PLANT LIBRARY

Group/Class:  Sweet Mini

Description:

This lovely variety produces 3" long fruit that ripens to bright red; irresistible to children, these sweet and crisp peppers are great stuffed, roasted, grilled or on vegetable trays; tall, strong plants are wonderful in patio containers or gardens;

Edible Qualities

Lunchbox Red Sweet Pepper is an annual vegetable plant that is typically grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces small green oblong peppers (which are technically 'berries') with red flesh which are usually ready for picking from early summer to early fall. The fruit will often fade to red over time. The peppers have a sweet taste and a crisp texture.

The peppers are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Eating When Cooked/Prepared
• Cooking
• Baking
• Freezing

Planting & Growing

Lunchbox Red Sweet Pepper will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. When planted in rows, individual plants should be spaced approximately 18 inches apart. This vegetable plant is an annual, which means that it will grow for one season in your garden and then die after producing a crop.

This plant can be integrated into a landscape or flower garden by creative gardeners, but is usually grown in a designated vegetable garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Lunchbox Red Sweet Pepper is a good choice for the vegetable garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.