Giant Red Marconi peppers have outstanding flavor. We are foodies and this pepper does not disappoint! Thick walls, very sweet with a slight smoky flavor.
I grew Cubanelles for the first time last year. They're very similar in flavor to a bell pepper, but shaped like a wider banana pepper and have a much higher yield than the bells I've tried before. I'm not even bothering to try bells this year, just going with cubannells.
Ajivarski, a semi long wedge shaped sweet pepper from Macedonian origin. From Baker creek, this pepper is thick and sweet with a little juice. Outstanding cooked or raw. Really love this one.
My brother has colitis, a bowel disease that is exacerbated by hot chillis but he is addicted to Mexican food. Most of these varieties are impossible to get in Australia, but I did manage to secure an heirloom banana variety for him so it's good to know that at least a kind of banana chilli is considered excellent.
Shishitos were new to me this year, I bought plants that were suppose to be poblano, but they were shishitos, we did grill them like you recommended and now they are one of our favorites, definitely on the grow list for this year, they were also amazing pickled, my family keeps begging for more.!
I grew way to many Pepperoncini last year and have started to really like them because of how many I've had to eat. The yield on each plant was a big surprise, easy to grow
Agreed! Pepperoncini is great and surprisingly quite productive. I grew 3 different varieties of Pepperoncini last year, the standard kind as well as the Orange and Yellow/Gold kinds. All were had great yields and flavor but just the right amount of low heat for that spicy kick without triggering reflux. The orange and yellow ones are beautiful grown together for a nice pop of color.
I've grown Habanada the past two seasons. Tip : make absolutely sure that the pod is fully ripe before you eat it. If you try it when it's still green, it tastes really bad. But once it has turned orange, it gets this amazingly sweet citrus-like flavor. I'll probably grow them every season now.
I tried Habanada last season and it is true that fully ripened they are amazing. For me this variety has 2 drawbacks. First, the plant is extremely attractive to aphids and second it has really tiny habitat so it needs some space not to be overshadowed by normal sized pepper plants.
I love their color when fully ripe. I make hot sauce using Sugar Rush Peach but the color is pale. I throw some Habanada peppers in and it gives it more of a peach color.
Carmen Bull Horns are the best red pepper to home grow and cook. Won't disappoint, I add to my canning recipes and they add sweet and color to recipes.
Glad to see my top 2 peppers from last year on the list. Shishitos produced INSANELY well last year despite being smaller plants (~2 ft), and the Jimmy Nardellos grew very aggressively and gave me a really nice early harvest, then ballooned up to 4-5ft and put out hundreds of peppers. Deers got into most of my hot peppers last year, so I am hoping this year I can work out some of my favorite hots.
A few others have suggested this! We grew it about 4 years ago but don't remember much about it's flavor. It was a tough year so we only got a handful. May have to try that one again.
I second this! Ajvarski is a must grow for me. I grow more plants of this variety than any of my 20ish other varieties. We're also in 7a so perhaps it prefers more heat to really thrive.
Last season I tried growing Ajvarski peppers and loved them! The flavor is amazing and the plants were strong & productive. I saw some Italian peppers at a farm stand that looked similar, so I bought them to try. They were bland. I've never had good luck with bell peppers (they were always small and flavorless, even when mature) and I like more flavor than the green bells provide, anyway. This is why I have added Ajvarski to my permanent rotation.
@@Francina214 That's great! What zone are you in? That would never work where I live in Michigan (zone 5b for me.) I did bring one inside to overwinter though.
I have a love hate relationship with King of the North bells every year. I cant ever seem to reliably grow them well. I've found them to be incredibly fickle. But every once in awhile ill get a perfect pepper from a plant and its the BEST tasting bell pepper ive ever had! Hands down no question. Its thats random reward that keeps me so addicted to trying to perfect them year after year.
I will say the Carmen is a great pepper! I am in North TX and the drought left me with no peppers all summer. when the drought broke in Oct. all my carmen plants put on fruit and ripened them before the end of our season.
I'm still new to peppers but I love the Cubanelle pepper a lot for sandwiches. Nice big and crunchy. Im assuming I'd also enjoy a lot of the other similar varieties.
Cubanelle peppers are my favorite! Averaged growing around an acre of numerous kinds of peppers for market, for about a decade. Few people appreciate the mild cubanelle & hot serrano to the extent deserved!
@@davidkottman3440 Out of the three first pepper plants I had the Cubanelle was by far my best. I tried growing Serrano peppers but sadly it stopped growing very early into the season and died around fall. I'm not really sure what happened to be honest. As for my Shishito that one also started dying around that time and I often had very dwarf sized pods the whole season. That being said, it was actually kind of a surprise to see how strong my Cubanelle was. It just seemed to keep growing and never stop even through some very cold days. In the end I was actually able to overwinter it too. Chopped up and everything with no leaves, it's still as green as ever and I'm excited to finally have some again hopefully soon. This time with new friends and my new found joy for growing plants. Currently I have an Aji Fantasy and Sugar Rush Peach that I grew by seed indoors, and they're all looking great! Definitely looking forward to seeing how those turn out. But yes I think you're right about Cubanelle peppers being underappreciated to the extent deserved! They don't seem to be talked about enough but yet I think they will be some of my favorites for a long time. 😊
@@davidkottman3440 I like Cubanelles for cooking but have never tried to grow them. Are they prolific? I would put some in the garden if so. Serrano is my most prolific hot pepper. I have gotten around 100 peppers from on potted plant.
@@morrismonet3554 Serrano and sweet banana peppers are more prolific, but cubanelle are much larger & very productive. They are also a large plant, but Serrano can be also.
I grew some Tangerine Dream peppers last year, and they were my favorite of the varieties I planted. They grow upside down, and ripen into a bright orange color. I only had one plant, but ended up with more peppers than I could use.
I love using poblanos in cooking, and that was my best performer I had for my first summer growing! I only get up to 8 hours of direct sun on my apartment porch so it was slow going. But I also learned, repot in BIG pots! I got the plant from a store and put it in a trough with four others, they all struggled except for the poblano I put into a 5-7gal pot. It’s overwintered and still living, so I’m looking forward to it this year!
I love Etiuda bells from Baker Creek. I grow them indoors hydroponically all year long in an AeroGarden. I’m in Alaska and it’s not warm enough in my area to grow them outside even in the summer. Very fruity and sweetly delicious. Heirloom so save the seeds and grow more!
The Pizza Pepper from Territorial Seeds is a must grow! Really thick walled, petite size and prolific. Complex, sweet, and soooo crunchy. So delicious that I barely got to try a ripe one as my 3 yr old stole them all before I could get to them 😂 But a great sweet snacker.
My favorite from last year was the "Escamillo" from Johnny's. Large, very sweet, and very few seeds. The most disease resistant pepper I have ever grown is the Giant Sweet Devil's Horn from Heritage Seed Market. It was not affected from any of the pests or weather issues we had here in Eastern CT (I'm about 15 miles east of you).
I grew Etiuda bell peppers last year and holy cow, I think it may be the sweetest pepper I've ever eaten. They're a bright tangerine orange, huge and blocky, perfect for stuffing, though I hardly had any for that, because I just wanted to eat them all sliced up raw. I tried Lesya last year and found it to be a bit bland. I was expecting more flavor, but could have just been a fluke. Giant Marconi was also a big hit, and great for stuffing. I just wish I'd gotten more of them! What I did get were super tasty though.
Etiuda peppers are amazing! I’m in Alaska so it’s too cold even in the summer to grow them outside. I grow them indoors hydroponically all winter long in an AeroGarden Bounty. So delicious!
03:33 My absolute favorite for non spicy peppers. I eat them like apples... Every time I try to cook with those, I can't help but to take a bite, and end up eating the whole thing, leaving none to put into my dish 😂🌶
Great video and you gave me some ideas for next season. You really should try Gather's Gold Sweet Italian peppers. They are my main sweet pepper crop for me in the Pacific Northwest where I've had poor productivity from bell peppers. The Gather's are vigorous plants and amazingly productive. They mature a golden orange and are delicious.
Thank you for your plant saving video. My 3yo lunchbox pepper is hanging out waiting for spring again. I love growing Aji Chachuca & Aji Dulce because of their upright/bushy growth habit. I combine them with Lemon Drops to make Aji sauce at a heat that my family can stand.
I love the Ajis! Most are too hot for me, unfortunately, but I love your idea of mixing with Aji Dulces in a sauce. I've haven't been successful at growing the Dulces, yet (2 tries and counting).
I love the Carmen's probably my favorite sweet peppers. I'm growing some Italian Red peppers this year along with the Carmen's to see if there is much difference.
My favorites sweet peppers are Cornito Giallo hybrid (yellow when mature), Blot Pepper (Baker Creek), and Lunch box pepper. Was still harvesting these in November in Georgia this year!
I've been growing Jimmy Nardellos for a few years, and last year I also had luck with Lesya peppers. But the one I'm raving about now is the Mad Hatter pepper. I had three plants that became absolutely massive last year - one was so large and laden with fruit that I had to tie the tall tomato cage I was using to support it to my fence posts with rope to keep it upright.
You should check out Piment D'esplette.- also known as Gorria peppers. As mild or milder than jalapeños. But much sweeter with lots of flavor. In France, it's dried and ground up - used in place of black pepper.
Great list! Happy to see you included Shishito, those are my favorite snacking peppers out of the garden. I have also grilled and stuffed them with goat cheese and made a fermented dipping sauce with them. I want to try some of the others you mentioned.
May I suggest the Aji Panca. They have a chocolate color with intense sweetness that oddly vanishes after you swallow. I grew in 3 gal pots and they grew over 4 ft tall with good production.
I grew Pippin's Golden honey this past season. They have dark foliage and ripen from purple to eventually orange. They have a unique taste and are great in cooking!
Eros and Cupid are great mini snacking red and orange bell peppers, i also like the lunch box mix of snacking mini peppers that come in red yellow and orange (i think i got both from Johnny seeds.) Grew all of them in PA last year and they were extremely prolific and great healthy plants didnt even get any sunscalded fruits.
Exactly what I was going to write. Super flavor, and a step up from standard Bells without getting anywhere near a jalapeno. This will be my 3rd year with them. Definitely a go to!!
@@PepperGeek they dont get too big ... 2-3 feet. The peppers are a bit bigger than golf balls. Great right off the vine, and really good in my pepper relish to balance out jalapenos and habaneros.
I love this! We grow Spicy Banana and Sweet Banana chiles all the time! Cubanelle peppers are great for paellas. Durango pepper have a sharp flavor to. Giant Marconi are ridiculously big
I'm currently growing pimiento blanco del pais (Puerto Rico), aji sabrosito and shishito peppers, as far as non spicy ones. This week I'll ve transplanting aji dulce of the Carnaval variety.
Per your recommendation I now have ten Jimmy Nardello peppers in 5 gallon grow bags outside doing really well and with peppers forming (pinched many flowers early on). I'm in NH so as usual started them way too early mid February. I potted them up a lot and babied them but next year late March minimum is when I'll plant seeds. I'm so excited for Jimmy Nardello peppers as I hear nothing but rave reviews. Already they're about 18" tall and loaded with flowers. By Fall they should be trees! I'll make paprika / smoked paprika from some but looking forward to roasted and olive oil marinated strips for sausages and sandwiches. Thanks for the recommendation, I never grew them before but already they're my favorite. 👍🏻
I love Carmen peppers but as the only pepper eater in my family they end up being wasted. Johnnys also sells Cornito Rosso pepper which I believe essentially is a smaller fruiting “Carmen” pepper. In my opinion it has Same great yields but better for a 1or 2 person pepper household. I’ve grown them both in the Canadian prairies in large pots and always have great luck, huge yields and awesome taste. Thanks for this video!
My 2 favorite non spicy are sweet sunset banana pepper, and a hybrid bell pepper called early prolific(3 lobbed 55 day to harvest). For me up in Canada with short season these do best with massive harvests.
This year I've managed to locate shishito peppers over here in the UK. So I have digressed slightly from my spicy chilies. Have 20 seeds of them arriving.
Love your videos and have ordered from you with good results. Shishitos - I have 20 plants this year. We smoke, then grill these with oil and salt. OMG. At foodie restaurants they cost a fortune which is absurd considering the incredible production per plant. Habanado and Jalenado, Corno di Toro (again we smoked) and finally the unbelievable Ashe County Pimento.
I have grown hot to many hot peppers few year (still have some in frezer and in jars, dryed etc) so last year i planted not hot ones and my favorite were Lombardo Peppers and Hamik Sweet Peppers. I dint want to grow one pepper whole summer and these had ton of smaller ones so I got few from every plant weekly. Im zone 6 so that's a win.
Thank you for this video, and for the info about your kits on bootstrap farmer! I snagged two kits just now. This will only be my second year gardening and I want to plant in ground this year and see how that goes. I am excited to start seedlings soon!
I really like your suggestions for non-spicey peppers. As a small home gardener I have a hard time buying all the seeds for recommended veggies since I only need 1 or 2 plants of most varieties. Usually I plant more than I can use and it just causes me more work for nothing. Have you ever thought about selling multiple seed varieties in a single package with just a few seeds of each variety? The seeds you talked about in this video would make a perfect package. You could even charge a premium for the repackaging labor. Where I would pay $2-$4 for a paket of seeds I'd happily pay double that for a small variety.
My peppers got off to a late start last year, but I still had a very good pepper harvest, harvesting right up to frost. The peppers that did the best for me were the Corona di Toro, Big Red (MI Gardener), Hungarian Yellow Wax, Lipstick, and Lesya.With the exception of the Hungarian Yellow Wax, all of my peppers were supported with a single bamboo steak. However, the Corona di Toro grew very tall-over six feet tall. They were my best producer, producing several peppers large enough to stuff. The Big Red grew to be as its name implies, a large bell pepper that is perfect for stuffing.
Four peppers that I grow along the side of my house in three gallon buckets (available from Menards) that I highly recommend are Just Sweet, Chablis, Gypsy and Hungarian Cheese (available from Seeds 'N Such).
Glad the Carmen worked out for you. That's my favorite but I did have some leaf spot issue where I'm at in North Carolina last year but may have been my seedlings were contaminated. We'll see this year! Can't wait to start again!
There is a spectrum of peppers that I'd consider to have "negligible heat", but are sometimes officially called "hot peppers" because they might have trace amounts of capsaicin once in a while. This would include Jimmy Nardello (one of my favorites too, I usually eat it fresh, in salads, or cooked with anything, the shape is great for a lot of non-frying applications). Shishito and Anaheim are also sometimes called "hot" for those with zero heat tolerance, and sometimes that matters (I have close friends in that category). Other heatless peppers I've grown include two Capsicum Baccattum varieties with a wonderful fruity taste -- Aji Delight and Aji Fantasy (and a red version of the latter from Matt's Peppers called Aji Combuci Nix). And a very long capsicum annuum pepper called Corbaci, which is as tasty as Jimmy Nardello, but with a more complex and "earthy" taste (in a good way). Midwest Gardener is also developing crosses between Corbaci and Jimmy Nardello I am trying out, so far they are fairly variable but when you cross two super-tasty peppers the results are always some level of good. I've also grown what appears to be a Sweet Pimento for several years, but much larger than a Hot Cherry pepper. They can look like a tomato when ripe, and are quite delicious -- they could probably be stuffed too, they can be shaped like a half-height Bell Pepper but with a lot more taste. Finally, informed by a friend of mine who grew up in Trinidad, there is a spectrum of non- to low-heat peppers with a Habanero-ish taste that are called "seasoning peppers". The idea is that you can make the same dish for people with anywhere from no heat tolerance, young children, those with a little heat tolerance, all the way up to habanero+ heat levels but with an otherwise similar taste. This category includes "habanada" (mentioned in the video), "zavory", "arroz con pollo", and several others (some have a little heat but far, far below an actual habanero. One I have I call a "sweet ghost", it looks exactly like a ghost pepper and the aroma is the same, until 30 seconds in when you realize it is not going to melt your mouth).
Thanks for that! My wife doesn’t like any pepper heat, so if I grow peppers they have to be sweet! I’ve grown Carmon before but those Jimmy Nardellos look really intriguing!
I tried Jimmy Nardello's in NE Alabama for the first time last year. Oh. My. Prolific and so, SO tasty when fried in olive oil and garlic. Makes a nice addition to pasta. They freeze well, too.
The older I get, the less heat I can handle. Plus, my friends do not like hot food. So I've switched to mainly sweet peppers. Mad Hatters, sweet banana & Candy Canes are great for sandwiches or cut up into various dishes. Jimmy Nardello & really any sweet pepper is great fried with eggs for a meat free breakfast. I just couldn't get into Shishito last year, so it figures that's the plant that went berserk growing way too many peppers. Always plant in big pots - the bigger the better. I am trying to scale back on the number of varieties I grow - let's see how that goes this year. Love your videos.
My favorite bull horn pepper is the Corno de Toro, every year I can hardly wait to put one on the grill. I do banana and Cal wonder, yellow and red. My shishito were almost cayenne hot, not sure I will grow this year. If I ever have a question about peppers I search your channel. Stay Well!!!!
I'm going to grow orange, red, and yellow Corno Di Toro(I harvested seeds from peppers I bought at wholefoods - they might be hybrids - so maybe mixed results), Jimmy Nardello, and Giant Marconi. I'm also going to grow chimayo(slight heat with these).
I love Nardellos. Hands down my favorite sweet variety. I agree with a lot of people in the comments about Ajivarski (they’re great). Corbachi , pepperoncinni, and shishitos are great but they’re too thin walled for me. Lesya would be good if it produced more. They’re super sweet and super cute but not worth the space if you have a smaller garden.
We live in mId Central Illinois and Big Bertha and Big Jim. Big Jim is good but 1 in 10 is spicy but can be nice. Time bomb we are done with. Love the cow horns Italian peppers.
Thanks for all of your great content here and on Geeky greenhouse. I'm growing the Majestic red bell pepper for the first time and noticed you had a cage around yours. I just have a pretty sturdy stake in mine. Should I get a cage instead?
Here in Zone 7b the 2 peppers ive had the most success with are: > Jalafuego - bountiful & early producing > Cornito Arancia (any color) - bountiful, but slow to ripen. The jalafuego is my mainstay - I use it in salads, stirfry, jam, and (when red ripe) my own fermented sriracha sauce (i make 3-4 qts every year). I agree on the Lesya ... the heart shaped fruits are indeed beautiful, but the plants were disappointingly small, not very prolific, and painfully slow to ripen.
Puma is one of my favorites! The ultimate edible ornamental. They have a citrusy hint that makes them distinctly different than your basic orange Habs. I just with They made a better sauce color when pureed lol. You might also like CGN21500. Pepper Geeks wrote about it in their blog a few years ago and I have been growing them since. They are more productive than the Cheiro Roxa types, and make a great sauce filler (though less distinctive flavor than Puma). ❤
@@cowsagainstcapitalism347 Thanks for the warning. Every year, I like to get a few packs of stuff I've never tried to grow, just to see how it does, etc. Last year, I had several hot pepper types, but I think that having the haze from the Canadian wildfires almost all summer long, stunted their growth because they barely produced any peppers, last year. Ghosts, scorpions, cayenne, jalapeno, poblano, and anaheims...no difference.
I was looking for a good bell pepper with nice thick walls and good flavor. I found Big Red at MIGARDENER two years ago, and it has given me everything I was looking for - large peppers, healthy plants. Grown in raised bed in Shenandoah Valley VA.
I got some Tam Jalapenos to try this year in my container garden. I don't care for spicy heat but like the flavor. These are supposed to be free of heat.
I had a huge harvest from my three sweet banana peppers this year. Flavorless doesn't even begin to describe them. Ripe or unripe did not matter. I ripped out all three at the end of July along with a loaded pepperoncini. Why anyone would grow either of them twice is beyond me. Anyone have any comments on Cubanelle?
I highly recommend trying Australian Broome Chilli if you can get a hold of some seeds. It's a great chilli for snacking on. Awesome video, thanks for sharing your favorites with us 👍
I absolutely ADORE the Trinidad Perfume Peppers. Just slight to no spice but amazing Trinidad flavour, super fruity-floral, better than a habanero in my opinion!
You give out a lot of great info on growing peppers guys. I considered buying your kit. You could probably get more hits on sales if you weren't trying to sell it for 8 - 10 times more than what it costs to manufacture. A little pricey in my opinion. Good luck with that.
two i grown last year only just use them up a few days ago, Romano red and Romano yellow, long and big peppers and large harvest but i did start them a bit late so lost a lot, they got too tall for green house it was like a tunnel getting in to water them, and have whole lot seeds, the Romano yellow is the one to go for a lot more taste and only a little more hot, growing both again but one of each in bigger pots along with 12 other types a whole mix as last year about 15 - 20 of each plus 2 chili plants small but hot what im still using them now as i never knew having hot next to not can make non hot hotter hopefully the red Romano gets hotter the yellow great but a tad more hotter i don't mind. in the next week im already potting up to first size up so not long till i get them in much larger pots this year compared to last year and more space between plants, depends how the Romano red do this year, harvest a lot but not so hot but if they better i do them next year if not just the Romano yellow as they were very good tasted great only hint spice good for most people
Giant Red Marconi peppers have outstanding flavor. We are foodies and this pepper does not disappoint! Thick walls, very sweet with a slight smoky flavor.
I’ve been growing them every year for about 10 years, we love them!
Growing these for the first time this year . Looking forward to trying them!
I'm growing them this year too.
I grew Cubanelles for the first time last year. They're very similar in flavor to a bell pepper, but shaped like a wider banana pepper and have a much higher yield than the bells I've tried before. I'm not even bothering to try bells this year, just going with cubannells.
You made one comment that is really important- ask around and see what grows well in your area. Best garden advice ever!
Ajivarski, a semi long wedge shaped sweet pepper from Macedonian origin.
From Baker creek, this pepper is thick and sweet with a little juice.
Outstanding cooked or raw. Really love this one.
My brother has colitis, a bowel disease that is exacerbated by hot chillis but he is addicted to Mexican food. Most of these varieties are impossible to get in Australia, but I did manage to secure an heirloom banana variety for him so it's good to know that at least a kind of banana chilli is considered excellent.
Thanks!
Thanks so much for the superthanks! Appreciate the support 😄
Shishitos were new to me this year, I bought plants that were suppose to be poblano, but they were shishitos, we did grill them like you recommended and now they are one of our favorites, definitely on the grow list for this year, they were also amazing pickled, my family keeps begging for more.!
I must have picked an unripe one,
because it tasted like soap.
What sort of pickling do you recommend?
I grew way to many Pepperoncini last year and have started to really like them because of how many I've had to eat. The yield on each plant was a big surprise, easy to grow
Agreed! Pepperoncini is great and surprisingly quite productive. I grew 3 different varieties of Pepperoncini last year, the standard kind as well as the Orange and Yellow/Gold kinds. All were had great yields and flavor but just the right amount of low heat for that spicy kick without triggering reflux. The orange and yellow ones are beautiful grown together for a nice pop of color.
My all time fave! Can't get enough of these little pickled peppers❤
I love heat, but it's super cool to see some coverage for the sweet peppers too!
I've grown Habanada the past two seasons. Tip : make absolutely sure that the pod is fully ripe before you eat it. If you try it when it's still green, it tastes really bad. But once it has turned orange, it gets this amazingly sweet citrus-like flavor. I'll probably grow them every season now.
I tried Habanada last season and it is true that fully ripened they are amazing. For me this variety has 2 drawbacks. First, the plant is extremely attractive to aphids and second it has really tiny habitat so it needs some space not to be overshadowed by normal sized pepper plants.
Trying them for first time this year. Thank you for tip.
I love their color when fully ripe. I make hot sauce using Sugar Rush Peach but the color is pale. I throw some Habanada peppers in and it gives it more of a peach color.
I first misread the name and thought you were talking about Habanero😆 A non spicy pepper 😂
Yeah, ya gotta be VERY careful when ordering seeds sometimes. HabaNADA vs HabaNERO. Big difference! @@PM-wt3ye
Carmen Bull Horns are the best red pepper to home grow and cook. Won't disappoint, I add to my canning recipes and they add sweet and color to recipes.
And they do well in northern climates
Glad to see my top 2 peppers from last year on the list. Shishitos produced INSANELY well last year despite being smaller plants (~2 ft), and the Jimmy Nardellos grew very aggressively and gave me a really nice early harvest, then ballooned up to 4-5ft and put out hundreds of peppers. Deers got into most of my hot peppers last year, so I am hoping this year I can work out some of my favorite hots.
Yes! The Nardellos are always one of the first plants to give us a few ripe pods, then they just go nuts in the late season.
I grew them also last year. Along with the Lesya Pepper. All did fairly well for me.
One of my favorite non-bell sweet pepper is the Gypsy hybrid. Very productive and easy to grow.
Ajvarski Sweet peppers grew well in containers in Louisville, KY (zone 7a). Thick walls, good yields. I'll have to grow more this year!
A few others have suggested this! We grew it about 4 years ago but don't remember much about it's flavor. It was a tough year so we only got a handful. May have to try that one again.
You can use them to make ajvar, a delicious spread from Serbia made with roasted red peppers and eggplant. Bullhorns also work well for this.
What size container did you use?
I second this! Ajvarski is a must grow for me. I grow more plants of this variety than any of my 20ish other varieties. We're also in 7a so perhaps it prefers more heat to really thrive.
Candy Cane Peppers also look amazing once pickled ... If you share with family and friends they really add a unique look .
Last season I tried growing Ajvarski peppers and loved them! The flavor is amazing and the plants were strong & productive. I saw some Italian peppers at a farm stand that looked similar, so I bought them to try. They were bland. I've never had good luck with bell peppers (they were always small and flavorless, even when mature) and I like more flavor than the green bells provide, anyway. This is why I have added Ajvarski to my permanent rotation.
Ajvarski is my fave too! I still have three plants in my garden beds that have survived the cold winter so far. Pretty amazing!
@@Francina214 That's great! What zone are you in? That would never work where I live in Michigan (zone 5b for me.) I did bring one inside to overwinter though.
I love Ajvarski too- good when green and great when red!
One of my favorites too! I mostly make roasted peppers with them. They freeze and then thaw really well.
I grew them a few years ago and they were Jalapeño hot, nothing resembling sweet pepper. Still made good some good ground paprika
I have a love hate relationship with King of the North bells every year. I cant ever seem to reliably grow them well. I've found them to be incredibly fickle. But every once in awhile ill get a perfect pepper from a plant and its the BEST tasting bell pepper ive ever had! Hands down no question. Its thats random reward that keeps me so addicted to trying to perfect them year after year.
I will say the Carmen is a great pepper! I am in North TX and the drought left me with no peppers all summer. when the drought broke in Oct. all my carmen plants put on fruit and ripened them before the end of our season.
I'm still new to peppers but I love the Cubanelle pepper a lot for sandwiches. Nice big and crunchy. Im assuming I'd also enjoy a lot of the other similar varieties.
Cubanelle peppers are my favorite! Averaged growing around an acre of numerous kinds of peppers for market, for about a decade. Few people appreciate the mild cubanelle & hot serrano to the extent deserved!
@@davidkottman3440 Out of the three first pepper plants I had the Cubanelle was by far my best. I tried growing Serrano peppers but sadly it stopped growing very early into the season and died around fall. I'm not really sure what happened to be honest. As for my Shishito that one also started dying around that time and I often had very dwarf sized pods the whole season. That being said, it was actually kind of a surprise to see how strong my Cubanelle was. It just seemed to keep growing and never stop even through some very cold days. In the end I was actually able to overwinter it too. Chopped up and everything with no leaves, it's still as green as ever and I'm excited to finally have some again hopefully soon. This time with new friends and my new found joy for growing plants. Currently I have an Aji Fantasy and Sugar Rush Peach that I grew by seed indoors, and they're all looking great! Definitely looking forward to seeing how those turn out. But yes I think you're right about Cubanelle peppers being underappreciated to the extent deserved! They don't seem to be talked about enough but yet I think they will be some of my favorites for a long time. 😊
@@Justin-xi6ue If you continue have problems with plants dying check for root rot problems, of course a lot of other stuff can happen too. Good luck!
@@davidkottman3440 I like Cubanelles for cooking but have never tried to grow them. Are they prolific? I would put some in the garden if so. Serrano is my most prolific hot pepper. I have gotten around 100 peppers from on potted plant.
@@morrismonet3554 Serrano and sweet banana peppers are more prolific, but cubanelle are much larger & very productive. They are also a large plant, but Serrano can be also.
I grew some Tangerine Dream peppers last year, and they were my favorite of the varieties I planted. They grow upside down, and ripen into a bright orange color. I only had one plant, but ended up with more peppers than I could use.
Nice, Tangerine Dream looks like a great snacking variety, beautiful orange color
I love using poblanos in cooking, and that was my best performer I had for my first summer growing! I only get up to 8 hours of direct sun on my apartment porch so it was slow going. But I also learned, repot in BIG pots! I got the plant from a store and put it in a trough with four others, they all struggled except for the poblano I put into a 5-7gal pot.
It’s overwintered and still living, so I’m looking forward to it this year!
I agree. Mine is still producing.
Yolo hope everyone is doing great
I love Etiuda bells from Baker Creek. I grow them indoors hydroponically all year long in an AeroGarden. I’m in Alaska and it’s not warm enough in my area to grow them outside even in the summer.
Very fruity and sweetly delicious. Heirloom so save the seeds and grow more!
I had really wonderful production last year from Mad Hatter Hybrids. Some sources online say it has a slight heat (
I like the Ajvarski pepper from Baker Creek. It is similar to the Carmen (which I've never tried) but it's an heirloom. I like to save seeds.
The Pizza Pepper from Territorial Seeds is a must grow! Really thick walled, petite size and prolific. Complex, sweet, and soooo crunchy. So delicious that I barely got to try a ripe one as my 3 yr old stole them all before I could get to them 😂 But a great sweet snacker.
Good to know, that’s impressive that a 3 year old is into peppers!
My favorite from last year was the "Escamillo" from Johnny's. Large, very sweet, and very few seeds. The most disease resistant pepper I have ever grown is the Giant Sweet Devil's Horn from Heritage Seed Market. It was not affected from any of the pests or weather issues we had here in Eastern CT (I'm about 15 miles east of you).
I grew Etiuda bell peppers last year and holy cow, I think it may be the sweetest pepper I've ever eaten. They're a bright tangerine orange, huge and blocky, perfect for stuffing, though I hardly had any for that, because I just wanted to eat them all sliced up raw. I tried Lesya last year and found it to be a bit bland. I was expecting more flavor, but could have just been a fluke. Giant Marconi was also a big hit, and great for stuffing. I just wish I'd gotten more of them! What I did get were super tasty though.
Etiuda peppers are amazing! I’m in Alaska so it’s too cold even in the summer to grow them outside. I grow them indoors hydroponically all winter long in an AeroGarden Bounty. So delicious!
I love the Lesya pepper, so sweet!
I'm a fan of all kinds of peppers. Thanks for sharing
03:33 My absolute favorite for non spicy peppers. I eat them like apples... Every time I try to cook with those, I can't help but to take a bite, and end up eating the whole thing, leaving none to put into my dish 😂🌶
Great video and you gave me some ideas for next season. You really should try Gather's Gold Sweet Italian peppers. They are my main sweet pepper crop for me in the Pacific Northwest where I've had poor productivity from bell peppers. The Gather's are vigorous plants and amazingly productive. They mature a golden orange and are delicious.
Carmen peppers... always have a great harvest here in the northwest....love them.
My all time favourite is the Corno Rosso variant, lots of yield and super sweet...
Thank you for your plant saving video. My 3yo lunchbox pepper is hanging out waiting for spring again. I love growing Aji Chachuca & Aji Dulce because of their upright/bushy growth habit. I combine them with Lemon Drops to make Aji sauce at a heat that my family can stand.
I love the Ajis! Most are too hot for me, unfortunately, but I love your idea of mixing with Aji Dulces in a sauce. I've haven't been successful at growing the Dulces, yet (2 tries and counting).
I love the Carmen's probably my favorite sweet peppers. I'm growing some Italian Red peppers this year along with the Carmen's to see if there is much difference.
Huge fan of Nardello. Also love Poblano which is our bell pepper substitute. Easy to grow, and is far more prolific (in the PWN zone 5b)
My favorites sweet peppers are Cornito Giallo hybrid (yellow when mature), Blot Pepper (Baker Creek), and Lunch box pepper. Was still harvesting these in November in Georgia this year!
I've been growing Jimmy Nardellos for a few years, and last year I also had luck with Lesya peppers. But the one I'm raving about now is the Mad Hatter pepper. I had three plants that became absolutely massive last year - one was so large and laden with fruit that I had to tie the tall tomato cage I was using to support it to my fence posts with rope to keep it upright.
Escimillo, chocolate beauty, purple beauty, oda and gypsy. Excellent choices for your list Mr pepper geek 😊
You should check out Piment D'esplette.- also known as Gorria peppers.
As mild or milder than jalapeños. But much sweeter with lots of flavor.
In France, it's dried and ground up - used in place of black pepper.
Great list! Happy to see you included Shishito, those are my favorite snacking peppers out of the garden. I have also grilled and stuffed them with goat cheese and made a fermented dipping sauce with them. I want to try some of the others you mentioned.
May I suggest the Aji Panca. They have a chocolate color with intense sweetness that oddly vanishes after you swallow. I grew in 3 gal pots and they grew over 4 ft tall with good production.
I grew Pippin's Golden honey this past season. They have dark foliage and ripen from purple to eventually orange. They have a unique taste and are great in cooking!
Eros and Cupid are great mini snacking red and orange bell peppers, i also like the lunch box mix of snacking mini peppers that come in red yellow and orange (i think i got both from Johnny seeds.)
Grew all of them in PA last year and they were extremely prolific and great healthy plants didnt even get any sunscalded fruits.
I really like the Cajun bell peppers. Sweet with a little warmth
Exactly what I was going to write. Super flavor, and a step up from standard Bells without getting anywhere near a jalapeno. This will be my 3rd year with them. Definitely a go to!!
Interesting, you're not the first to mention this. May have to work them into the lineup!
@@PepperGeek they dont get too big ... 2-3 feet. The peppers are a bit bigger than golf balls. Great right off the vine, and really good in my pepper relish to balance out jalapenos and habaneros.
@@PepperGeek I have some extra seeds if you want some. Happy to share LMK!
I am also in CT and love growing Jimmy Nardellos! They are fantastic for roasting an pickling.
I love this! We grow Spicy Banana and Sweet Banana chiles all the time! Cubanelle peppers are great for paellas. Durango pepper have a sharp flavor to. Giant Marconi are ridiculously big
I grew Jimmy nardello last year and I agree. Hands down favor. Pepper. Like a sweet thin walled bell pepper.
Jimmy Nardellos live up to the hype - highly recommend!
I've BEEN WAITING!
Happy to see more content. Thanks for this one.
😬 We'll be publishing more in the spring and summer!
Cannot wait, @@PepperGeek
Jimmy Nardello is definitely a great plant! Did well in my zone 7 climate (MD). I usually roasted and even pickled mine.
I'm currently growing pimiento blanco del pais (Puerto Rico), aji sabrosito and shishito peppers, as far as non spicy ones. This week I'll ve transplanting aji dulce of the Carnaval variety.
Jimmy Nardello is a perennial favorite of mine. They even produce heavily during 100F NTX summers when other plants are experiencing a drop off
Per your recommendation I now have ten Jimmy Nardello peppers in 5 gallon grow bags outside doing really well and with peppers forming (pinched many flowers early on). I'm in NH so as usual started them way too early mid February. I potted them up a lot and babied them but next year late March minimum is when I'll plant seeds. I'm so excited for Jimmy Nardello peppers as I hear nothing but rave reviews. Already they're about 18" tall and loaded with flowers. By Fall they should be trees! I'll make paprika / smoked paprika from some but looking forward to roasted and olive oil marinated strips for sausages and sandwiches. Thanks for the recommendation, I never grew them before but already they're my favorite. 👍🏻
I highly recommend the variety Carmen. So sweet, so delicious!
I love Carmen peppers but as the only pepper eater in my family they end up being wasted. Johnnys also sells Cornito Rosso pepper which I believe essentially is a smaller fruiting “Carmen” pepper. In my opinion it has Same great yields but better for a 1or 2 person pepper household. I’ve grown them both in the Canadian prairies in large pots and always have great luck, huge yields and awesome taste. Thanks for this video!
I love Carmens. They were very cold tolerant for me in zone 7b!
My 2 favorite non spicy are sweet sunset banana pepper, and a hybrid bell pepper called early prolific(3 lobbed 55 day to harvest). For me up in Canada with short season these do best with massive harvests.
Good suggestion for shorter season growers, thanks!
love these videos! so informative
Thanks, appreciate it!
My most used pepper is the Cajun bell, bell pepper. I use them in everything.
This year I've managed to locate shishito peppers over here in the UK. So I have digressed slightly from my spicy chilies. Have 20 seeds of them arriving.
Nice, I think you'll enjoy them, they sometimes have a faint heat level which is perfect
Love your videos and have ordered from you with good results. Shishitos - I have 20 plants this year. We smoke, then grill these with oil and salt. OMG. At foodie restaurants they cost a fortune which is absurd considering the incredible production per plant. Habanado and Jalenado, Corno di Toro (again we smoked) and finally the unbelievable Ashe County Pimento.
I have grown hot to many hot peppers few year (still have some in frezer and in jars, dryed etc) so last year i planted not hot ones and my favorite were Lombardo Peppers and Hamik Sweet Peppers. I dint want to grow one pepper whole summer and these had ton of smaller ones so I got few from every plant weekly. Im zone 6 so that's a win.
Thank you for this video, and for the info about your kits on bootstrap farmer! I snagged two kits just now. This will only be my second year gardening and I want to plant in ground this year and see how that goes. I am excited to start seedlings soon!
I really like your suggestions for non-spicey peppers. As a small home gardener I have a hard time buying all the seeds for recommended veggies since I only need 1 or 2 plants of most varieties. Usually I plant more than I can use and it just causes me more work for nothing. Have you ever thought about selling multiple seed varieties in a single package with just a few seeds of each variety? The seeds you talked about in this video would make a perfect package. You could even charge a premium for the repackaging labor. Where I would pay $2-$4 for a paket of seeds I'd happily pay double that for a small variety.
My peppers got off to a late start last year, but I still had a very good pepper harvest, harvesting right up to frost. The peppers that did the best for me were the Corona di Toro, Big Red (MI Gardener), Hungarian Yellow Wax, Lipstick, and Lesya.With the exception of the Hungarian Yellow Wax, all of my peppers were supported with a single bamboo steak. However, the Corona di Toro grew very tall-over six feet tall. They were my best producer, producing several peppers large enough to stuff. The Big Red grew to be as its name implies, a large bell pepper that is perfect for stuffing.
Four peppers that I grow along the side of my house in three gallon buckets (available from Menards) that I highly recommend are Just Sweet, Chablis, Gypsy and Hungarian Cheese (available from Seeds 'N Such).
I like the Thunderbolt and Big Daddy sweet peppers as well.
Recommend growing Cajun belle, small belle peppers with a distinctive flavour
Glad the Carmen worked out for you. That's my favorite but I did have some leaf spot issue where I'm at in North Carolina last year but may have been my seedlings were contaminated. We'll see this year! Can't wait to start again!
Very great video! Very well delivered and right to the point. Thank you for sharing Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers!
There is a spectrum of peppers that I'd consider to have "negligible heat", but are sometimes officially called "hot peppers" because they might have trace amounts of capsaicin once in a while. This would include Jimmy Nardello (one of my favorites too, I usually eat it fresh, in salads, or cooked with anything, the shape is great for a lot of non-frying applications). Shishito and Anaheim are also sometimes called "hot" for those with zero heat tolerance, and sometimes that matters (I have close friends in that category).
Other heatless peppers I've grown include two Capsicum Baccattum varieties with a wonderful fruity taste -- Aji Delight and Aji Fantasy (and a red version of the latter from Matt's Peppers called Aji Combuci Nix). And a very long capsicum annuum pepper called Corbaci, which is as tasty as Jimmy Nardello, but with a more complex and "earthy" taste (in a good way). Midwest Gardener is also developing crosses between Corbaci and Jimmy Nardello I am trying out, so far they are fairly variable but when you cross two super-tasty peppers the results are always some level of good.
I've also grown what appears to be a Sweet Pimento for several years, but much larger than a Hot Cherry pepper. They can look like a tomato when ripe, and are quite delicious -- they could probably be stuffed too, they can be shaped like a half-height Bell Pepper but with a lot more taste.
Finally, informed by a friend of mine who grew up in Trinidad, there is a spectrum of non- to low-heat peppers with a Habanero-ish taste that are called "seasoning peppers". The idea is that you can make the same dish for people with anywhere from no heat tolerance, young children, those with a little heat tolerance, all the way up to habanero+ heat levels but with an otherwise similar taste. This category includes "habanada" (mentioned in the video), "zavory", "arroz con pollo", and several others (some have a little heat but far, far below an actual habanero. One I have I call a "sweet ghost", it looks exactly like a ghost pepper and the aroma is the same, until 30 seconds in when you realize it is not going to melt your mouth).
Thanks for that! My wife doesn’t like any pepper heat, so if I grow peppers they have to be sweet! I’ve grown Carmon before but those Jimmy Nardellos look really intriguing!
Yum! I love sweet peppers!
I tried Jimmy Nardello's in NE Alabama for the first time last year. Oh. My. Prolific and so, SO tasty when fried in olive oil and garlic. Makes a nice addition to pasta. They freeze well, too.
Shishito are my favorite pepper. We grill them, add a dash of salt and a splash of lemon juice and wait to see who gets the hot one!
The older I get, the less heat I can handle. Plus, my friends do not like hot food. So I've switched to mainly sweet peppers. Mad Hatters, sweet banana & Candy Canes are great for sandwiches or cut up into various dishes. Jimmy Nardello & really any sweet pepper is great fried with eggs for a meat free breakfast. I just couldn't get into Shishito last year, so it figures that's the plant that went berserk growing way too many peppers. Always plant in big pots - the bigger the better. I am trying to scale back on the number of varieties I grow - let's see how that goes this year. Love your videos.
Blistered shishito tossed in a tiny bit of teriyaki sauce is super good.
My favorite bull horn pepper is the Corno de Toro, every year I can hardly wait to put one on the grill.
I do banana and Cal wonder, yellow and red. My shishito were almost cayenne hot, not sure I will grow this year.
If I ever have a question about peppers I search your channel.
Stay Well!!!!
I just finished a batch of Nardello peppers! I ended uo pickling the first batch, and the red has been getting roasted with with the tomatoes
I'm going to grow orange, red, and yellow Corno Di Toro(I harvested seeds from peppers I bought at wholefoods - they might be hybrids - so maybe mixed results), Jimmy Nardello, and Giant Marconi. I'm also going to grow chimayo(slight heat with these).
Nicee, yeah saving seeds from the grocery is always a tossup, but it's fun.
I love Nardellos. Hands down my favorite sweet variety. I agree with a lot of people in the comments about Ajivarski (they’re great). Corbachi , pepperoncinni, and shishitos are great but they’re too thin walled for me. Lesya would be good if it produced more. They’re super sweet and super cute but not worth the space if you have a smaller garden.
We live in mId Central Illinois and Big Bertha and Big Jim. Big Jim is good but 1 in 10 is spicy but can be nice. Time bomb we are done with. Love the cow horns Italian peppers.
Thanks for all of your great content here and on Geeky greenhouse. I'm growing the Majestic red bell pepper for the first time and noticed you had a cage around yours. I just have a pretty sturdy stake in mine. Should I get a cage instead?
Here in Zone 7b the 2 peppers ive had the most success with are:
> Jalafuego - bountiful & early producing
> Cornito Arancia (any color) - bountiful, but slow to ripen.
The jalafuego is my mainstay - I use it in salads, stirfry, jam, and (when red ripe) my own fermented sriracha sauce (i make 3-4 qts every year).
I agree on the Lesya ... the heart shaped fruits are indeed beautiful, but the plants were disappointingly small, not very prolific, and painfully slow to ripen.
Just got my seeds for my experiment peppers, this year. They're all spicy varieties...Datil, Puma, Thai Red Chili, and Kalugeritsa.
Puma is one of my favorites! The ultimate edible ornamental. They have a citrusy hint that makes them distinctly different than your basic orange Habs. I just with They made a better sauce color when pureed lol. You might also like CGN21500. Pepper Geeks wrote about it in their blog a few years ago and I have been growing them since. They are more productive than the Cheiro Roxa types, and make a great sauce filler (though less distinctive flavor than Puma). ❤
I ate exactly one Puma and was not prepared for that heat 😅
@@cowsagainstcapitalism347 Thanks for the warning.
Every year, I like to get a few packs of stuff I've never tried to grow, just to see how it does, etc.
Last year, I had several hot pepper types, but I think that having the haze from the Canadian wildfires almost all summer long, stunted their growth because they barely produced any peppers, last year. Ghosts, scorpions, cayenne, jalapeno, poblano, and anaheims...no difference.
I was looking for a good bell pepper with nice thick walls and good flavor. I found Big Red at MIGARDENER two years ago, and it has given me everything I was looking for - large peppers, healthy plants. Grown in raised bed in Shenandoah Valley VA.
I got some Tam Jalapenos to try this year in my container garden. I don't care for spicy heat but like the flavor. These are supposed to be free of heat.
🎉 love the Content. Haven't had ang from you in a long time.
Thank you 😊 Winter is a slow time for us here in the Northeast - you'll see much more this spring and summer!
I had a huge harvest from my three sweet banana peppers this year. Flavorless doesn't even begin to describe them. Ripe or unripe did not matter. I ripped out all three at the end of July along with a loaded pepperoncini. Why anyone would grow either of them twice is beyond me.
Anyone have any comments on Cubanelle?
i love habanda
I highly recommend trying Australian Broome Chilli if you can get a hold of some seeds. It's a great chilli for snacking on.
Awesome video, thanks for sharing your favorites with us 👍
The Carmen pepper has been my favorite sweet pepper for years. It's getting harder to find seeds. I'm thinking of trying the Thunderbolt this year.
Jimmy Nardellos are all-timers. I'm a fan of Carmens as well.
I absolutely ADORE the Trinidad Perfume Peppers. Just slight to no spice but amazing Trinidad flavour, super fruity-floral, better than a habanero in my opinion!
I've got some Cubanella Peppers They are good for stuffing not hot!
I couldn’t agree more with your comment. I grow them just to stuff with Italian sausage. Serve with a little homemade sauce.
@@mezenman that's not part of my super hot peppers tho🥵🥵🤤 I love em hot as fire!😁
You give out a lot of great info on growing peppers guys. I considered buying your kit. You could probably get more hits on sales if you weren't trying to sell it for 8 - 10 times more than what it costs to manufacture. A little pricey in my opinion. Good luck with that.
two i grown last year only just use them up a few days ago, Romano red and Romano yellow, long and big peppers and large harvest but i did start them a bit late so lost a lot, they got too tall for green house it was like a tunnel getting in to water them, and have whole lot seeds, the Romano yellow is the one to go for a lot more taste and only a little more hot, growing both again but one of each in bigger pots along with 12 other types a whole mix as last year about 15 - 20 of each plus 2 chili plants small but hot what im still using them now as i never knew having hot next to not can make non hot hotter hopefully the red Romano gets hotter the yellow great but a tad more hotter i don't mind. in the next week im already potting up to first size up so not long till i get them in much larger pots this year compared to last year and more space between plants, depends how the Romano red do this year, harvest a lot but not so hot but if they better i do them next year if not just the Romano yellow as they were very good tasted great only hint spice good for most people
Great video.
Glad you enjoyed it :)