Green Bell Pepper

Capsicum annuum 'California Wonder'

vegetable

Green bell peppers are simply sweet bell peppers harvested before they finish ripening, while they are still crisp, mild, and grassy-fresh. This is the classic California Wonder type, a thick-walled, four-lobed, blocky pepper that has been the home-garden standard since the 1920s, with no heat at all. Left on the plant about two more weeks, the same fruit ripens from green to a sweeter red, in roughly 75 days from transplant.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Basil — Repels aphids, thrips, and spider mites
• Sweet Alyssum — Attracts hoverflies and parasitic wasps that control aphids
• French Marigold — Deters nematodes and aphids
• Onions — Masking scent helps repel aphids

❌ Keep away from

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Aphids →

  Plant alyssum and sweet flowers to draw hoverflies and ladybugs; rinse colonies off with water

• Flea beetles →

  Float row cover over young transplants until they are established

• Blossom-end rot →

  Keep soil moisture even and calcium adequate; mulch to buffer the soil

🌾 Harvest & storage

Pick green bells firm and full-sized at about 75 days, or leave them on the plant another two to three weeks to ripen red and grow noticeably sweeter, cutting peppers with a short stem rather than pulling. Frequent picking keeps the plant setting new fruit.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Bell peppers are very low in calories and exceptionally high in vitamin C, with a red ripe pepper supplying several times the daily value, and ripening from green to red sharply increases both vitamin C and the vitamin A precursor beta-carotene.