- Open-pollinated
- No heat
- 70 (estimated) days to maturity (from transplant)
- 0 SHU
- Brown
Sweet Chocolate
Open-pollinated no heat pepper from United States, 1965. Thick-fleshed brown bell bred for short seasons, sweet enough to eat raw and firm enough to freeze whole. Ready in about 70 days from transplant.
Single source · Updated Sep 19, 2026 · Values marked like this (estimated) are estimates.
At a glance
- Heat
- No heat 0 SHU
- Pod
- Ribbed 3–5 oz (90–140 g) (estimated)
Blocky bell with thick flesh, ripening from green to a deep brown.
- Species
- Capsicum annuum
- Days to harvest
- 70 days (estimated) from transplant · Midseason
- Plant height
- 2–3 ft (61–91 cm) Medium height
- Spacing
- 18 × 24 in (46 × 61 cm) (estimated)
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Position
- Handles open positions
- Growing sites
- Greenhouse · Open ground · Container
- Container growing
- Balcony friendly min. 5 gal (20 L) pot (estimated)
- Difficulty
- Easy-moderate (estimated) 2/5
- Skin
-
- Brown
- Green
- Interior
-
- Red
Heat
Scoville heat units
No heat
Sweet Chocolate Scoville heat units: 0 SHU
No heat at all, the band California Wonder and Jimmy Nardello sit in. Sweet enough to eat raw by the handful, and it includes Habanada, a habanero with the heat bred out.
Flavor
“Thick-fleshed brown bell bred for short seasons, sweet enough to eat raw and firm enough to freeze whole.”
Growing calendar
70 (estimated) days from transplant Midseason
Timing shown for temperate climates; sow indoors 7–9 (estimated) weeks before your last frost date. Look up your last frost date by ZIP code →
Disease resistance
No documented disease resistances — protect this variety with good airflow and crop rotation.
Uses & tags
- Fresh & salads
- Stuffing
- Slicing
- Canning
- Short season
- Cold climate
- Novelty color
- High flavor
Origin
Sweet Chocolate was bred at the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station and released in 1965 through Farmer Seed and Nursery, from a cross involving the University of California line PB9-49-134 with Merrimack Wonder and Burlington. The Vegetable Cultivar Descriptions compendium records it as early, ripening sweet and brown with thick flesh, used for salads and for freezing whole, and adapted to the northern United States and Canada. That adaptation is the point of the variety: it was bred to colour up where the season is short. True Leaf Market and Eden Brothers both describe the same contrast: chocolate outside, brick red inside.
Sources
Where to buy seeds
Prices rechecked dailyAll photos
Questions
How do you grow a Sweet Chocolate plant?
A Sweet Chocolate plant grows 2–3 ft (61–91 cm) tall. Space plants 18 in (46 cm) apart in rows 24 in (61 cm) apart (estimated). Start seed indoors 7–9 weeks before your last frost (estimated); it germinates in 7–10 days. It needs full sun.
How long does Sweet Chocolate take to mature?
Sweet Chocolate is ready in about 70 days from transplant.
How hot is Sweet Chocolate?
Sweet Chocolate sits in the no heat range, about 0–0 Scoville heat units. Figures vary between seed sellers, so treat them as a band rather than a measurement.
Can Sweet Chocolate be grown in a container?
Yes — Sweet Chocolate grows well in a container of at least 20 L (5 gal).
Is Sweet Chocolate resistant to disease?
No disease resistance is documented for Sweet Chocolate.
