Favorite Pepper Varieties to Grow?

[HollowOfWisps]

I am a big fan of the Hungarian Hot Wax. I love them sauteed up with a little olive oil, fresh garlic and chicken.

 

[NatJ]

If you are growing multiple kinds of peppers you can't really keep seeds because they will cross pollinate and you never know what what will come up from them.

I grew several kinds, a few years back, and kept seeds from all of them.

When I grew the seeds this year, there was one definite cross (what should have been a dwarf plant with mild peppers was larger and had hot peppers), but the other dozen or so seemed to have the right plant types, fruit shapes, and amount of heat (or lack of heat.)

That result matches what I've read, that peppers self-pollinate most of the time, with crosses being just common enough to keep gardeners on their toes.

I'll be saving my own seeds again in future, because I'm willing to have a few random off-types if it saves me buying seeds. Also, the mixed peppers were just as good as either parent, so more a curiosity than a problem for me.

 

[sheknitsandcrochets]

By what I've read, pepper plants (like tomato plants) are capable of self pollinating themselves and will on their own natural coarse.

Cross pollination occurs when bees (or other pollinators, such as hummingbirds and butterflies), pollinate one of the plant's flower with pollen from another plant of the same family (such as a nearby pepper plant of another variety). Wind can sometimes even blow the pollen from one plant to another. So, when multiple varieties of peppers are planted near each other, there's a very high chance that some of the flowers will have been cross pollinated, and therefor carry hybrid seeds.

Now it would seem unlikely that all of the flowers were cross pollinated, but the trouble (when trying to collect only pure seed) is that you can't tell which peppers carry pure seed, and which carry a hybrid variety.

 

[sheknitsandcrochets]

I am a big fan of the Hungarian Hot Wax. I love them sauteed up with a little olive oil, fresh garlic and chicken.

We grew the Hungarian Wax Hot Pepper this year and it's definitely one of my top favorite varieties to grow.

 

[rosemarythyme]

My climate isn't conductive to peppers so small ones do better for me. Shishitos are my favorite, they're not spicy but have a distinct flavor. They're super delicious as a snack pan fried with a bit of oil, salt and pepper, or sliced and fried slightly in chili oil as a topper for other dishes.

 

[NatJ]

what're your favorite pepper varieties to grow (both sweet and spicy peppers included)?

This is more of a not-recommendation:
"Nadapeno" and "Coolapeno" do not taste like jalapenos.

They are supposed to be jalapenos with no heat, but I don't think they manage. They seem more like a bell pepper in flavor. Green ones taste rather like green bell peppers, although ripe (red) ones are not as sweet as most ripe bell peppers. To me, actual jalapenos have a different flavor than bell peppers, and these just don't have it.

For looking like jalapenos, they were both fairly close, but the Nadapenos were a little better than the Coolapenos.

As generic not-hot peppers they were fine, but I was disappointed because I was hoping for actual jalapeno flavor.

 

[Red Horse]

Marconi.
Banana Pepper.

I tried the Marconi this year and I loved them!!! I roasted some and jarred them in olive oil, then pickled some with mustard seed. I can't decide which I like best so next year I have to do both again. I think every bit of the pickled ones went on turkey sandwiches. I liked the roasted ones diced up on hummus with a little of the oil and some roasted garlic.

 

[TooCheep]

I'm not generally into hot peppers, so I don't grow them. I always get bell peppers when I buy peppers at the store, but bell plants just don't produce many fruits for me.

Anaheim has been my go-to in the garden. High productivity, medium heat and works in everything I want to put peppers in. I tried Corno di Toro this year (sweet pepper) and it produced almost as well as Anaheim, so that will likely be my sweet pepper going forward.

I may try Cayenne next year for the medicinal uses and as a spice.

 

[Red Horse]

My climate isn't conductive to peppers so small ones do better for me. Shishitos are my favorite, they're not spicy but have a distinct flavor. They're super delicious as a snack pan fried with a bit of oil, salt and pepper, or sliced and fried slightly in chili oil as a topper for other dishes.

Those are my chickens favorite! I didn't think they would like them since they have a little bitterness to them but I catch my husband feeding them red ones a lot. I found a recipe for soy pickled ramps that I substituted shishitos for and they were so good. You can them and then when you're making an Asian-style stir fry you just throw them in whole and then use the marinade as the sauce. They made a great cold noodle salad! I subbed in low-sodium soy and rice vinegar for the sauce and dried wood ear mushrooms for the shiitakes... they aren't super pleasant to eat but I like the flavor they add much better.

 

[Red Horse]

My favorite is hatch peppers. I had so many this year I made jam with them and filled honey sweet corn muffins with the jam. I kept sneaking it on tortilla chips too!! I'm so sad that it's all gone already.