Plant Care Library

Other Names:  Bull's Horn

Group/Class:  Sweet Tapered

Description:

A lovely high yielding, heirloom variety perfect for patio containers and gardens; produces lovely 8" long bright red Italian sweet peppers; easy to remove skin, making them ideal for roasting or grilling; staking is recommended

Edible Qualities

Corno di Toro Pepper is an annual vegetable plant that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces green long peppers (which are technically 'berries') with yellow overtones and red flesh which are usually ready for picking from early summer to early fall. The fruit will often fade to red over time. The peppers have a sweet taste and a crisp texture.

The peppers are most often used in the following ways:

• Fresh Eating
• Eating When Cooked/Prepared
• Cooking
• Baking
• Pickling

Planting & Growing

Corno di Toro Pepper will grow to be about 24 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 16 inches. When planted in rows, individual plants should be spaced approximately 24 inches apart. Because of its vigorous growth habit, it may require staking or supplemental support. This vegetable plant is an annual, which means that it will grow for one season in your garden and then die after producing a crop.

This plant can be integrated into a landscape or flower garden by creative gardeners, but is usually grown in a designated vegetable garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America, and it is considered by many to be an heirloom variety.

Corno di Toro Pepper is a good choice for the vegetable garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.