Garden Corner - Peppers - About Sweet and Hot Peppers

The sweet peppers are those that have very little bite/heat to them — or none at all.

At 0 - 1000 Scoville Units, they may have a little tang, but that's about it.

Sweet peppers generally prefer a rich soil that has been enriched with compost and bright morning sunlight with filtered afternoon light.

Bell (or Sweet) pepper plants can be container grown, but they do grow much better in the ground where the roots can really spread out.

Delicate white flowers appear before the plant bears its colorful fruit.

The plants prefer well-drained, humus rich soil. You can sprinkle compost alongside the plants monthly during the growing season.

Fertilize the plants lightly while they grow with a low-nitrogen fertilizer, but remember that too much nitrogen will cause the plant to stop producing fruit.

They thrive under the heat of the summer sun, so keep them in a sunny site out of the wind.

They are at their sweetest and are highest in Vitamins A and C when fully mature, so let them grow.

Be sure to stake or cage the plant as it get bigger to support the heavy fruit it bears.

When choosing bell peppers for eating, select those that are firm, heavy for their size with shiny, richly colored skin.

Harvest all of the fruit when frost is near. If they are three-quarters of the way colored they will continue to ripen indoors.

Hot Pepper Plants -

Hot peppers are those in the 5,000 to 50,000 Scoville Units range.

Dairy is one of the fastest remedies for hot pepper mouth burn because casein, a protein found in milk, breaks the bond between the capsaicin and the pain receptors in your mouth.

Chili peppers are cholesterol free, low in sodium and calories, rich in Vitamins A and C, and a good source of folic acid, potassium and Vitamin E.

When choosing chili peppers for cooking, select only those that are firm with deep, vividly colored skin.

There are hundreds of hot pepper varieties, and the number of new varieties increases every year.

Over half of the 200 varieties of hot pepper plants are indigenous to Mexico. They range in size from just 1/4 inch to 12 inches long.

Growing conditions such as soil quality, moisture, temperature, and exposure to sunlight affect the hotness of the pepper.

Even fruits of the same plant can have different degrees of heat.

Mild peppers are just that: mild. They are neither sweet nor hot.

They range from 1000 to 3000 Scoville Units and are the perfect chilies for dinners being introduced to the world of chili peppers for the first time.