Thanks so much! :) I didn't move the plants and haven't removed any leaves, but they're in a rather sunny spot and the leaves don't provide enough of a cover, apparently. If I may be so bold as to ask another pepper question (the other forum relates to hot peppers so not sure if applicable) - are bell peppers perennials, too? We rarely see frost here, and I was wondering if I could leave the plants in the ground for next year, and maybe the year after...will the peppers improve? Provided I find a way to shade them properly in their current location, of course :).

At first I thought, "How could that be?" Then I read that sun scald on peppers happens when there is high humidity. We're normally not humid at all, but for the past few weeks the humidity has been insane, even as our temperatures rose again.

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 must be the exception to all of you. I grow two to three sweet bells ea season and they do very well for me. I get nice plants with about five peppers on ea plant at any given time. I live in Thousand Oaks, which is about 20 miles (as the crow flies) inland from the coast and so the temps here are quite moderate (today the high was around 77*f) with the nighttime temps still getting cool. My garden is a reaised bed. I have spent a lot of time filling it with compost I make it from leaves, grass clippings, and horse manuer I get from a local horse ranch. I French double dig the bed every 2 to 3 years. Since my garden is only 10'x15' double digging it is not such a big deal. This year, until the latter half of June, I seemed to have more "June Gloom" kind of weather than the typical nice clear days we usually have. I got a very late start this year, not getting my nursery bought plants into the ground until the end of May. Usually I put my seedlings in the ground late March/early April. This is the first time in years that I did not start my own plants from seed. I like to plant my pepper plants quite close together (six inches apart) as I find they tend to shade each other when the weather turns hot. Daytime temps will get into the high 90's during the day and perhaps as low as 75sh at night in late August and early September. Even thought it may seem like they are close togeher they get plenty of sun. Because So Cal has such low humidity I made a 1'x 3' frame out of 1/2" pvc and covered it with an old white sheet to shade the peppers. Without the humidity the temp in the shade is easily 15* lower than in the direct sun. I find this really helps during the really hot afternoons (say from noon to 3). Even though I have composted nearly everything that goes into the garden I still put a small handfull of fertilizer in the bottom of each hole (mixed with a little soil) when I am putting the plants into the garden. After about six weeks I will side dress each plant with one T of 5-10-10 fertilizer (the same stuff I use for my tomato plants). I need to check this out and make sure this is a good choice for the peppers. I water every day (I am guessing about galon per plant). I find that consistent watering is best. I deep water one day ea week. I heavily mulch the entire garden bed with about 3" of grass clippings to help moderate the soil temp and retain moisture. My soil is such that the water drains into the soil moderately fast. It pools but within a couple of minutes it is gone. But like Justaguy2 said consistency is the name of the game. Out of the last 10 years I have had three that would be classified as "so so". But I continued plant them again the next year. I would try the following: Plant the plants closer together (unless you live in a very humind local that has little to no air movement (ie no breeze). I think the mutual shading helps. Keep the soil consistently moist, but not wet. Try mulching with compost. As you occasionally wet the mulch the water will leach nutrients into the soil. I will not mulch with anything that will not break down fairly quckly. I say that because when the mulch breaks down it releases all kinds of good suff into the soil. I do not use bark, plastic, or news paper, etc. I want my mulch to be gone by the end of winter. That is why I like grass clippings and compost. Try making a raised bed for just the peppers. This really helps maintaining a consistent soil dampness. If it gets really hot where you live, build a shade covering of some kind that you can move easily. I use a white sheet because it seems to reflect heat while still letting some light penetreate to the groud. Darker colored materials will absorbe heat and then radiate it to the plants, just what you do not want when it is really hot. Make the raised bed small (say 2'x3') and use it just for the peppers. If you plant them close together you can easily get three rows deep that are 3' long. And you will have easy access to all sides of the plants without having to acutally walk in the garden. This way you will not compact the soil as you maintain the peppers. Finally,not evey local is right for every kind of vegetable you might want to grow. Pick and choose what grows best in your area. Perhaps the best thing you can do is try to find someone who has had success growing their bells and pick their brain as to why they are successful. I hope I was not too wordy or long winded. Tom