Gatherers Gold Sweet Italian Pepper is a stunning open-pollinated heirloom that produces long, tapered fruits in a deep orange that intensifies as it matures. Each plant yields 7 to 10 inch peppers with zero heat and a pure sweet flavor, thriving in gardens, raised beds, and greenhouses across hardiness zones 4 through 13. From transplant to harvest takes 70 to 100 days, and these vigorous, upright plants reach 24 to 36 inches tall, delivering highly productive yields throughout the season.
Full Sun
Moderate
4-13
36in H x ?in W
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Moderate
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The defining feature here is the color: a stunning deep orange that remains vibrant even at full maturity, making these peppers as visually striking in the garden as they are on the plate. The long, thin tapered shape is distinctly Italian, and the plants are remarkably vigorous and prolific despite their compact 24 to 36 inch height. At 0 Scoville Heat Units, this is pure sweet pepper perfection with no lingering heat to mask the fruit's clean flavor.
The long, thin tapered shape and sweet flavor make these peppers exceptional for roasting whole, stuffing with grains or cheese, or cutting into strips for raw preparations. The thin walls char beautifully over flame and are thin enough to peel easily after roasting. These peppers also freeze and preserve well, making them ideal for extending the harvest into fall and winter cooking.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Start seeds indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last spring frost. Seeds germinate best in temperatures between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Maintain consistent moisture and provide bright light once seedlings emerge.
Transplant seedlings outdoors after the last frost date, once soil has warmed to at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit and nighttime temperatures stay above 50 degrees. Harden off seedlings gradually over 7 to 10 days by exposing them to outdoor conditions. Space plants 18 inches apart in rows 36 inches apart.
Peppers reach peak sweetness and color at 70 to 100 days from transplant. Harvest when fruits reach 7 to 10 inches long and display the deep orange color characteristic of maturity. Peppers can be harvested at any stage from green to fully orange, though the orange stage offers maximum sweetness and sugar development. Cut peppers from the stem using pruners or a sharp knife rather than pulling, which prevents damage to branches. Continuous harvesting throughout the season encourages more prolific flowering and fruiting.
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“Gatherers Gold represents a lineage of Italian sweet pepper cultivation, preserved and passed along by home gardeners and seed savers who recognized its outstanding productivity and distinctive appearance. As an open-pollinated heirloom variety, it carries the fingerprints of generations of gardeners who selected for the most vigorous plants and the most reliably colored fruit, keeping this variety alive outside commercial breeding programs.”