Crops › Sweet Pepper
How to grow Sweet Pepper
in the UK
Sow February to March, plant out April to June, harvest July to October. About 85 days from seed to plate.
Growing your own sweet peppers is a cracking way to get some proper flavour into your cooking, you know what I mean. They need a bit of warmth, mind, but the taste of a homegrown pepper beats anything from the shops. They look proper colourful on the plot or in the greenhouse too.
Sowing
Sow seeds indoors in February or March, like I say, they need warmth to get going. Pop them into small pots or modules, about 1cm deep. A propagator or a warm spot near a radiator, aiming for 18-25°C, is ideal to kick them off. If you've got grow lights, even better, keeps 'em from getting leggy. You can always pick up plug plants later if you miss this window, mind. Just remember, these aren't for direct sowing outside, not up here in the North East anyway.
Growing on
Once they've got a couple of true leaves, prick them out gently into their own 9cm pots. Keep 'em warm, minimum 15°C, they're not keen on the cold. Don't rush them outside, they're tender things. Wait until all danger of frost is gone, usually mid to late May up here, and harden them off proper for a week or two. Then they can go into the greenhouse, poly tunnel, or a very sheltered spot outside. Give 'em about 45-60cm spacing and they'll need some support, like a cane, as they grow. Some varieties are great for containers too, especially if your space is a bit tight.
Looking after it
Sweet peppers are thirsty, so keep the soil consistently moist, especially when they're setting fruit. Feed them with a tomato feed once the first flowers appear, every week or so, to keep them going strong. Pinch out the growing tip when they're about 30cm tall to encourage bushier growth and more fruit. They like a bit of basil, onions, or tomatoes nearby, seems to make 'em happy.
What goes wrong
Aphids, red spider mite, and whitefly can be a bother, especially in a warm greenhouse. Keep an eye out for them under the leaves, they like to hide. A good spray with soapy water can often sort out the aphids, or just rub 'em off with your fingers. Proper ventilation helps with the mites and whitefly, you know, keep the air moving.
Harvest
You'll be harvesting from July right through to October, about 85 days after sowing, mind. Pick them when they've reached a good size and colour, depending on the variety. A sharp knife or secateurs will do the job, leaving a bit of stem on. They'll keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks, or you can chop 'em up and freeze them for later, which is what I do with a glut.
I always try to grow a cold-tolerant variety, even in the greenhouse, just in case we get a proper chilly spell in summer. It makes a difference, to be honest, and you get earlier fruit.
Dates for your plot
Type the first half of your postcode and the plant-out advice shifts to your area's typical frost dates.
Varieties, and whether the club would grow them again
| Variety | Club verdict |
|---|---|
| California Wonder This is your go-to proper blocky red pepper, a real classic for the allotment. It's a solid maincrop choice that always delivers a cracking yield. | No club votes yet |
| Gypsy F1 If you're keen for an early harvest, Gypsy F1 is the one to go for, it gets cracking quickly. You'll be chuffed to bits with its sweet fruits ahead of the main season. | No club votes yet |
| Mohawk F1 This one gives you those lovely bright orange bell peppers, a proper stunner in the greenhouse. A good maincrop choice if you fancy a bit of colour and a sweet taste. | No club votes yet |
| Redskin F1 Redskin F1 is brilliant if you're short on space or just want to grow in pots on the patio. It's a compact plant but still gives you a good crop of sweet red peppers. | No club votes yet |
| Sweet Banana These long, slightly curved yellow peppers are just like a banana, hence the name, you know what I mean. They're a heritage variety with a lovely mild, sweet flavour, great for salads. | No club votes yet |
| Mini Bell Mixed If you've got little ones, or just fancy snack-sized peppers, this mixed bag is a treat. They're perfect for containers and will give you a colourful display of small, sweet fruits. | No club votes yet |
| Corno di Toro Corno di Toro means 'Bull's Horn' and you can see why, with its long, pointed shape. This heritage variety is proper sweet and brilliant for grilling or stuffing. | No club votes yet |
| Marconi Rosso Another cracking Italian heritage variety, Marconi Rosso produces long, sweet red peppers. They're fantastic for cooking, especially in roasted vegetable dishes. | No club votes yet |
| Golden California Wonder Just like its red cousin, this is a proper blocky pepper but comes in a lovely golden yellow. It's a heritage variety that gives a good, sweet crunch to your salads. | No club votes yet |
| Lipstick Lipstick gives you these charming small, pointed red peppers, very attractive and tasty. It's a heritage variety that's great for fresh eating or pickling. | No club votes yet |
| Snackbite Red These mini sweet peppers are another cracking choice for pots and smaller spaces, like a windowsill. They're super sweet and perfect for snacking straight from the plant. | No club votes yet |
| King of the North Now this one's a proper lifesaver for us up North, as it's more cold-tolerant than most. It’s an early cropper too, so you get decent bell peppers even if the summer's a bit of a washout. | No club votes yet |
| Chocolate Beauty Don't let the name fool you, these turn a rich chocolate brown when ripe and are surprisingly sweet. It's a heritage variety that adds a real talking point to your harvest. | No club votes yet |
| Pimento Pimento gives you these lovely heart-shaped peppers with thick, juicy walls, perfect for roasting. This heritage variety is famously sweet and adds a rich flavour to dishes. | No club votes yet |
| Purple Beauty If you want something a bit different, Purple Beauty gives you striking dark purple bell peppers. They're a heritage variety that's sweet and looks cracking in salads. | No club votes yet |
Votes are members rating varieties in their Seed Tin, one vote per gardener. Tap a variety for the full page and where to buy.
Buy Sweet Pepper seeds
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Cook the harvest
Raw sweet peppers have a juicy crunch and clean sweetness that gets completely lost if you cook them, and this salad is built around that. Thick strips of fresh pepper are tossed with nutty chickpeas, salty crumbled feta and a warm, smoky paprika dressing that ties it all together. It takes fifteen minutes, works as a main lunch or a generous side, and is genuinely better at room temperature than it is straight from the fridge.
15 min · easyThis is the Italian sweet pepper braise that belongs in every gardener's September repertoire. Sliced peppers are cooked low and slow with tomatoes, garlic and a splash of red wine vinegar until they collapse into a jammy, intensely savoury tangle that improves every day it sits in the fridge. Eat it alongside grilled meat, stir it through pasta, pile it onto bruschetta — it is endlessly useful.
60 min · easyLecso is the Hungarian answer to ratatouille — a slow-cooked, lusciously thick stew of sweet peppers and tomatoes, seasoned with a generous amount of sweet Hungarian paprika. It is traditionally made with lard and served with eggs stirred through it, but this version lets the peppers be absolutely central. Eat it with bread, over rice, or alongside grilled meat.
60 min · mediumSix sweet peppers and a tray of tomatoes go into a hot oven until blistered and caramelised, then get blitzed into a silky, deeply flavoured soup that tastes like the very best of summer. A swirl of crème fraîche and some crusty bread are all you need. This is the soup you make when the pepper glut hits in August and you want something that actually does it justice.
60 min · easyWatch for, and grow alongside
Companions: basil, onions, tomatoes
Questions people ask
When do you sow Sweet Pepper in the UK?
Sow Sweet Pepper from February to March. Plant out April to June, after the last frost.
How long does Sweet Pepper take from sowing to harvest?
Roughly 85 days, with the harvest July to October.
Which Sweet Pepper varieties do gardeners grow again?
Club members rate every variety they grow. This page shows the grow-again votes for California Wonder, Gypsy F1, Mohawk F1, Redskin F1 and more.
Track your Sweet Pepper from packet to plate
Sowing reminders and harvest forecasts for your own frost dates, the Seed Tin, Scan Centre for any label or packet, and the Potty Mouth Garden Club. Free to start.
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 3 September 2026.