The 5 Best Sweet Peppers to Grow in Zone 9

My top 5 picks for sweet peppers this year

This past year I grew about a dozen different types of sweet peppers to see which offered the best combination of easy growing, high yield, and great flavor.

Selection Strategy

Peppers are warm season vegetables that generally take a long time to reach maturity (75+ days on average). As a result, I trialed a mix of peppers that will do well in the cooler temperatures of early spring as well as ones that thrive in the heat so that we have fresh peppers from late May well into autumn. I also chose a combo of smaller peppers that will grow in containers as well as larger ones for my raised beds.

Read on for the five varieties that really stand out.

California Wonder Bell Pepper

Days to Harvest (from transplant): 75

California Wonder Bell Peppers

Why I chose it: A lot of people yawn at this one because it’s so common. But I think it’s common because it’s so easy to grow, especially here in San Diego.

Zone 9 Performance: Being a California native, the California Wonder is ideally suited to our climate. The fruits are large and blocky – often 4 inches or more across – with thick walls that don’t get sunburn as easily as some other varieties. A typical plant will yield four to five fruits, more if you live in an area with a longer growing season like I do (USDA Zone 9).

Kitchen Uses: As flavor goes, it’s milder and not as sweet as other peppers, but it stores well and will keep its crunch for up to a week after picking (even un-refrigerated). It’s good as a fresh-eating pepper, but it’s thick walls and blocky shape make it especially well-suited for cooking. California Wonder is my wife’s go-to pepper for her signature chicken stuffed bell peppers because it doesn’t get mushy when stuffed and cooked.

Grower’s Notes: Here in Southern California, Argentine black ants will “farm” aphids on the leaves. In low amounts this isn’t a big deal, but if they get out of control, the leaves will droop and die. I use homemade insecticidal soap (basically dish soap, water, and a little vegetable oil) to keep them in check.

Bonus: California Wonder is an open pollinated variety, so you can save the seeds and they’ll grow reliably year in and out. Personally, I haven’t bought seeds for this variety in years.

My Rating:

• Growth – 9/10
• Flavor – 7/10
• Yield – 7/10

Seed source: Burpee

Buran Sweet Pepper

Days to Harvest (from transplant): 90

Buran Polish heirloom sweet peppers

Why I chose it: Buran is a Polish heirloom sweet pepper that’s slower to fruit than other peppers, but super productive. The fruit is anywhere from 3-6 inches in size. They start out green and quickly turn a shiny red. I really like that the flavor is quite sweet even when the fruit is still green.

Zone 9 Productivity: I grew them for the first time last year and ended up harvesting 8 to 10 fruit per plant over the season, which lasted well into late September and early October.

Kitchen Uses: These peppers are super versatile. We eat a lot of these fresh in salads, roast them, cook with them, and can for use in soups and stews in the winter.

Grower’s Notes: The plants are so productive that they need a lot of support to keep them from falling over. Also, the fruit is susceptible to sun scald, so they need to be shaded in the summer sun. I find (plain old burlap is great for this). Also, as an heirloom, you can also save the seeds from this one and it’ll reliably produce year after year.

My Rating:

• Growth – 8/10
• Flavor – 10/10
• Yield – 8/10

Seed Source: Pinetree Garden Seeds

Green Lamuyo Pepper

Days to Harvest (from transplant): 75

Green Lamuyo sweet peppers

Why I chose it: I wanted a bell pepper with a more pronounce pepper flavor than California Wonder’s. Lamuyo peppers are similar to those bell peppers but longer and narrower. The colorful red and yellow ones are more popular than the green these days, but they all taste pretty much the same.

Zone 9 Productivity: The plants slightly more fruit than the Wonder (4-6 per plant), each about 3-4 inches long and about 3 inches wide. As peppers go, the plants are taller and thinner than others so they appreciate a little support.

Kitchen uses: Sweeter and stronger flavored than their bell-shaped cousins, they’re good for fresh eating and cooking. The skins are a bit thinner, so they don’t keep as long as the California Wonder does.

Grower’s Notes: Like the Wonders, ants do like to farm aphids on them, so be prepared with a little insecticidal soap. These plants don’t mind being grown a little more densely than other varieties so you can pack 6 plants into the same area you might only get four of the Wonders or Burans. If you’re looking for good sweet pepper taste but don’t have a lot of room, these are a good choice for container gardening or small raised beds (I grew these in our keyhole garden).

My Rating:

• Growth – 8/10
• Flavor – 8/10
• Yield – 8/10

Seed source: Unknown (friend gave them to me)

Italian Frying Peppers

Days to Harvest (from transplant): 80

Italian frying peppers in green and yellow

Why I chose it: We love the sweet caramelized flavor of fried and roasted peppers, and this pepper is bred specifically for that flavor. Italian frying peppers are elongated peppers, either cubanelle (square bottomed) or corno (pointy bottomed, shaped like animal horns). Depending on the variety, the color ranges from green to red, but the flavor remains sweet and a touch spicy regardless of color.

Zone 9 Productivity: The plants are upright and 18-24 inches tall, producing 6-8 fruit, each 6-8 inches long, round, and about an inch and a half wide. Here in San Diego where our autumns are pretty warm into late November, the plants keep flowering and fruiting right up until the frost gets them.

Kitchen Uses: The name pretty much says it all. The skin of these peppers is thin and caramelizes easily when fried or roasted, making them quite tasty both by themselves and in sauces and Italian dishes. I found them to be excellent roasting peppers, searing the skin on the grill and serving alongside grilled steak and onions. I also preserved a bunch of the roasted peppers and plan on using them in chilis and stews in the colder months. As peppers go, I found these to be the most flavorful for cooking, but not as much for fresh eating.

Grower’s Notes: While these peppers have a really long growing season, once picked, they have a fairly short shelf life and will start to dry out and wrinkle after just a few days. Plan on using them shortly after you pick them. The nice thing is these peppers handle the cold better than most, so you can actually overwinter them and have fresh peppers by mid-spring.

My Rating:

• Growth – 9/10
• Flavor – 10/10
• Yield – 9/10

Seed source: Renee’s Garden Seeds

Snack Mix Mini Sweet Peppers

Days to Harvest (from transplant): 60

Mini snack peppers

Why I chose it: In the winter we buy these “snacking” peppers in bags at the grocery store. Curious as to whether these small peppers would grow in containers I save some seeds to find out. Turns out they’re compact plants perfect for containers and small gardens.

Zone 9 Performance: A great early season variety. I planted these indoors in winter and transplanted them outside in early April. By mid-May we were harvesting fresh peppers. While the plants are small, they’re also super productive, producing dozens of peppers per plant over the growing season. The plants are compact, just 12 inches tall and equally wide, and absolutely loaded with 2-3-inch fruit. Better yet, even loaded with fruit, the plants stay upright and don’t need much support (if at all).

Kitchen uses: While the peppers are small, the skin is fairly thick and they stay fresh and crunchy for a long time after picking. The flavor is sweet and doesn’t have that pepper “tang” that other varieties do, making them great for fresh snacking as well as in cooking, and pickling either by themselves or in giardinera mixes.

Grower’s Notes: These little guys are great for growing in containers and, unlike some of the other peppers, do pretty well in partial shade. If there’s one downside, like the bell peppers, they seem to be super attractive to aphids, so I have to hit them with a little soap/oil spray to keep the pests down. Other than that, however, they’re a great pepper whether you’re eating them fresh or cooking with them. Just be ready to be overloaded with them, because they are super productive.

Oh, I don’t actually know what the real name of these peppers is. I’ve seen them called “lunchbox”, “yum yum mini”, and “mini mix”, so maybe they don’t have an official name. I just call them “snack peppers” because we snack on them a lot. My seed source was from one of those bags of mini sweet peppers you can get at the grocery store (hooray grocery store gardening!).

My Rating:

• Growth – 9/10
• Flavor – 9/10
• Yield – 10/10

Seed Source: Grocery store

Final Notes: My Top Pepper Pick

Best flavor: Italian Frying Pepper. When it comes down to great flavor, my top pick is the Italian Frying Pepper. Roasted (or fired), they are fantastic by themselves or used as an ingredient in a dish.

Best productivity and versatility: Snack Mix. For all around flavor, productivity and versatility, I have to go with the Snack Mix peppers. You really can’t beat the number of peppers you get from a single plant. And, they’re small enough you can munch them whole, but they keep their crunch and sweet flavor when cooked.

Do you have a favorite pepper variety you think I should try? Let me know in the comments!