Author Topic: Sweet pepper (Capsicum) thread  (Read 2855 times)

LivingParadise

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Sweet pepper (Capsicum) thread
« on: April 03, 2017, 11:34:05 AM »
What varieties of sweet (not hot) peppers thrive in the tropics?

I recently planted Aji Dulce seeds (an exclusively sweet version of Capsicum chinese), popular in Puerto Rico and around the Caribbean/tropical South America, but they haven't come up yet.

Who knows, and can share cultivation stories (and of course recipes!), of others?

Mike T

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Re: Sweet pepper (Capsicum) thread
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2017, 08:42:59 AM »
There are a few capsicums that can be grown in the tropics and they tend to be the elongated yellow types and small bells rather than the big fleshy bell capsicums. The terms sweet chilli and long capsicums are also used. During the summer In  the tropics it tend to be the true hot chillis that are grown and they are longer lived. Capsicums tend to be shorter lived annuals and in the tropics at say 10 latitude to 25 latitude, grown only in the colder months.

ericalynne

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Re: Sweet pepper (Capsicum) thread
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2017, 08:11:55 AM »
Not exactly tropical, but subtropical, I grow feherozon sweet peppers. They are not very productive, but produce 6-7 medium sized sweet peppers reliably and grow only about 12 inches tall. It turns pale yellow and then red. It is supposed to be a hungarian paprika type pepper. The plant will continue to live -  perennially - after it's main crop, but the subsequent peppers are smaller and irregular. They grow and produce their 6-7 peppers well in spring in south/central Florida.
Erica

Tacticalgardener

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Re: Sweet pepper (Capsicum) thread
« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2017, 07:29:19 PM »
This year I've grown the red and yellow Marconi sweet peppers. Mine get to 9 to 12 inches long which surprised me because some other sweet peppers don't do so well down here. I am in South Florida zone 10b.

ericalynne

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Re: Sweet pepper (Capsicum) thread
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2017, 06:51:16 PM »
Hi Tactical,

What time of year do you grow the maraconis? Do you start from seeds and then plant out?

Tx

Erica

Tacticalgardener

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Re: Sweet pepper (Capsicum) thread
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2017, 05:21:53 PM »
Yes, I start everything from seed. Mine are planted in the ground.

My peppers were planted out in November /December. It is now the end of May, around 88 - 90 degrees everyday and they are still producing quite well.

Tacticalgardener

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Re: Sweet pepper (Capsicum) thread
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2017, 05:24:24 PM »
I mulch them real well, which helps all my veggies. My tomatoes are not liking this heat and intense sun, but my peppers don't mind it at all.

greenman62

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Re: Sweet pepper (Capsicum) thread
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2017, 09:48:39 AM »
yeah, every summer when it heats up
tomatos and peppers start to fail in the 90+ degree heat.

a little afternoon shade and mulch help.
i usually give them a spritz of water, wetting the leaves and mulch layer
daily, or every other day.
i always plant them in raised beds by the way, they seem to really need the drainage
at least in my yard, or they get nematodes.

C Annum seems to be the most sensitive.
C. baccatum has always gotten better results for me.
the plants seem to stand up on thier own better
they also are more cold hardy.

i have a couple of tabasco (C. frutescens )
they are hot, not sweet, but i cant seem to kill them.
they have been frozen, cut to the ground twice, stepped on
and they keep coming back and producing peppers (except for 1 to 2 months in winter)

so i tend to stick with frutescens and baccatum .

i also had a scotch bonnet that lasted 4 years.
C. chinense.
so, basically i grow anything BUT Annum.