Hello. I know this is an old thread but I am going to respond. I visit Basque Country quite often because I have a travel business there - although not for the last two years... I was was given a huge batch of piquillo seeds from a farmer who was roasting the peppers for the local community at a nursery. I have been growing then for the past two years. They are so delicious and flavorful although this last year the peppers were very thin skinned. Very mild. Super sweet. I still have some seeds from that batch (2019) plus some from the plants I am currently growing.

Ok. Next year, hopefully, is my first year of not buying plants, because I couldn't get the one's I wanted this year. I live in a 'Flyover' area so my resources are limited. I bought the best resource book I knew of, and I'm following their directions. I'm Midwestern and hot foods do not appeal to me. I garden mostly by the rules that I was taught by my grandmother in the back yard garden. I am a Master Gardener who learns something new about growing (and sometimes killing things) all the time, and tries to share it. This isn't a competition. I'm just trying to help. Peace. Blue Cat.

I have seeds to shishito, and it's on my 2014 grow list for sure..I ordered padron from johnny's seeds years ago, but gave them all away and left none for myself...Lately I've been seeing some cooking shows and they were stir frying pardon's..Now I want to give them a try. I also bought some pepperocini seedlings last year. I grew them in an earth box and they exploded with peppers. Sorry if my spelling is a little off. I've been drinking some black russians my sister is making. Going to go get another one.

Have you tried mulching them (with such as a wood mulch or bark mulch)? Peppers generally seem to like mulch (especially if they're in the ground). How much soil do they have? (I ask because some people put a layer of plastic under their raised beds to keep weed roots out.) Your bell peppers might need more room for their roots. What variety of bell pepper are your growing? Some are easier than others. How big were the plants at transplant time? Bigger plants (so long as they're healthy and vigorous) seem to have an advantage. If you grew from seed, you might not have started them soon enough. We've had more success with store-bought bell pepper plants (transplanted in the ground) than seed-grown ones, so far (whether in-ground or in containers, and the store-bought plants got sizeable fruits fast; they were probably California Wonder), and I think that's mainly because of their maturity. If I heated my 6'x5'x3' greenhouse, I might be able to start them sooner, but, yeah, I only have so much time without heating it (early in the season) before I need to transplant them. Anyway, the bell peppers I've liked the most from seed have probably been Big Bertha F1, White Cloud, and Keystone Resistant Giant (the latter didn't get a fair trial, but I liked how it was doing in a tiny container, transplanted late). White Cloud does not have large fruits, but it is a bell type. To date, I've grown most of my peppers (all from seed) in containers, without mulch (most kinds with good results, but some don't seem to thrive in containers). I've tried a few seed-grown ones in the ground without mulch in recent years, but they didn't do well (same for all kinds of unmulched seed-grown peppers in the ground, though). We did a few sweet peppers in the ground with mulch last year, and they thrived. We've done some in raised beds in the past (without mulch), with okay results, and before that, we usually just had them in the ground without mulch (with store-bought plants) with excellent results. We're doing a whole row of peppers (many kinds, hot and sweet) in the ground with mulch, this year, and they seem happy so far (happier than the container peppers). We're also growing peppers in containers (with mulch) this year. The only bell I'm growing this year is Keystone Giant (in the ground, with mulch, from seed); feel free to ask for an update later. I agree that Lipstick is a good alternative to bell peppers; I've grown it two or three times (in containers). You might also like Neapolitan (it can be prolific and early). Chervena Chushka is another good alternative (but it likes a good amount of soil, although it does well in big containers). Georgescu Chocolate isn't bad (small fruits, though). I know it's not even close to a bell pepper in shape, but for a good sweet pepper, you might also try Jimmy Nardello Italian (it's sugary sweet). I haven't tried Cubanelle, yet, but it sounds pretty great. Marconi peppers and Corno Di Toro Giallo seemed at least as difficult to grow as bell peppers for me, though (in large containers, without mulch).