Sweet pepper Orange Sun is an organically grown, very sweet and deliciously flavoured bell pepper variety. This robust and compact plants produce a prolific amount of beautiful, thick-walled and deliciously flavoured, large and blocky peppers. The peppers start out green and ripen to a beautiful and bright orange.
Sweet pepper is a very healthy and versatile vegetable. Sweet Peppers contain, among others: vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B11, C and E. And minerals like: calcium, phosphorus, iron, potassium, copper, manganese, magnesium, sodium and zinc. Sweet Peppers also contain some fibre, capsicum, antioxidants and few calories. Red sweet peppers contain the highest concentration of healthy substances of all the colours of sweet pepper. You can boil, steam, stir-fry, roast, grill and prepare sweet peppers in the oven. Sweet Peppers can also be stuffed with e.g. rice or minced meat. Sweet Peppers can also be used raw in salads, as a snack, as an appetiser or as a healthy snack. You can also make soup from sweet peppers, which is very tasty both hot and cold. The flavour of sweet pepper combines very well with, among others: eggs, yoghurt, pineapple, nuts, olive oil, cheese, beef, chicken, lamb, pork, minced meat, red pepper, onions, parsley, vinegar, coriander, rice, garlic, ginger, oregano, thyme, pasta, cumin, lemon, apple, potatoes, red and white wine, shrimps, salmon, tuna, nutmeg and soy sauce. The flavour of sweet pepper also combines well with various other vegetables such as: cucumber, lettuce, aubergine, peas, corn, mushrooms, tomatoes, courgette, celery, carrot and leek. Non hardy perennial.
Pre-Soaking: 12 hours
Indoor sowing: February - April
Outdoor sowing: from May
Germination: 7 - 14 days
Germination temp. : 22 - 25 °C
Sowing depth: shallow - ½ cm
Replanting: 2 - 3 weeks after sowing
Transplanting: in May, after the Ice Saints
Plant distance: 40 - 50 cm
Plant position: greenhouse or glashouse
Days till harvest: 95 - 110
Sow indoors from February in trays filled with well-moistened potting soil. Sow shallowly and sparingly. Cover the seeds with a very thin layer of sowing soil, as sweet peppers are light germinators. Put a lid on the trays and put them in a propagator to ensure as constant and high a temperature as possible. Don't let the temperature drop especially at night. Keep the seeds well moist. For faster germination, soak the seeds in water for about 12 hours before sowing. Remove the lid as soon as the seedlings emerge. Keep well moist, warm and light. Transplant the seedlings into larger, separate pots 2 - 3 weeks after germination. Now you can put them away slightly cooler at 18 - 20 °C.
Harden off the seedlings, about 10 - 14 days by putting them outside in the sun during the day or put your seedlings in a coldframer. After this, you can put the seedlings outside from mid-May, as soon as there is no chance of night frost. Put your plants in an unheated greenhouse, conservatory or heated greenhouse. A very sunny and sheltered spot outside is also possible. Sweet peppers are heat-loving plants that need a lot of warmth, sunlight and shelter to give a good harvest.
Sowing outdoors can be done from May onwards. Provide a very sunny, warm, sheltered spot with well-drained soil. Wait to sow until there is no more chance of night frost. Sow the seeds shallowly and sparingly and press them gently into the soil. Cover with a very thin layer of soil. Keep well moist and weed-free. Once the young seedlings are large enough to handle, thin them out to 40 - 50 cm. Water regularly and once the peppers develop give some liquid fertiliser like e.g. Chilifocus every week. Give your plants a good and firm support. Harvest the peppers by carefully cutting them off the plant or by gently twisting the fruits off the plant.
