Search articles from 1992 to the present. A Rainbow of Peppers
This article was published originally on 6/6/2003 Bell or green
peppers are attractive as well as tasty additions to the
vegetable garden. Bell peppers are one of the few vegetables
that are available in a multitude of colors. Seed catalogs offer
cultivars with purple, yellow, orange, cream, pink, red, or the
typical dark green fruits. What you may not know is that all
bell peppers start out green and most turn red if left to mature
on the plant. Many cultivars go through several color changes as
they ripen. However, many cultivar names are derived depending
on the color stage of the pepper at harvest. Although peppers
are sweetest when they are fully mature and red, they can be
harvested anytime after they reach their mature size. Typically,
each pepper should be blocky, 4 6 inches long and 3 5 inches
wide when harvested. Below is a list of several cultivars that
grow well in Iowa gardens. Generally peppers are started from
seed indoors 6 to 8 we