess to village people.

[smallblueplanet]

Hmmm...Hanoi Red must be originally from Vietnam. Sorry, do you still want my Fuego, sounds like it can do the flamenco or even tango . How many variety of sweet peppers did you grow before stumbling upon Hot Portugal as the best one that is closer to standard supermarket looking peppers?

No but thanks for the offer. - edit oh hang on while I google! - googled, they look very similar to Hot Portugal (which are an OP), so back to 'no thanks'. Ah the Hot Portugal is hot, they look like bigger/fatter (5"-6" or more) cayenne-lookee-like.

Are the 3 peppers you mentioned your best recommendations although I don't mind the compromise of having smaller chilli-looking sweet pepper. The one and only sweet pepper seeds I've got is California Wonder

The Topepo Rosso is sweet, thick-skinned flesh and blocky, its also quite prolific. They're like half-sized versions of 'supermarket' peppers. We have been growing peppers for quite a few seasons and this is the best in terms of taste and quantity we've yet grown.

We tried them (Cal Won.) season before last, got 3 or 4 from the whole plant, okay taste, nowhere near as good as Topepo Rosso. The 4 I mentioned we will grow this season. The Cubanelle are green 'versions' of the red peppers in the picture - you often see them described as 'frying peppers'. I think they are a better variety (but probably have the same 'roots') as 'giant aconcagua' which we grew a couple of seasons ago.

Will probably also grow a 'red cheese', an 'apple sweet' and some others in pots to see how they taste and how many you get, before we allow them space (from the limited space) in the greenhouse border. Got to fit the aubergines & tomatoes & a cuke in there too!

[veg4681]

Hi again Manda,

Do you still have sweet pepper seeds esp. your recommended ones Cubanelle, Topepo, Red Cheese, Apple Sweet. I'm having second thoughts about California Wonder (shall I bin it ?). Like you say, not enough fruits to justify growing. I don't mind smaller fruiting, odd shape, ugly looking, unconventional looking sweet peppers so long they're prolific harvest.

[smallblueplanet]

I'll have to go count my seeds - just a minute......

[Flummery]

I keep doing that - it's all that stops me from sowing them too soon!

[smallblueplanet]

Lol! Its lucky I've soo many fingers and thumbs!