Biquinho peppers – also known as Sweety Drop Peppers – are thumbnail-sized sweet peppers with a touch of heat. Learn how to grow biquinho peppers in your backyard or container garden. They’re beautiful plants with attractive, glossy green leaves and look like a well-lit Christmas tree when fruited.
I first encountered Biquinho peppers in a salad bar at a grocery store. They were lightly pickled, crunchy, and thoroughly delightful in my green salad. The bin wasn’t labeled, however, so I spent some time Googling small peppers … without success … to try to figure out what they were. Who knew there were so many small chile peppers in the world!
It wasn’t until several years later that I stumbled on them at the local farmers’ market. I picked the farmer’s brain about what they were and learned that he gets his seeds from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. I ordered packets of each, and they immediately went on my list for the following year’s garden.
Note that Johnny’s doesn’t seem to be selling them this year, but I found them on the equally reputable Baker Creek website, both red and yellow. They classify them as a hot pepper, but I’ve never had one that approaches the heat of even a jalapeno (and the reviews on the site agree).
Cherry Bell Peppers These small, round, red peppers are almost too cute to eat. Also called pimiento or pimento, the cherry bell pepper is sweet in flavor. You’ll find it stuffed in green olives or in pimento cheese.
Starting Biquinho Peppers from Seed
In 2020, I started my peppers on April 4th (below), and here in 2021, I’m running slightly later. No worries. As I’ve mentioned above, these peppers are slow-growing, so getting a late start is not going to impact the fall’s harvest one way or another.
I have a seed-starting set-up in my home that serves all of my various plants’ needs:
- I have two table-top grow lights with vertically adjustable light fixtures to accommodate growing sprouts.
- I have heat mats that fit the grow lights above.
- I have seed-starting soil mix. I’m not married to any particular brand or mixture: frankly, I’ve used them all, and they work just fine. The seeds’ environment has a bigger impact on germination than the specific soil mixture. If you’re new to seed starting, don’t stress over it. Long-time gardeners like myself can get wrapped up in our favorite brands and inadvertently put pressure on new gardeners to duplicate our set up or be doomed. It’ll all be fine.
- And I have a hodge-podge of containers for the actual seeds. Most often, I sow the seeds in either 4″ fiber pots (shown above) or these netted fiber coir pellets.
- Most importantly, though, I have several sizes of clear, domed trays, in which my newly sown seeds sit until they’re well sprouted. A domed environment keeps the soil moist so that you’re not watering your seeds twice a day. (The square tray shown above has a matching dome.)
If you already have your preferred set up for seed starting, the good news is that Biquinho peppers will not require anything special.
- Fill a pot with dampened starter mix.
- Push one seed into the center of the soil in one pot, about 1/4″ deep. Repeat for remaining seeds.
- Water each pot well, but gently, so that the seed doesn’t float out of position. Firm the seed back into place if it does.
- Place in a domed container on the heat mat. Check at least daily to ensure the soil doesn’t dry out.
- When the seeds sprout, move under the grow lights. You can keep them under the dome for as long as they fit, to control moisture.
- Keep them under the lights until they’re ready to harden off. I keep my grow lights on a 16-hours-on/8-hours-off cycle for all of my seedlings.
Biquinho Peppers are ready to be moved to their permanent home when they’re no longer fragile. As a rough guideline, that’s around 4″ tall, with a strong central stem.
Because these pepper plants are slow-growing, they’ll need to be self-sufficient for a long stretch when put outside, especially if going in the ground where furry woodland creatures will be regularly cavorting. Small seedlings would be trampled in no time.
Take a few days to harden off the plants outside: leave them outside in a sunny spot for several hours a day, or in an open window.
If growing in containers, choose a container that’s at least 14″ wide. This will provide not only sufficient nutrition from an abundance of soil, but also stability from falling over as the plant stretches upward. Depending on the plant’s growth habit, it will likely benefit from staking/supporting its main stem later in the season, so keep that in mind as you choose a pot.
If planting in the ground, space plants 24″ apart in a sunny spot, and dig the hole large enough to accommodate the current root ball, with extra space to add fresh soil with a little bit of compost. Firm the ground around the plant and water well.
It’s not a bad idea to place a support cage around the plant at this time. If the cage has wide-open spaces between the wires, consider supplementing the sides with chicken wire, to keep critters off the plants. The chicken wire can be removed once the plants reach a foot tall or so.
How to Care for Biquinho Peppers
Pepper plants in general are wonderfully low-care vegetables, and biquinho peppers are no exception.
Peppers should not be allowed to go bone-dry, but they also don’t like to have perpetually wet feet. So, water regularly, but don’t drown the plants.
Keep an extra eye on potted plants, as they dry out faster than if planted in the ground.
Fertilizer with a regular commercial fertilizer or fish emulsion every two to three weeks through the growing season. If the leaves start to mysteriously yellow, add about a tablespoon of Epsom salts to the soil: sprinkle around the base of the plant, and gently work the crystals into the top layer. Then water well.
Epsom salts are a good source of magnesium, which peppers love.
The plants will produce ripe peppers about 5 months from seeding with an increasingly abundant harvest as the season moves into fall.
I hope you’ll enjoy these fun peppers – they’re beautiful to grow and a delightful culinary addition for peppers lovers!
Growing Mini Bell Peppers……..Seeds
FAQ
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