Lemme’s Italian Sweet Pepper
A moderately sweet and highly productive heirloom Italian-style frying pepper originating from Altoona, Pennsylvania. Slender pointed red fruits with thin walls, excellent for frying and drying.
Growing
~75 days to maturity
Fruit size
10–20 cm
Flavor & Use
Moderately sweet flavor with thin skin, perfect for frying and fresh use.
Culinary
About
Vigorous, productive pepper plants bear heavy yields of glossy, sweet, red fruits throughout the growing season. These slender, pointed peppers ripen from green to a brilliant red and average about 6 inches in length, ranging from 4 to 8 inches long and 1 to 1.75 inches wide. Their thin skin and moderately sweet flavor make them an excellent pepper for frying and making dried pepper flakes. Fruits hold well on the plant and resist cracking. Plants grow up to 30 inches tall.
Backstory
This heirloom variety has been grown in Altoona, Pennsylvania since 1895 by Italian families and their descendants. Albert Lemme of Altoona preserved the seeds and shared them to maintain the local tradition. It was introduced to the Seed Savers Exchange catalog in 2026.
Appearance
Growing
Heritage
ExploreWe don't have a documented family for this pepper yet.
Sources
FAQ
- How hot is Lemme’s Italian Sweet Pepper?
- Capsi has not yet documented heat for this variety. Capsi uses a sourced range and a trust tier, not a single marketing number. How we verify heat: https://web.thecapsi.app/learn/heat-and-capsaicin/how-we-measure-heat
- What does Lemme’s Italian Sweet Pepper taste like?
- Moderately sweet flavor with thin skin, perfect for frying and fresh use.
- How do I grow Lemme’s Italian Sweet Pepper?
- Lemme’s Italian Sweet Pepper: about 75 days to maturity, temperate climate, full sun, hardiness zones 5-11.
- What can I substitute for Lemme’s Italian Sweet Pepper?
- Capsi does not have that recorded yet.