How to Grow Corno di Toro Peppers from Seed
The long, curved Italian bull's horn pepper: no heat, clean sugar sweetness, and thick walls made for grilling with good oil and salt.
Corno di Toro is the long glossy sweet pepper you get in a Tuscan trattoria, grilled or pan-fried with good oil and salt and nothing else. The name means bull's horn, and the pods live up to it: 20 to 25cm long, dramatically curved, hanging down off the plant. It is a true Italian heirloom and open pollinated, so you can save your own seed.
There is no heat at all, just clean sugar sweetness with a faint fruity note, and walls thick and crunchy enough to hold up to grilling, frying or roasting. British greenhouses grow Italian peppers a good deal better than most people expect.
Species
Capsicum annuum
Heat
None, sweet pepper
Sow
February to March
Harvest
July to October
Pods
20 to 25cm, horn-shaped
Difficulty
Full growing method
Sweet peppers are the same species as chillies and grown exactly the same way. Our Capsicum annuum guide covers sowing, potting on, feeding and problems step by step.
Read the Capsicum annuum guide →About this Variety
The fruit
Long, dramatically curved pods of 20 to 25cm with thick, crunchy walls.
Colour
Ripens green to deep crimson (Rosso) or bright lemon yellow (Giallo). Some packets are one colour and some mixed, so check the packet if colour matters.
In the kitchen
Grilled whole, fried, roasted, sliced into strips, or filled and rolled.
Cropping
A well-grown plant gives 8 to 12 substantial pods, more in a good year.
Sowing & Harvest Calendar
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🌱 Sow under cover | ||||||||||||
| 🪴 Final pots | ||||||||||||
| 🫑 Harvest |
Variety Specifications
A taste of the Tuscan trattoria
Sow in spring, grow under glass, and grill long sweet bull's horn peppers from July.
Shop Corno di Toro Seeds →