Believe it or not, bell peppers! I have NEVER had success with them. This year cajun bell seems to be ok, but habaneros were the gateway drug, I mean pepper, to the super hots and any other sweet pepper which I do well with!
Go figure.

Least favorite....

Bulgarian Carrot has to be up there! Thick skins, loaded with seeds, and nothing to speak of in the flavor dept.

Bell peppers - I don't like to grow them, they never seem to do well for me. But, I like them for eating fresh.

Kung Pao too many seeds very small fruit for as many seeds it has, also grows viney. Ristra cayenne hybrid not the best tasting pepper also not enough heat.

Sweet Red Cherry pepper.

The flavor is just okay, the plants I've had were all sickly and weak, and they were so packed full of seeds that there was virtually no room for pepper flesh.

Just a waste of space, in my experience.

I hate to say it, but after my first year it's got to be the NuMex Twilight. It's a beautiful plant, and the flavor is good as well. The problem is the seed to pod ratio. The pods are small and have seeds from the tip to the stem. If the pod was bigger, I'd love it.

Tim

I think NuMex Twilight is marketed as an ornamental anyway. But, yes, if a pod is overstuffed with seeds, that's a definite strike against it, IMO.

@Calcat36 I too have swore off bell peppers. I have never had any luck growing them. Been trying for 3 years. An after this year jalapeno's are fixing to find their way on that list. Lol

I have to go with bells, but only greens. I'll use then in my spaghetti sauce or meatloaf now and then, but I absolutely hate them raw or on pizza.

I won't grow them; instead, I grow pasilla and poblanos. I do, however, grow other colored bells and have pretty good success with them. They do take quite awhile to fully ripen though. Loving em in stir fry lately. I have quite a few that are ripe that I plan to make a pasta sauce with here in the next couple days.

Kevin

For growing, bells. My family has been killing them for years and the genes have bred true.

For cooking with what I've got, the cowhorns. Not much flavor, lots of seeds. And frankly, the cayenne has such a heavy bark .. er.. skin in relation to the innards that it's hard to use it fresh.

But the cowhorn was my first pepper (last survivor of five cowhorns) and the cayenne is so tough and full of character that I could never get rid of either one.

I don't like my sweet banana. leaves are very sensitive to pests and over/under watering. The hot sun really seems to wilt the plant easily. And the fruits are tasteless.

OK, what is the big deal about seeds in peppers? Why is that such a turn off to some of you.

I am not challenging anyone, just wondering what about seeds is such a negative? When I use a pepper in a dish or cut them up and can them or grind them for powder, I don't bother removing the seeds. Is there a reason that I should?
Bruce

If the seeds don't bother you, don't worry about it. They get stuck in my teeth because they don't soften with cooking - something I find annoying.

I second all kinds of cherry peppers. I've tried Cilliegia Piccante this year - sickly plants, peppers with little flesh and lots of seeds etc.

First year of trying cayenne, hardly any pods, sickly looking plant, and they took absolutely ages to turn red. Also the jalape�o was exactly the same with a few tiny, marble like pods on. Don't know whether this is justified though, because they were both from the same nursery, and didn't look too good to begin with.

Bell peppers . Highly nonproductive and no heat. I like my peppers hot!!!!

"First year of trying cayenne, hardly any pods, sickly looking plant, and they took absolutely ages to turn red. Also the jalape�o was exactly the same with a few tiny, marble like pods on. Don't know whether this is justified though, because they were both from the same nursery, and didn't look too good to begin with."

Yup, I will NEVER grow cayenne again!!! ;)

Here here master gardener.

Bells peppers....yuck.
And pretty much any Habanero that tastes like a Habanero, trashy, acrid, chemical perfume.

No fan of Jalapenos, either.

Josh

For sure the Cherry peppers

Bell peppers. They actually make me vomit, so...

any wax pepper

"Here here master gardener."

lol ;)

[ahem]

>"Hear, hear master gardener."

FIFY

I have noticed bell peppers require a lot of trellising. They taste good though! :)

Romy6: I find lots of peppers have their place in cooking--- heat or no heat. COLORED bells are great tasting--greens suck imho. Anaheims, New Mexican, Poblanos, and Pasillas are just a few that have have little heat, but great flavor. If i need heat (which i almost always DO), I have plenty of varieties that'll give me that. You're right though--- bells are poor producers.

TheMasterGardener1: 2 words -- tomato cages.

Kevin

This is my first year growing the cayenne type of pepper, so I have no opinion on those yet, but I agree with Tsheets on the Bulgarian Carrot - tough skin, not enough flavor, and seedy. I also agree with everyone on the bell peppers. This might be too much information, but it's the only kind of pepper that makes my burp! Luckily for me, there are plenty of other sweet peppers that are earlier and more productive than bells.

Bonnie

This year was the first year trying to grow bell peppers. They suck. The plants didn't produce, and what little produced was stunted.

My favorite was a two year old chiletepin that produced pods all year long!!
I've planted more chiletepin.

This weekend I went to a garage sale and found that the guy had tear drop shaped tenpins that he brought from Mexico. He had three gorgeous plants that were heavy producers. Naturally I had to get a handful with his permission! So next year I'll be growing a new tepin from Mexico and see how they do for me. His plant was about three feet high by two to three feet wide and was absolutely loaded!

"TheMasterGardener1: 2 words -- tomato cages."

Yes, that is a form of trellising. :)

What? I have no idea how that posted 3 times?

I just waned to say that!?

I just got some tomato cages and they work great!

Well, I guess I'll just skip bulgarian carrot next year. As for the Bells, the only variety I grew this year was mini chocolate bell, which grows and ripens quickly and tastes pretty good. I ended up giving many away and stuffing the rest.

I also find very little use for most cayennes since they're not great to cook with (fresh) and I have better options for chile powder.

Same thing Peppermeister1. I do like cayenne for a wing sauce though! :)

TMG: I must agree there. As a wing enthusiast (I once rented a van, packed it with my buddies, and headed up to buffalo for a wing weekend!), I have to say for official Buffalo Wings, you need Frank's. That being said, I love all other types of wings as well, except breaded/boneless (both not acceptable).

...another vote for the (imo) extremely over-rated Bulgarian Carrot.

The flesh isn't thick enough to mask the texture of the corking that happens with many I've grown and the flavors behind the heat are done way better by many other types of peppers.

It's a neat looking little plant, though.

aawwww man, I like Cayennes! I had to take a break from them because I have so freaking many dried already. But, I will grow them again once the backlog clears a bit. :-)

Here is one of my cayenne. :) They are productive, but I think I would rather fill the space with super hots from now on :)

{{gwi:46010}}

I say one could grow 1 cayenne plant every 2 years and have enough powder, especially if you grow other varieties to dry.

Anybody that wants to grow a good all-around chile(heat and EXCELLENT flavor) for drying should give chile de arboles a try. Very prolific and you can air dry them. You'll want to use a cage though for trellising. Another must for drying is guajillos. These two are extremely versatile.

Kevin

My LEAST favorite pepper, any one that doesn't germinate. Every pepper has at least one redeeming quality IMHO ;-)

Kevin - I am growing guajillos this year for the first time. I will have to add chili de arbol to the 'varieties to try in the future' list. Thanks for the tip.

Bolivian Rainbow

I should qualify that. It's a very pretty plant so if you are into that, it's great. On the eating side, nothing special heat or taste wise. Fruits are small, very little flesh, and full of seeds.

John