Peppers
(Has not been Updated for 2012) Peppers require lots of heat. In our climate it is best to use a black plastic (landscaping fabric) at the base of the plant to the draw in the necessary heat. We tried with and without plastic on peppers side by side and harvested a good amount of peppers from the plans on plastic, but none from the plants on bare soil. The mulch also cuts down on weeding requirements.
If you have available space, plant more plants than you think you need. Harvest some peppers at the green stage and leave some on to reach full maturity. The colored stage is difficult to achieve in our climate, but with warmer autumns it is now becoming possible. If a frost is expected, throw a blanket over your plants and you may get an extra few weeks until the next frost hits.
Keep a hot pepper plant in a large pot and bring it inside for winter and collect peppers the whole winter. If the lighting conditions are sufficient, the plant could live for many years as it is a perennial (in the warmer countries were it hails from).
Here are the varieties availabe for the 2011 season. (Updated May 20th 2011)
Sweet peppers
'Ace' (F1) 50 days green, 70 days red ripe. Amazing yields of medium-sized, 3 to 4-lobed, green bell peppers. Has apparent resistance to blossom drop even in adverse weather. Nearly every flower produces a pepper. Glossy green fruits turn red early.
'Antohi romanian' 53 days yellow, 78 days red ripe. Smooth, 4" long by 2" wide, tapered, pointed fruits are pale yellow and ripen red. The upright plants have good branch strength and yield early and heavily. Jan Antohi was a touring acrobat when he defected to the United States. In late 1991, he visited his family in Romania for the first time in more than 8 years, and came back with seeds of this delicious heirloom. NOTE: Romanians fry these in a hot skillet to experience the sweet, full flavor.
'Apple' 57 days green, 77 days red ripe. Mild, juicy, and sweetly fruity. At its peak just as the mature fruits are turning green to red. Avg. 4" top-shaped fruits are more rounded than Lipstick, a little heavier, and mature a few days later. Medium-sized plants yield well in diverse climates.
'Biscayne' (F1) 60 days pale green, 80 days red ripe . Early, productive Cubanelle. Avg. 6" x 2 1/4", cylindrical, lobed-end fruits famous for frying. Unripe color is pale green.
'Carmen' (F1) 60 days green, 80 days red ripe. A beautiful new pepper of the Italian "bulls horn" (corno di toro) type. Carmen has a lovely sweet taste for salads and roasting, especially when partially or fully red-ripe. To be selected as a 2006 All-America Selections winner, Carmen was judged superior by official AAS judges across the U.S. and Canada. Tapered fruits avg. 6" long x 2 1/2" wide, 5 oz. (142 gm), and ripen from green to deep carmine red. Maturity is early on an upright, medium-size plant. Suitable for outdoor or indoor production.
'Jimmy Nardello' 75 days. Italian heirloom since 1887. This variety is one of the more productive, disease-resistant, and most widely adapted heirloom sweet peppers available. It does well in the North as well as the South. The fruits are multi-dimensionally sweet and intensely flavoured. It is a banana-shaped pepper excellent for drying, frying, freezing, raw, and relishes. Fruits are long thin-walled, and slightly curved, 2-3cm (3/4" to 1-1/4") at the shoulder and 12-20cm (5 to 8") long.
'Golden California Wonder' 60 days green, 78 golden. Deep orange and thick-walled. Sturdy, upright 22-30” plants are everbearing and pendant. High yields and good fruit set in cool conditions.
'King of the North' 57 days green, 64 days red from transplant. This pepper pre-dates 1880, one of few peppers that can mature to red in our climate.
'Lipstick' 53 days green, 73 days red from transplant. Heavy, attractive, dark green fruits are about 4" long and taper to a blunt point. They ripen to a glossy, rich red. Thick, juicy, and sweet for salads and cooking, and perfect for roasting and salsa. Dependable, early, heavy yields, even in a cool summer season.
'Sweet chocolat' 58 days green, 78 days brown from transplant. Rich chocolate brown pepper. Remarkable earliness, heavy set, and tolerant of cool nights. Smooth, medium-small, tapered, "snub nose" (blunt end) bells with long fruit stems. Very mild flavor, medium thick flesh. The flesh under the skin is brick red. The earliest maturing "chocolate variety," developed by the late E.M. Meader, Univ. of New Hampshire.
'Purple star' (F1) 65 days. Glossy, deep purple Peppers are borne in abundance on this early compact Hybrid.
Hot peppers
'Early Jalapeno' 60 days green, 80 days red from transplant. 2-2 1/2" x 1", sausage-shaped, blunt fruits mature early; dark green changing to red.
'Hungarian Yellow Wax' 58 days yellow, 83 days orange/red from transplant. Yellow hot pepper with 5 1/2" x 1 1/2" smooth, waxy fruits tapering to a point. Easy to stuff and to peel after roasting; thick-fleshed for frying. Its sunset-ripening peppers change from yellow to orange to red, and make the prettiest pickled peppers. Early and widely adapted. Definitely, but not overly, hot.
'Pretty in purple' 53 days purple, 73 days colored from transplant. Ornemental and edible. Leaves of these spreading but upright, avg. 2' plants are solid purple or variegated purple and green. The 3/4", rounded, glossy peppers are deep purple and ripen to yellow, orange, and finally scarlet. Each plant has mixed colors. Small, purple flowers. The pungent fruits may be used as a hot pepper seasoning.
'Ring-O-Fire' 45 days green, 60 days red from transplant. “And it burns, burns, burns” just like Johnny Cash said. This is a hot, hot pepper. Ring-O-Fire matures earlier and has a glossy sheen with a fire engine red color. Prolific and dependable. Peppers average 4” long.
'Serrano del Sol' (F1) 55 days green, 75 days scarlet from transplant. Early, with dozens of cylindrical fruits that are twice the size (3-3 1/2") of regular serrano chiles. Serrano del Sol quickly sizes up, turns from dark green to scarlet, and has excellent, very hot flavor. The serrano originated on the mountain ridges north of Puebla and Hidalgo in Mexico. Rarely dried, they are usually eaten fresh green in sauces, condiments, or as a key ingredient in fiery Mexican dishes.
Sweet peppers
'Ace' (F1) 50 days green, 70 days red ripe. Amazing yields of medium-sized, 3 to 4-lobed, green bell peppers. Has apparent resistance to blossom drop even in adverse weather. Nearly every flower produces a pepper. Glossy green fruits turn red early.
'Antohi romanian' 53 days yellow, 78 days red ripe. Smooth, 4" long by 2" wide, tapered, pointed fruits are pale yellow and ripen red. The upright plants have good branch strength and yield early and heavily. Jan Antohi was a touring acrobat when he defected to the United States. In late 1991, he visited his family in Romania for the first time in more than 8 years, and came back with seeds of this delicious heirloom. NOTE: Romanians fry these in a hot skillet to experience the sweet, full flavor.
'Apple' 57 days green, 77 days red ripe. Mild, juicy, and sweetly fruity. At its peak just as the mature fruits are turning green to red. Avg. 4" top-shaped fruits are more rounded than Lipstick, a little heavier, and mature a few days later. Medium-sized plants yield well in diverse climates.
'Biscayne' (F1) 60 days pale green, 80 days red ripe . Early, productive Cubanelle. Avg. 6" x 2 1/4", cylindrical, lobed-end fruits famous for frying. Unripe color is pale green.
'Carmen' (F1) 60 days green, 80 days red ripe. A beautiful new pepper of the Italian "bulls horn" (corno di toro) type. Carmen has a lovely sweet taste for salads and roasting, especially when partially or fully red-ripe. To be selected as a 2006 All-America Selections winner, Carmen was judged superior by official AAS judges across the U.S. and Canada. Tapered fruits avg. 6" long x 2 1/2" wide, 5 oz. (142 gm), and ripen from green to deep carmine red. Maturity is early on an upright, medium-size plant. Suitable for outdoor or indoor production.
'Jimmy Nardello' 75 days. Italian heirloom since 1887. This variety is one of the more productive, disease-resistant, and most widely adapted heirloom sweet peppers available. It does well in the North as well as the South. The fruits are multi-dimensionally sweet and intensely flavoured. It is a banana-shaped pepper excellent for drying, frying, freezing, raw, and relishes. Fruits are long thin-walled, and slightly curved, 2-3cm (3/4" to 1-1/4") at the shoulder and 12-20cm (5 to 8") long.
'Golden California Wonder' 60 days green, 78 golden. Deep orange and thick-walled. Sturdy, upright 22-30” plants are everbearing and pendant. High yields and good fruit set in cool conditions.
'King of the North' 57 days green, 64 days red from transplant. This pepper pre-dates 1880, one of few peppers that can mature to red in our climate.
'Lipstick' 53 days green, 73 days red from transplant. Heavy, attractive, dark green fruits are about 4" long and taper to a blunt point. They ripen to a glossy, rich red. Thick, juicy, and sweet for salads and cooking, and perfect for roasting and salsa. Dependable, early, heavy yields, even in a cool summer season.
'Sweet chocolat' 58 days green, 78 days brown from transplant. Rich chocolate brown pepper. Remarkable earliness, heavy set, and tolerant of cool nights. Smooth, medium-small, tapered, "snub nose" (blunt end) bells with long fruit stems. Very mild flavor, medium thick flesh. The flesh under the skin is brick red. The earliest maturing "chocolate variety," developed by the late E.M. Meader, Univ. of New Hampshire.
'Purple star' (F1) 65 days. Glossy, deep purple Peppers are borne in abundance on this early compact Hybrid.
Hot peppers
'Early Jalapeno' 60 days green, 80 days red from transplant. 2-2 1/2" x 1", sausage-shaped, blunt fruits mature early; dark green changing to red.
'Hungarian Yellow Wax' 58 days yellow, 83 days orange/red from transplant. Yellow hot pepper with 5 1/2" x 1 1/2" smooth, waxy fruits tapering to a point. Easy to stuff and to peel after roasting; thick-fleshed for frying. Its sunset-ripening peppers change from yellow to orange to red, and make the prettiest pickled peppers. Early and widely adapted. Definitely, but not overly, hot.
'Pretty in purple' 53 days purple, 73 days colored from transplant. Ornemental and edible. Leaves of these spreading but upright, avg. 2' plants are solid purple or variegated purple and green. The 3/4", rounded, glossy peppers are deep purple and ripen to yellow, orange, and finally scarlet. Each plant has mixed colors. Small, purple flowers. The pungent fruits may be used as a hot pepper seasoning.
'Ring-O-Fire' 45 days green, 60 days red from transplant. “And it burns, burns, burns” just like Johnny Cash said. This is a hot, hot pepper. Ring-O-Fire matures earlier and has a glossy sheen with a fire engine red color. Prolific and dependable. Peppers average 4” long.
'Serrano del Sol' (F1) 55 days green, 75 days scarlet from transplant. Early, with dozens of cylindrical fruits that are twice the size (3-3 1/2") of regular serrano chiles. Serrano del Sol quickly sizes up, turns from dark green to scarlet, and has excellent, very hot flavor. The serrano originated on the mountain ridges north of Puebla and Hidalgo in Mexico. Rarely dried, they are usually eaten fresh green in sauces, condiments, or as a key ingredient in fiery Mexican dishes.