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Marconi Italian Sweet Peppers |
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Posted: 03 March 2010 at 10:27 |
My wife and I love bell peppers and got real tired of the tasteless hybrids on the market, seed grown or otherwise.
A few years ago I discovered a place that sold seeds from an old-world bell pepper from Italy, called the Marconi. It's relatively thin-walled compared to the grocery store green and red bells we find here,though much bigger- a mature pepper is around 9" long on the average and 3 inches wide at the shoulder. The best thing about it is the TASTE. WOW, these beauties taste like a bell pepper should taste...full of freshness, greenery if green and "redness" if red and bursting with a sunfilled flavor of...well...sweet pepper! Tons more flavor than any home-garden grown regular bell pepper has ever tasted. Since that discovery, and ordering the seeds, that's the only sweet pepper we grow. Very prolific plants, they need lots of sun (no partial shade here) and water and they are good to go! They are a constant-bearer, so you'll get peppers all through the season, until the plant dies. The little peppers at the end are incredibly tasty, though. they take about 2 to 3 weeks to turn from green to red....
But once red, watch out! These are tasty! Mrs Rivet loves these straight from the vine to the barbecue grill, no olive oil, no nothing. I have to agree with her....that's the way to go. They can real well (in sauces) and are perfect for pizza.
One danger though......once you grow them and try a green one, you will be so surprised a sweet pepper could taste so good, they'll never get a chance to turn red! I did that the year before last and I had to promise Mrs Rivet I'd leave "her" Marconi's alone.....
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Montana Maddness
Cook Joined: 24 February 2010 Location: G.F. MT. Status: Offline Points: 99 |
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Do you have a link for the seeds?
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Hotter the better bring on the peppers!
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Rockydog
Cook's Assistant Joined: 22 March 2010 Location: Wisconsin Status: Offline Points: 43 |
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kiwi
Chef's Apprentice Joined: 16 February 2010 Status: Offline Points: 402 |
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What sort of yeild do you get from one plant? I had a few in a couple of seasons ago and was a little disappointed. Decided that for the space (my constraint, unfortunately), I could do better with other heavier fruiting veges. I don't like the supermarket capsicums so much but the farmers market down the road has great ones for cheap so thats ok.
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kai time!
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They seemed to be very prolific for us. They'd probably gave us two dozen peppers per plant across the summer. Sometimes it seemed as if we'd pluck one and two or three more would bud out. But, I agree with you....with pepper plants they can be temperamental and if they are not "happy" in the soil or place they are in they won't do very well. Also, it may be the plant itself. Last year all my hot pepper plants didn't do as well as they normally do.
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kiwi
Chef's Apprentice Joined: 16 February 2010 Status: Offline Points: 402 |
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I had three plants, and I probably only got about 15-20 total green thumb obviously failed me there.
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kai time!
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bluemoon
Scullery Servant Joined: 16 April 2010 Location: Montana Status: Offline Points: 5 |
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I bought one of these plants this summer and I've only harvested 5 so far, but more are growing. I love them also and considering the plant was only $2 at K-Mart, that's pretty good. If it were the only plant in my garden, it probably wouldn't be worth it, though.
http://www.bonnieplants.com/products/tabid/255/p-965-giant-marconi-pepper.aspx |
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Gots to say that so far I have been disappointed at the Marconi's this year. Really weak plants and no yield early, though now in Spetember they seem to be pushing plenty which is good, though I don't know why one of my plants bit the dust and just died. Did the roots hit something bad? Who knows but not cool at all.
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Hoser
Admin Group Joined: 06 February 2010 Location: Cumberland, RI Status: Offline Points: 3454 |
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Maybe a cut worm or something like that? Little bugger are unground and just shear the roots..can't even see them. They a tomato or two on me every year
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Go ahead...play with your food!
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Could be Dave, I'll pull up the plant and check. The leaves are all hanging down lifelessly right now tho still greeen. The other two plants are doing real well considering the year. If I find a cutworm did it, is there any thing you'd recommend to keep them away for next year?
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Hoser
Admin Group Joined: 06 February 2010 Location: Cumberland, RI Status: Offline Points: 3454 |
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They usually get the plant shortly after it is set in the garden, but you never know, it could be. The one I lost were always sets that I either started myself or purchased. The only remedy I've found is to wrap the stalk in aluminum foil at least an inch or so below ground level, and a inch or so above. That seems to stop the cutworms well enough, and will just expand with the stalk as it grows, so it will cause no damage to the plant.
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Go ahead...play with your food!
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