Sowing sweet peppers

[Mark_Riga]

No-one has mentioned "King of the North". It is a blocky one like in supermarkets and does really well for me in a greenhouse and it's name suggests it could well do for you too Rary.

[Zelenina]

King of the North didn't do well for me when I tried it, but I'm not in the north and the summers here could be too hot for it.

Dedo de Mocha which Scarlet mentioned is a Capsicum baccatum pepper. They generally can tolerate lower temperatures than the usual C. annuum peppers and are easier to overwinter. That particular one makes big rangy plants so would need a big pot. Aji Delight is very similar but seems to be more compact in growth. They are both worth a try. Unlike those two, most of that species are hot e.g. Lemon Drop and Aji Omnicolor which both do very well for me.

The Hamik peppers that I mentioned look very similar to the orange Snackbite peppers. I think they might even be the same thing renamed for the UK market.

[Scarlet]

The Hamik peppers that I mentioned look very similar to the orange Snackbite peppers. I think they might even be the same thing renamed for the UK market.

I've tried Hamik peppers - they didn't crop well for me and aren't very early eitherso I don't think they would do that well "up north"
Sweet Pepper var. Hamik
Although they are open pollinated unlike the snackbite peppers which are sold as F1s.

[Zelenina]

Ah, so Hamik and Snackbite aren't the same. I thought the Hamiks did quite well for me and were quite early ripening this year, even though I didn't treat them as well as I should have. I kept them in my glazed verandah, not outdoors, and I'm not in the UK, but Czech varieties usually do well there. And I didn't grow any F1 varieties to compare them with.

Of course everyone's growing conditions are different, and every year is different. You can only get a rough guideline from someone else's experience. A variety might do brilliantly for one person and badly for another for no obvious reason.

[Chris11]

I think Hamik is probably the same variety as those sold sometimes as Yummy or Yummy Orange or even Snackbite Yummy. So they may or may not all be the same

But I certainly wouldn't assume Hamik is OP, and at least some websites describe Hamik and/or Yummy as F1s or hybrids.

Unfortunately the seed suppliers and retailers are not that reliable with names or sources of seeds, and certainly not for whether they are an F1 or not.

[Chris11]

And I'm thinking Dedo de Mocha might actually be Dedo de Moca.

I realise it says Dedo de Mocha on the Real Seeds website, but that's possibly a mistake that's arisen somewhere down the line.

I'd guess the Dedo de Mocha sold by Real seeds is a mild/sweet strain of Dedo de Moca.

And the fruits aren't mocha coloured

[Zelenina]

Yes I think Yummy Orange Snacky Snacky or suchlike is Hamik in disguise. I see at least one American company listing it as an F1 but I'm pretty sure it isn't. They also say it's seedless which isn't true either, though it doesn't have many seeds. It's never listed as a hybrid by the Czech supplier, although it might have been used as a parent in breeding some similar hybrids.

I agree it's very annoying when seeds are mislabelled as F1 when they are not and vice versa. Two other varieties I've seen that are commonly sold here not labelled as F1 but suddenly started appearing in UK or US catalogues as F1 hybrids are Globo onions and Brutus tomatoes.

[Chris11]

Nokturn - I love growing this one. It looks very dramatic with fat pointy black peppers, but then they ripen to a sweet red with purple tinges, and the first ones were very early. I grew them in the ground. It's a Polish variety and I got seeds in a swap from somewhere. I don't know if you can buy them anywhere, which is why I put it last.

I've never seen Nokturn for sale anywhere, apart from a finished listing on ebay where there was this picture:

[bikermike]

I grew [whichever ones came free with the magazine from Mr Flowerdew] last year and got a couple of peppers - propagator to start them and then in sunniest spot in my greenhouse.

they didn't ripen until right at the very end of the year (and they turn soft about 3s after ripening). But the taste is worth it - if you eat them there and then.

[Ananke]

Hi Rary, I had the same issue for years. I now have to sow mine in January to get them ripe and even then they are quite late getting there. I think it's down to our shorter growing season up here.

I found the banana/pointy types done much better than bell peppers. Sowed some seed from a supermarket pointy pepper from the cheap shelf and got a fantastic return. The ones in the pic are the last pickings of the season, I'd picked loads before them from 4 or 5 plants.
Not really thick walled but lovely and crisp.