Michigan Wonder Sweet Bell Pepper
Botanical Name: Capiscum anuum
Description
65 days green, 90 red. If you like green bell peppers, you will love Michigan Wonder – a beautiful pepper with a satisfying crunch! Peppers are blocky and medium sized (4-5” long), with thick walls. Fruits will event eventually ripen red, but take advantage of this variety’s earliness by harvesting and eating the green peppers. Experience the delightful snap of this pepper raw in a salad, or cook down the walls to soften the texture and amplify the sweetness. This pepper, originally released in 1939 by Burgess Seed and Plant Co. of Galesburg, MI, is descended from the traditional California Wonder heirloom. Prolific plants are earlier with slightly smaller fruits than the California parent, making Michigan Wonder adaptable to shorter, cooler growing seasons. NN
Growing
Growing Instructions (for USDA Zone 5b):
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.
Harvest:
Peppers can be harvested green or red.
Seed Saving Instructions (for gardeners):
Peppers are primarily self-pollinating but insects will cause significant cross pollination between pepper varieties. To keep variety pure, cover plants with low tunnels (using thin row cover fabric) to exclude pollinators. Or, isolation distance: 300 ft. Always save seeds from the best plants. Save seeds from fully ripe peppers. Cut open peppers and remove seeds. Rinse and dry seeds.
Related products
Cañoncito Field 7 Landrace Hot Pepper
65 days. An unusually vigorous plant with very fast germination, growth, and flower set. It produces 3-6” long green-to-red hot peppers with thin skins and a variety of shapes, flavors and heat ranging from mild to medium. Good for drying, roasting and general kitchen use. This is a landrace f...
Chocolate Cake Sweet Bell Pepper
85-90 days. 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...
Corona Orange Sweet Bell Pepper
65 days green, 85 orange ripe. Top-notch orange sweet bell peppers. Blocky, uniform deep orange fruit are 3½” wide with 3-4 lobes that are flavorful and sweet and win taste tests over orange supermarket peppers any day. Plants are vigorous and productive, reaching 4’ tall, so the plants benefit...
