Pepper, Sweet Banana

Harvest mild, sweet banana peppers green or scarlet for salads and pickling.

Mild fruit with a color change

Sweet Banana produces elongated peppers about 6 inches long. The tapered fruit has thin, waxy walls and a blunt end. It stays sweet and mild rather than hot, then turns scarlet when fully ripe. Plants mature in about 68 days and can set a generous crop. Pick some green for a mild, crisp bite, then leave a few to color fully when you want a softer, sweeter pepper for a different dish.

Plant after the chill is gone

Peppers are warm-season plants. Sow seed indoors or set out transplants after frost danger has passed and nights have warmed. Give plants full sun and well-drained soil. Space them about 18 to 24 inches apart, then keep moisture steady while flowers and young fruit develop. A mulch layer helps the bed hold water through hot weather. Avoid setting peppers in the same cold, wet patch where spring crops struggled.

Pick green or wait for scarlet

Cut peppers from the plant when they are firm and full-sized. Green fruit is ready to eat, while scarlet fruit has stayed on the plant longer to ripen. Use snips or a knife so the brittle branches do not split under a tug. Check plants often once fruit starts forming. Regular picking keeps usable peppers coming and prevents mature fruit from hiding under the leaves. Refrigerate the harvest and wash it just before cooking.

Fresh, pickled, or cooked

Slice green peppers into salads or sandwiches for a mild crunch. Their narrow shape also fits neatly in a jar for pickling. Fully ripe scarlet fruit brings a sweeter flavor to a relish tray or a cooked dish. Chop extras into eggs, beans, or a quick skillet with onions. When the plants produce more than you can use fresh, freeze sliced peppers for later cooking. Their thin walls soften quickly in a hot pan. Cut even rings for sandwiches or quick pickles. Leave sandwich slices raw for crunch, or add them near the end of cooking when you want the pepper softened but still firm.