Any success with sweet red pepper?

Hi all,

Jist been trawling through old posts to see if anyone has had success with the long sweet red peppers?

I've tried in the past but my old garden never got a lot of sunlight, so I'm hoping to do better this year.

I'm just starting off some Franchi Peperone Corno Rosso in the conservatory to give them a head start.

Does anyone have any good tips?

Thanks in advance

 

I never have much luck with sweet peppers outside, tend to think of them as mainly a greenhouse crop.
I've grown the long red type before, but never outside.

 

I grew them for the first time last year in the greenhouse, because my kids love them. I had 2 peppers all year. I will try again this year, if I have no success I will not bother again.

Rusty

 

Yep, I plan to grow them in the grreenhouse.

 

Well there shouldn't be any real problem then as far as I can see.

I do sometimes think people expect more from pepper plants than is possible, they are not tomatoes, ie growing fruit from trusses, the fruits are formed singularly, leave too many on and they will be small.
Also wait for them to ripen fully and the plant will abort quite a lot.

 

@pete good idea, i'll limit the amount of peppers they will each grow so the plants can concentrate on growing fewer but better peppers.

 

I often use the first few at the green stage once they become big enough.
Must admit I do prefer ripe ones but green ones are ok for cooking and even salads really.

 

I grew California Wonder last year for the first time outdoors, they're not long ones though. I had 2 red peppers and 1 small green one. Was pretty chuffed haha! But I did wonder why some were dropping off and after the first 2 red ones it seemed to give up.. so that's good to know

 

i gave up on peppers due white fly invasions could never get rid of them when I grew red peppers

regards alex

 

Hmm yes I recall this being a problem too.

Just hoping for success as I love sweet red peppers!

 

to GC @sandymac

 

Also, peppers branch a lot and keep dividing into two as they grow, kind of in a "Y" shape. I grow my peppers in a polytunnel and at first I used to just get many small fruits and I thought I could not grow them.

Now I prune, when the stem divides into 2, I prune one out and I continue to do this all the way up the plant so I have a single kind of a zig-zag main stem.

I get fewer peppers, but bigger ones and some will ripen. But I will take them off when they reach a size I am happy with, ripe or not. The bonus of doing this early is I sometimes get a second flush of flowers and then fruit.

Unripe peppers can be ripened on the windowsill or are cut up and blanched, then frozen for winter soups/stews.

Steve...