The "white" peppers (those that are cream colored when immature) are very high yielders, but hard to ripen. "Alma Paprika" (mentioned earlier in the thread) is one of those, as is "Feyer Ozon". Both are very compact plants that bear heavily. I've also grown several high-yielding European varieties, "Suptol" and "Taltos". The photo below is of a single plant of "Taltos", pulled just before frost & stripped of leaves: With some reservations, I agree with those that recommend "Cubanelle". It has very large peppers (some 7-8" long) and is incredibly high yielding. So high yielding, in fact, that it requires support to keep the peppers from pulling the plant over, and they are packed in so tightly together that it is hard to pick one without damaging others. Rot can be a problem too, and because it starts from the inside, the peppers might appear normal (for a time) until they are cut open. I've been trying to save seed this year, and it has been frustrating to see so many full-grown peppers begin to change color, only to suddenly turn to mush. To get the full benefit of the huge yield, I recommend picking them green. While I have not grown "Carmen" personally, a gardening friend does, and her plants are loaded, with many ripe. "Sweet Chocolate" (not to be confused with "Chocolate Bell") has elongated bell-like peppers. They tolerate cooler weather, the yield per plant can be huge, and they ripen quickly to a brick red/brown. Thinner walls than a bell though, more like a frying pepper. This one too requires support, otherwise the high pod yield will pull the plant over, or break branches. One of my favorites is another European variety, "Elephant Ear". It has conical peppers 6-8" long that resemble the "Giant Marconi" above, but wider at the shoulder & tapering to a point. The walls are as thick as bells, and the average weight this year has been over 5 ounces per pepper. This has not been a great year for peppers here, but about half of the "Elephant Ear" peppers have ripened, and most of the rest are changing color. I am getting about 8-10 peppers per plant. But for fresh eating & great salsa, I like the "cheese" peppers. They are pumpkin shaped, have very thick walls, and ripen earlier than most bells. "Tennessee Cheese" ripens early, and has a pretty good yield of 2 1/2" wide peppers that are deep red when mature. The walls are often over 1/4" thick, and have less juice than most peppers, so they don't turn to mush when chopped... one of my favorites for adding body to canned salsa. "Greygo" is probably the largest cheese pepper, 4" wide X 2" deep, and average 4 ounces or better. This is my favorite ripe pepper, DW & I eat them like apples... delicious. While the OP is about sweet peppers, even some hot peppers can be sweet under some conditions. That is the case for "Pizza Pepper", from Territorial. The plants are loaded with very large jalapeno-like peppers, 3-4" long & up to 2" wide, with walls nearly 1/4" thick. They can be spicy if harvested during warm weather. When it gets cool though, especially close to frost, most of the immature peppers become almost completely sweet, with a very crunchy texture. Harvested under those conditions, this is my favorite pepper for fresh eating, truly gourmet quality. They also have remarkable storage qualities; I keep them in buckets in an unheated garage for a month with few losses, and in the refrigerator for two months. Over the Labor Day weekend, I visited Heritage Farm (SSE's Iowa headquarters) and walked through most of their trials & preservation gardens. The pepper plot was really interesting - it was how I discovered some of the European peppers that I grow in years past. Saw some great prospects for the future, including "Melrose", a frying pepper sold by several companies. The plants were loaded with 5" long X 1.5" wide peppers tapering to a point, very deep red when mature. It was the last days of August, and not only were nearly all of those peppers ripe, they were shriveling & drying on the plant!!! Early, heavy bearing... looks to be worth trying.

I'm also trying UH seeds that I bought last month from Oahu Urban Garden Center. I bought Kewalo tomato and Kai Choy: Waianae Strain. The seeds were excellent quality because a lot of it sprouted from that $1.00 packet of seeds. Next Saturday (June 13, 2009), there is going to be an another event at Oahu Urban Garden Center called, "University of Hawaii Vegetable Seeds". So I'm sure there will be more variety of seeds I called buy. A special presentation by UH Seed Lab Director, Desmond Ogata, will be there, so I will attend that presentation to learn more about the disease resistant varieties of UH Vegetable Seeds. If anyone is looking for banana plant, there is a BBT virus-free bananas available during that event: 'Ice CreamÂ, ÂLady Finger (also known as True Apple/Amorosa/ Monzano), and ÂWilliams are available for purchase. Here is a link that might be useful: Oahu Urban Garden Center

Sorry I was unclear.. I have worked on this plant sale for a year and talked incessantly about it.posted my Blog link on many occasions. I am pretty good about at least LOOKING at most of the posts here even if I do not comment. CMN is Children Miracle Network That will collect the money I raise and give it to Children Hospital Boston. I am taking a small portion of the proceeds to cover some of my receipted personal expenses. The POINT of the sale is to make money for the Hospital its NOT the side benefit. I have had the honor of meeting 2 people from THIS forum at my sale one is volunteering, one purchased stuff and 2 people from the Tomato Forum volunteered for the 2nd yr to grow toms I could sell. The Sisters sale donates a SMALL portion of the PROFIT to Make a wish foundation in honor of a young man who passed away. It is a FOR profit Enterprise. Here is a link that might be useful: Charity plant sale Blog

I see this an old thread, but it is the same subject that I'm seeking info for. I live I SE Wisconsin and this past late winter I germinated several different varieties of chili peppers. They are: Tepin, Pequin, Zimbabwe, Guajillio, Pasilla Bajio, Del Arbol, and Buht. They all grew into healthy plants, and have produced an abundance of fruit so far. They are still flowering, but our days are getting shorter and the temps are going to start get colder with each passing week. All the plants are outside in grow bag. I have a greenhouse and it can be heated. Last winter I transplanted a dozen pepper plants (jalapeno, bell and wax) from the garden into pots and kept them going until about mid December. By then there was simply not enough light (I think) and they just stopped growing. I removed all the fruit and pruned them and kept them in shade until March of this year. 8 of them came back to life and produced fruit this in early summer. I want my exotic pepper plants to live a long time. I have a total of 20 plants and I plan to put in larger pots in the next week or so. I planned to bring into the greenhouse when the night temps start to dip into the 40's. That will happen soon here. My question is should I make them go dormant or should I keep them happy through the winter? I can add lights and I can maintain a 65 degree night temp without breaking the bank. I'm not too concerned about having fresh peppers in winter as I am about obtaining a (large) healthy plant for years to come. Any advice would be greatly appreciated... Thanks everyone.