Chocolate Cake Organic Sweet Bell Pepper

Nature & Nurture Seeds

Capsicum annuum

$4.99

Pkt(≈18 seeds)
Certified Organic
Our favorite chocolate-brown bell pepper with standout sweetness and a bold color that contrasts beautifully in a fresh salad or veggie tray. This variety was introduced by prolific pepper breeder, Doug Jones, who selected for earliness, productivity, and deliciousness. Pepper shape is fairly consistent, and you can expect mostly blocky bell-shaped fruit 3-4” in diameter, with a few fruits slightly elongated. Compact plants rarely grow taller than 30”, but they carry as many peppers as some standard height varieties. This just may be the only gluten-free, dairy-free, fat-free, and chocolate-free “Chocolate Cake” you will ever eat. 85-90 days.

All peppers are warm-weather loving plants. Sow seeds indoors 3/15-4/1 into good seed starting mix (we recommend Vermont Compost’s Fort Light). Ideal temperature for germination is 80-90° (use heating mat). Days to germination: 6-28. Once leaves appear, grow plants at 72°. Be sure seedlings have adequate light (a windowsill will not do for peppers) and keep plants from becoming pot-bound because this will permanently stunt plants. If seedlings are getting too big for their pot but the weather is still too cold outside, transplant them into bigger pots. Plant seedlings outside late May into fertile garden soil with lots of compost or decomposed manure. If your soil pH is greater than 7 (which is typical of clay soils in Southeast Michigan) add sulfur to acidify soil. Space plants 1 ½ - 2ft apart. If plants begin to flower when plants are less than 1ft tall, hand remove early flowers for 2 weeks until plants are bigger. Stake pepper plants if they begin to fall over.