Sweet Pepper Varieties - What's the Difference?
There are lots of sweet pepper varieties available to the backyard vegetable gardener. When most people think of sweet peppers, they think about bell peppers. But there are lots of other varieties of sweet peppers that are great for grilling or stuffing or frying. The possibilities are endless. Here is a partial list of some common varieties of sweet peppers, including fruit information and uses. Please note - the days to maturity are counted after the seedling is transplanted.
- Orange Blaze - All-America Winner, good disease resistance, features 4"x1.5" peppers that turn from green to bright orange, ready in 70 days
- Carmen - ready in 75 days, horn-shaped Italian sweet pepper, green to red, 3"-4" long, very prolific and tolerant of varied temperatures
- Maxibelle - large and blocky bell pepper, thick walls, green to red, sweet and crunchy, ready in 75 days, good raw or cooked, freezes well
- Block Party - 4"x4" blocky bell peppers, thick walls, green to red, ready in 80 days, very consistent shape, good for stuffing, plants average 2 feet tall, sweet and tangy flavor
- California Wonder - classic heirloom bell pepper variety, introduced in 1928, 3"x4" peppers have 4 lobes each, consistent production, sweet and crispy, freezes well, ready in 75 days, green to red
- Gold Standard - very large sweet pepper variety, 5"x5" blocky bell peppers, 73 days to green and 88 days to bright gold, good for grilling or stuffing, thick walls and consistent production
- The Godfather - classic Italian sweet pepper variety, green in 64 days and red in 78 days, 7" peppers are tapered and meaty, good for frying or grilling or stuffing, available exclusively from the Burpee Seed Company
- Costa Rican Sweet - very tasty and slightly wrinkled, good grilled or roasted or raw, very fruity and sweet, peppers are 4"-5" long and tapered, green to orange to red, ready in 70 days
- Marconi - traditional Italian pepper, good for grilling or frying or stuffing or just raw, 7"-10" long and slightly tapered, green to yellow or red, ready in 85 days, very sweet with thick walls
- Chocolate Belle - very sweet, blocky bell peppers with 2-4 lobes, good disease resistance, purple to chocolate colored, ready in 70 days, best when eaten raw or lightly sauteed
- Cubanelle - green to yellow to orange and red, ready in 75 days, good for roasting or stuffing or frying, less water content than other sweet pepper varieties, fruit feature 3 lobes and average 3"-4" long, thin walls
- Chinese Giant - bell pepper variety that can reach 6" long and 5" across, heirloom variety introduced to the USA in 1900, red to green, ready in 80 days, thick walls, sweet and crisp
- Sweet Banana - this heirloom sweet pepper variety is a pickling favorite, 6"-7" long and tapered, thin skin, pale yellow to light orange to deep red, ready in 72 days
- Double Delight - a large 9" pepper in the shape of a bullhorn, thick walls and very sweet, good for grilling or stuffing or raw, green to yellow/orange to dark red, high yields, ready in 65 days
- Lipstick - 4" oblong peppers, green to red, pimento-type pepper great for roasting or sauces or raw, very sweet, look hot but they're not, ready in 70 days
- Sweetheart - ready in 75 days, 3" heart-shaped pepper, thick walls, good for stuffing or eating raw, good disease resistance, very sweet, green to red
Click here for information about different varieties of hot peppers
Click here to learn how to plant peppers
Click here to learn how to support your pepper plants with cages or stakes
Click here for information about watering pepper plants
Click here to learn about fertilizing peppers
Click here to diagnose pepper plant diseases
Click here to learn about harvesting peppers
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