Sweet pepper is essentially grass. The herb is tasty and healthy - it is a wonderful antioxidant, a storehouse of a huge amount of vitamin C, A and E. Scientists, depending on the variety, have up to 30 types of vitamins in pepper.
As much as we would like, but modern sweet pepper varieties, to which we are accustomed, is a hybrid. His ancestor, brought from America by Columbus sailors in the 15th century, was a native of Mexico; he was distinguished by bitterness and pungency. And for 300 years, breeders made it sweet.
Today, more than 250 varieties and hybrids of sweet pepper are known, although there are only four types of this pepper: Mexican - which is cultivated in Europe and the CIS, Peruvian, Colombian and pubescent. Almost all types of pepper are used as a hot seasoning - the exception is sweet (vegetable) pepper varieties.
Among those who grow sweet pepper, the varieties of which grow in open ground in central Russia, the ultra-early variety "Health" is popular, which bears fruit after 78-87 days. The bush of this variety is tall - more than 1 m high and semi-spreading. When ripening, the fruits have a drooping prismatic shape and a slightly wavy surface. The length of the fruit in technical ripeness is 10-12 cm, it has a light green color and a small mass of not more than 70 g. In the Health variety, the value consists in resistance to peak rot of fruits, stably high yield, high percentage of tying even in low light. On average, at one bush, simultaneous pouring of 12-15 fruits is possible.
One of the popular early ripe varieties in Russia is sweet pepper "Atlant". This is one of the most unpretentious varieties adapted to the conditions of the CIS. The fruits have an elongated cuboid shape of red color in the biological stage of ripeness, and green color - in the technical. The length of the pepper fruit reaches 20 cm with a diameter of up to 15 cm. The variety is not afraid of the potato virus Y, it is resistant to the effects of the tobacco mosaic virus.
The variety is characterized by evenness of fruits, high ability to fruit formation, and high productivity.
Equally popular is the early-ripening variety "Star of the East" - sweet pepper, which has abundant fruiting. The variety is suitable for growing not only in greenhouse shelters or on open ground, it is also grown in winter greenhouses. The fruits of the "Star of the East" are large - up to 300 grams, dense, very sweet and juicy. The variety is popular in that it is ideal for all kinds of culinary processing.
Sweet pepper varieties also have mid-season varieties, which yield 110-130 days from germination. Among these varieties, the Alligator variety stands out first. This is a high-yielding and large-fruited variety that is used only for protected soil. The bush of tall pepper - a height of not more than 90 cm, has a long and abundant fruiting. Almost simultaneously on the bush, 8-12 fruits of elongated prismatic shape of dark green color are formed and develop. The ripened fruits reach a mass of 300 g with a length of 20-25 cm, they are quite sweet and juicy. The variety is characterized by high productivity and large fruits, even under adverse conditions.
One of the most popular mid-season varieties is the Bogatyr variety, whose fruits can be obtained on 115-130 days. "Athlete" feels great outdoors and when grown in film shelters. The plant is medium-sized (up to 70 cm tall) and sprawling. Fruits are slightly ribbed and conical, light green in technical ripeness. The mass of the fruit is not more than 120 g. Breeders have developed an excellent variety - it is resistant to vertex rot of fruits common among peppers and to verticillaceous withering at a consistently high yield. The fruits of the variety have excellent transportability.
Despite the fact that on the open ground, sweet pepper, varieties of which are grown as an annual plant, in a winter greenhouse the plant can be grown up to 3 years, and the bush will bear fruit twice a year.