Peppers
Ripening peppers in Northern climates is a challenge, particularly when we also often have humid and rainy weather. While we have not found too many bell peppers that consistently ripen well, we have found a few, along with a number of corno di toro (bulls horn) and specialty peppers that are reliable and flavorful. We have not had significant disease pressure in our pepper trials.
Table Key
| Best | Good | Acceptable | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ○ |
Bell Peppers
Orange Marmalade (F1)
BREEDER
Ball/PanAmerican
Seed Company
DESCRIPTION: Orange Bell, earlier than Procraft, ripens well even in more northern climates. Good flavor.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Tomato Grower Supply Company External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
FLAVORBURST (YELLOW) (F1)
BREEDER
Bejo Seeds
DESCRIPTION: Earlier than Procraft, in Madison and Spooner. Much higher yielding than other bells in Spooner. Good flavor.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Johnny’s Selected Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
PROCRAFT (RED) (F1)
BREEDER
Enza Zaden
Vitalis Organic Seeds
DESCRIPTION: Highest fruit weight with Dashen in Madison, but very late in Spooner. Reliable in Madison. Good flavor.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Johnny’s Selected Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ○ |
DASHEN (RED) (F1)
BREEDER
Enza Zaden
Vitalis Organic Seeds
DESCRIPTION: Highest fruit weight with Procraft, but not quite as reliable in Madison. Very late in Spooner.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Johnny’s Selected Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ○ | ● | ● | ○ |
Corno Di Toro
CARMEN (RED) (F1)
BREEDER
Janika Eckert and Rob Johnston
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
DESCRIPTION: Best yield in both Spooner and Madison. Our check variety and the most commonly used among farmers. Good flavor in both locations and very reliable.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Johnny’s Selected Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
ESCAMILLO (YELLOW) (F1)
BREEDER
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
DESCRIPTION:Slightly lower yield than Carmen, but still productive and early. Same sized fruit but yellow. Good flavor.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Johnny’s Selected Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
BRIDGE TO PARIS (RED) (OP)
BREEDER
Phillies Bridge Farm and Hudson Valley Seed Company
DESCRIPTION: Good yields compared to other OPs in Madison. Very good flavor.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Hudson Valley Seed Company External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
GYPSY QUEENS (RED) (OP)
BREEDER
Adaptive Seeds
DESCRIPTION:Good yielding OP in Madison. Good flavor, appreciated for flavor intensity by chefs. Open Source Seed Initiative.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Adaptive Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
LIVELY SWEET ITALIAN (ORANGE AND YELLOW VERSIONS)
BREEDER
Tom Lively, Lively Organic Farm and High Mowing Organic Seeds
DESCRIPTION:Best yielding OP yellow in Madison. Good flavor.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: High Mowing Organic Seeds. External Link: Orange |
External Link: Yellow
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
BELLA ITALIA
BREEDER
Frank Morton, Wild Garden Seeds
DESCRIPTION: Highest yielding OP in Spooner. Good flavor
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Wild Garden Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
Cornito
About half the size of Corno di Toro
CORNITO ROSSO (RED) (F1)
BREEDER
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
DESCRIPTION: High number of sturdy fruits on a strong plant. A good alternative to Carmen for those who want smaller peppers. High yields in Spooner. Great flavor. Chefs rated it as they variety they would be most likely to buy for their restaurant.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Johnny’s Selected Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
CORNITO GIALLO (YELLOW) (F1)
BREEDER
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
DESCRIPTION:Good yields in Madison and Spooner. Great flavor
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Johnny’s Selected Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
Snack Peppers
HMS RED PICNIC (ALSO AVAILABLE YELLOW AND ORANGE)
BREEDER
Dr. Jodi Lew Smith, High Mowing Organic Seeds
DESCRIPTION:All three excellent flavor, red more productive than yellow and orange and slightly better flavor.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM:High Mowing Organic Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ○ | ● | ○ | ● |
JOHNNY’S LUNCHBOX RED (F1)
BREEDER
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
DESCRIPTION: Also available in yellow and orange. Good flavor, tends to be slightly more productive than HMS but rated slightly less well for flavor.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Johnny’s Selected Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
PETITE MARSEILLAIS (YELLOW) (OP)
BREEDER
Heirloom from Southern France
DESCRIPTION: Good productivity, and earliness. Crew favorite. Does take a long time to pick and irregular shape may make it difficult to prepare in large batches.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM:Hudson Valley Seed Company External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
DOE HILL (YELLOW) (OP)
BREEDER
Heirloom
DESCRIPTION: Good productivity and earliness. Best flavor, crew favorite and chef favorite. High marketable count with very low unmarketable numbers.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Hudson Valley Seed Company External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
SNACKABELLE RED (RED) (F1)
BREEDER
Ball/Pan American Seed
DESCRIPTION: Very high yields and easy to pick. Great flavor made it a crew favorite. Very little soft rot, very high marketable percentage. Easy to process in the kitchen.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Harris Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
Mild Hot
Some people love the heat of hot peppers, and can’t get them hot enough in the north. Others prefer a milder version, so that the full flavors come out without being overwhelmed by the heat. We have focused our trials on these more mild hot peppers. Hot peppers are often later to ripen and may benefit from row cover or production in a high tunnel. We have tested hot peppers outside and inside and these varieties do well in each system but are about a month earlier and more productive when grown in a high tunnel.
WISCONSIN WROASTER (F1)
BREEDER
Jim Nienhuis, University of Wisconsin-Madison
DESCRIPTION: High yielding early poblano. Rounded top leads to less rot on the stem side. Straight sides work great for roasting. Crew and chef favorite for flavor.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: none available yet, should be soon
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
PRIMERO RED (F1)
BREEDER
Ball/PanAmerican Seed
DESCRIPTION: Large early habenero. Highest yielding in both Madison and Spooner. Large open plants make for easy harvest. Spicy in Madison, less so in Spooner. Crew favorite for flavor.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Available 2019
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
AJI RICO (F1)
BREEDER
Jim Nienhuis, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ball/ PanAmerican Seeds
DESCRIPTION: Yielded well (equivalently to Primero Red) in Madison but not as well in Spooner. Crew and chef favorite for flavor.Large plants were a little spindly and harvest was difficult because plant held the fruit and we often broke branches while picking. Fruit would hold well on the plant at peak ripeness, but tended to dessicate quickly during hot periods.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM:Ball/Pan American Seed External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
RED EMBER (F1)
BREEDER
Johnny’s Selected Seeds
DESCRIPTION: Good productivity. Good flavor, preferred to Red Flame, which was our check.
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Johnny's Selected Seeds External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |
TRINIDAD PERFUME (OP)
BREEDER
Heirloom
DESCRIPTION: Good productivity. Really nice plant architecture for harvest. Excellent flavor, very mild
SEED AVAILABLE FROM: Trial seed from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. External Link
| Flavor | Production | Disease | Earliness |
|---|---|---|---|
| ● | ● | ● | ● |