Peppers
Corno di Toro
Long sweet Italian frying pepper.
- Indoors
- 8 wk (mid Mar)
- Outside
- Transplant after frost
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July; a thirsty week curls the horns
- Harvest
- Aug to Oct, red or yellow
Care
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July and August, about weekly in spring and fall. A long soak at the base until the top few inches are wet, then let it dry before the next. A thirsty week while the horns lengthen shows up as thin walls and curl.
- Sow
- 2 seeds a quarter inch deep per cell, cut the weaker at the soil line when true leaves show. Set plants 18 inches apart in the bed.
- Start inside
- Mat at 80 to 90F, sprouts in 7 to 8 days. Under the lights the moment they break ground, 14 to 16 hours; off the mat at the first true leaves. Outside after mid May, once nights hold 50F.
- Feed
- A shovel of compost or castings worked in at planting carries the bed most of the season. A medium feeder, so side-dress once at fruit set, then ease off the nitrogen.
- Ready
- Green horns are bland; wait for full red or yellow, August on. Cut the long pods with shears before they drag a branch down.
- Trouble
- Long horns drag whole branches down: cage or stake before they lengthen. Curled, thin-walled pods: a thirsty week, keep the water even. Sunken dark tip: blossom end rot, soak deeply and evenly.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 5–7 gal bag.
- Water
- Daily in July and August; bags dry far faster than a bed. 30 to 40 sec on the shower dial until it runs from the seams.
- Feed
- Top-dress monthly; every watering leaches the bag.
- Sow
- One plant per bag.
Nearly a foot of sweet Italian frying pepper, the bull's horn ripens red or yellow from August. It does the job bells do, earlier, with thinner walls that actually brown in a pan.
Growing
Mid March under lights, hardened off in early May, transplanted after frost into the bed, or a 5 to 7 gallon bag. Cage or stake before the horns arrive; they get long and heavy and drag whole branches down. Green horns are usable but bland, and the payoff is full red or yellow, which runs August through October.
Varieties
Carmen (red) and Escamillo (yellow) are refined corno types that ripen early and earn their seed price; Corno di Toro Rosso is the classic open-pollinated strain.
In the kitchen
Split lengthwise and grilled, or fried with onions for the sausage-and-peppers standard. By October they are sweet enough to eat raw like fruit.