So this is my first bell pepper, supposedly a bell pepper, but have you ever seen one so skinny? Is it done growing? My mom thought maybe it's actually not a bell pepper, but it looks like the small ones coming up behind it are shaped better. So should I just pick this one? I've read to pick when they're firm, pick when they're three inches long. Well it's long but... not much meat on its bones, I have to say!
What cultivar? The Lamuyo types are long and skinny getting up to seven inches long. Much more popular in Europe than in the US where blocky bells predominate.
http://www.rogersadvantage.com/products/pepper.asp
That one looks pretty immature yet. Big Bertha is actualy a half long but Big Reds pic will give some idea of this type.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/63614/
I just found my little tags, I think it is a Sweet Pepper "Chile Dulce". I bought one Red Bell plant and the Chile Dulce but one has stayed small and not done well; I don't know why I assume that was the red one. Would this pepper be red already if it was going to be red? The picture on the tag for the Chile Dulce does show a sort of long skinny pepper, but not this long and skinny. Thanks!
Well now I don't know WHAT I have, when I try to look it up in PlantFiles nothing comes up. I think this was made up by Bonnie brand plants, the tag says Sweet Pepper Chile Dulce "Bonnie Bell". But the picture looks like a bell pepper...
daistuff: I have 4 pepper plants, the Bonnie brand... Some of my peppers look long and skinny and right beside them on the same plant are some that are short and fat??
I have some red and yellow peppers...I can't wait for them to turn! I wonder how long it takes for the green peppers to start turning?
I don't know when they start turning color either. I hope my other plant starts doing better so that I get some red ones.
I put the tomato cage around mine after a big wind storm almost blew it over, and then I wonder if I "squeezed" it into this long and skinny shape. Do bells need support, or should I take it off?
Bonnie Bell Sweet Chili Pepper Dulce is AWESOME!
I bought this by mistake, thinking I was getting a green bell pepper. Best mistake I ever made. These peppers are like poblano's, only sweeter. Let them grow to about the size of light bulb or bigger. They have the most wonderful flavor!
I guess i am not alone here ...I thought I bought green bell pepper plants and just today I noticed that the peppers certainly were not shaped like blocky bell peppers....so I retrieved the little plant tag and what do you know - its a Chile Dulce . Now what am I suppose to do with these ? What can you make with them and are they HOT . Do they have heat to them ?? Ive never been a fan of hot peppers - need to know what to DO with these when they are ready to harvest. Thanks
Angieeb: do you cook with the peppers or can you use them like a bell? I don't know much about poblanos but sounds hot? My pepper in the picture ended up growing nice and big and I gave it to a friend at a garden-sharing party. I hope I didn't lead her astray, because I told her it was a bell pepper. Haven't heard yet if it blew her socks off...
Peppers are ready to harvest when you're ready to use them. Edible green and ripe, could be yellow, orange, red, white (never seen these but I've heard of them) and chocolate-brown. Purple? Maybe! IMO the ripe ones are sweeter & juicier than the green ones.
Hot? Even the really hot ones, the heat is contained in the membranes, the white connective tissue inside, and in the seeds. Scrape all that stuff out if you don't want to take a chance. Chili dulce means sweet chili pepper, so it might not be hot, or only a little bit.
Water that skinny little fellow and feed the plant with something high in potassium and/or phosphorus, i.e. of N-P-K something whose N is lower than the P or K number. Pick it when it changes color or you're tired of looking at it.
