Gambo Pepper

Finally, a sweet pepper that I can grow on my screaming-hot southwest-facing apartment balcony! These peppers are sweet, juicy, crunchy, and tasty- very much like traditional bells. Most of mine were smaller than the 3" described, but I put that down to their less-than-ideal growing conditions. But all through our hot (balcony temps over 100 many days) dry summer they never stopped producing peppers, and they really cranked up production when the temps began to fall back to reasonable. The skins never went tough, and the flesh was always thick and sweet. No problems with diseases or bugs. I love that you don't have to wait long for them to ripen to lovely deep red with this variety. They are good green as well, but I find ripe peppers on my 2 plants almost daily. These will be a permanent part of my little balcony garden.

I grew this for the first time this year, and started the seeds with the winter-sowing method (in milk jugs). Germination and seedling vigor was great, they transplanted very well and grew in my zone 5b garden very well. A little slow to take off, but we had cool temps early on. The peppers taste great, are beautiful to look at, and really hold well both on the plant and after harvest. When it was time to pull the plants at the end of the season, I actually found a few full-size, bright red and crisp peppers that found their way under the wood chip mulch, well after freezing had killed the rest of the plant. I definitely will grow these again.

We are market growers and require varieties that are productive, reliable and marketable in addition to tasting terrific. When all else fails, this variety will produce peppers. A couple years ago we used some cow manure compost that was contaminated with herbicides, it was a disaster, but this was the only pepper that successfully produced fruit before we turned the whole plot under. Unlike every bell pepper I have ever grown, they reliably ripen blemish free. Compact plants do well without support. Keep producing throughout our hot summers. Thick walled flesh, wonderful sweet taste. Good green pepper as well. Highly marketable. Early fruit set close to the center and can occasionally be difficult to harvest without damaging stems. The fruit do get progressively smaller over time.

I've grown these for two seasons and they will always have a place in my garden. They are small, sweet and occasionally have a bit of spice. My family loves them.