Citrina Pepper

Capsicum annuum 'Citrina' A compact pendant sweet pepper that ripens through three useful stages — pale green to lemon yellow to deep red

Most sweet pepper varieties give you one ripening choice: pick green for crunch, or wait weeks for the colour to develop. Citrina gives you three. Pods start pale green and crunchy, ripen to a properly lovely lemon yellow at full sweetness, then deepen to red if you leave them on the plant longer. That's three quite different culinary peppers from the same crop, on a compact 60cm plant that takes about 70 days from transplant to first ripe fruit. The name is the giveaway: citrina, the citrus stage, is what this variety was bred to do beautifully.

Citrina is a properly compact sweet pepper — growing only around 60cm tall, suiting a 25–30cm pot, a sunny patio, or a greenhouse staging shelf. The fruits are conical and pendulous (Lamuyo type), around 140g each, with thick crunchy walls and very sweet flesh. Particularly rich in vitamin C. The plants are productive, set fruit reliably even in a moderate summer, and stay neatly upright with little staking.

The three stages

Knowing when to harvest is half the pleasure with Citrina — you get to choose which version you want:

• Pale green stage — the earliest pick, crisp and mildly sweet with a slight grassy bite. Brilliant in stir-fries, fajitas, anything that benefits from a touch of green pepper note without it overpowering
• Lemon yellow stage — the variety's signature look, and what gives Citrina its name. Properly sweet, juicy, mellow. Outstanding raw in salads and dips, or roasted for that softened sweetness
• Red stage — the longest wait, but the sweetest pepper. Deep, almost fruity, properly red. Lovely for stuffing, slow-roasting, or chopping into Mediterranean dishes where you want maximum sweetness

You don't have to commit to one. Pick a few pods at the green stage to clear weight off the plant and encourage further setting; let some continue through yellow for the everyday cooking pile; leave a final few right through to red for the gluts of late summer cooking. It's the closest a single pepper variety comes to giving you three different products.

Why it works in a British garden

• Compact 60cm height — fits a 25–30cm pot easily, suits patio and greenhouse staging, no heavy staking needed
• Relatively early — around 70 days from transplant to first ripe fruit. Reliable cropping in UK summers
• Sets fruit well — doesn't need the consistent hot nights some peppers demand; productive in greenhouses, polytunnels and warm sheltered patios
• Generous yields — multiple fruits per plant, each substantial at ~140g. A small bed of three or four plants is enough to supply a kitchen through summer
• Doesn't need cross-pollination — self-fertile, like all sweet peppers; bees and gentle plant-shaking help fruit set but aren't essential

If you've struggled with the bigger blocky bell peppers refusing to ripen, Citrina is forgiving. Drop the expectation of a giant Californian-style bell, embrace the elegant conical pendant pod, and you've got one of the most reliable sweet peppers for British conditions.

In the kitchen

• Raw in salads and crudités — the yellow stage is exceptional, sweet enough to eat from the chopping board
• Stuffed and baked — at red stage, the thick walls hold up beautifully to fillings of rice, cheese, mince or grains
• Roasted with olive oil — classic Mediterranean preparation. Yellow Citrinas roasted with garlic, balsamic and thyme are properly magnificent
• Sliced for fajitas and stir-fries — the green stage is most useful here, holding its crunch in quick cooking
• Pickled or preserved — sweet pepper rings keep beautifully through autumn into winter
• Children's lunchboxes — raw yellow strips are properly sweet and a brilliant healthy snack

Growing tips

• Sow February to March with bottom heat (~20–25°C) and bright light. Sweet peppers germinate at slightly cooler temperatures than hot chillies
• Prick out into 9cm pots once true leaves appear
• Pot on into 25–30cm final containers when roots fill the pot, or plant out into a greenhouse border / outdoor bed after all risk of frost (late May to early June)
• Space 45cm apart if planting in beds; one plant per 25cm pot for container growing
• Greenhouse, polytunnel, or warm sheltered patio ideal. Will crop reasonably outdoors in a warm summer in southern Britain
• Feed weekly with a high-potash tomato feed once flowers appear
• Pick first fruits regularly at green stage to keep the plant cropping; leave later ones to colour up
• Mulch and water consistently — even watering prevents blossom-end rot and helps fruit fill out properly

At a glance

• Type: Sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum) — no heat, properly sweet
• Heat: 0 SHU (sweet pepper, not a chilli)
• Height: ~60cm; Spread: 40cm; Spacing: 45cm
• Fruit: Conical pendulous Lamuyo type, ~140g, ripens pale green → lemon yellow → red
• Sow: February to March under heat (~20–25°C)
• Harvest: July to October — first ripe fruit around 70 days from transplant
• Position: Full sun; greenhouse, polytunnel, or warm sheltered patio
• Uses: Raw in salads, roasting, stuffing, pickling, fajitas, lunchbox snacks
• Reliable and forgiving — one of the better sweet peppers for British conditions

Plant alongside

Citrina grows happily alongside French Marigold 'Spanish Brocade' for natural aphid deterrence in the greenhouse, and Calendula 'Neon' to draw in pollinators for better early fruit-set. In the wider kitchen garden, it makes a strong companion to tomatoes, basil, chillies and aubergines — share a greenhouse with them and you've got a proper Mediterranean-summer growing operation in one place. A few Citrinas, a couple of cherry tomatoes, a pot of basil, and you've got the summer salad sorted from June to October.