Lunga Sigaretta Biondo - 100 seeds

Lunga Sigaretta Biondo is an excellent choice for people looking for rich flavour without strong heat. The fruits are initially light green and turn red at full ripeness, when they develop their most pronounced sweetness.

In Italy, this type of pepper is traditionally used for frying, pickling and mildly spicy pizza, while the fresh fruits are also very suitable for salads.

Variety characteristics

• Variety: Lunga Sigaretta Biondo
• Alternative name: Sigaretta Verde di Bergamo
• Botanical species: Capsicum annuum
• Type: Mildly hot pepper
• Heat: 100–500 SHU
• Shape: Long, thin, twisted and cigarette-shaped
• Colour: Light green → red
• Flavour: Sweet and sour with a mild spicy note
• Sweetest fruits: At full red ripeness
• Suitable for: Frying, fresh salads, pickling and pizza
• Growing: Greenhouse or outdoors.

🔥 Heat

100–500 SHU

This is an exceptionally mild variety, for which flavour is a much more important characteristic than heat. The mild spiciness complements the sweet-and-sour profile without overpowering it.

🌱 Sowing and growing

Sowing: January – April
Location: indoors
Germination temperature: 20–30°C
Planting in a greenhouse: for higher yield
Planting outdoors: around the end of May
Support: tall plants can be tied up
Pruning: possible to maintain a compact form.

In autumn, plants can be moved into pots and brought onto a bright windowsill, where they can continue fruiting.

🍴 Culinary use

This is a variety with particularly broad culinary use. It is suitable for frying, salads, pickling, antipasti and pizza. Light green fruits offer a fresh sweet-and-sour flavour with a mildly spicy note, while fully ripe red fruits are the sweetest.

💡 Tip from Urban Botaniks: With Lunga Sigaretta Biondo, it is worth harvesting the fruits at different stages. Use the light green fruits for frying, salads and pickling, and leave part of the harvest to ripen fully red – that is when the fruits develop their most pronounced sweetness.