Nepalese Bell Chilli Seeds

Nepalese Bell Chilli Seeds. The Nepalese Bell (C. Baccatum) is a chilli that has us a little flummoxed. All things considered, we are finding very little info on this cultivar. What information does exist, claims that this cultivar is from Nepal. Nepal does not strike us as a an ideal climate for these peppers to grow. So, is this pepper really from Nepal as many sites claim, or is the name sake really more about the shape of this pod? There is certainly a very striking similarity between this pepper and ceremonial bells in Nepal with their flared out rims.

There is also a very strong resemblance to the Bishops Crown. Growth habits and pods are very similar. These plants are very tolerant of cooler weather and are great producers, as are the Bishops Crowns. We can not say whether this is in actual fact a separate cultivar to the Bishops Crown. What we can say is that our plant produced significantly larger pods than any Bishops Crowns he have grown to date. This may just be a simple case of better genetics, but the end result speaks for themselves. These pods were very large with very angular and pronounced, almost sculptural flaps. Very impressive indeed!

Aroma and flavour of the pods was exactly as we remembered for the Bishops Crown. Sweet, subtly fruity, clean with a hint of citrus. Heat, we are advised is higher than the Bishops Crown, although we did not find this with our pods. But as we know, the heat on pods can be significantly different depending on growing conditions. So, these may be hotter given different growing conditions. We certainly will be growing these out in future seasons to make more observations on this cultivar.

Final opinion on these is – pods are very impressive, and if it’s the size of the pods that matters (which it often does), this has to be a better choice. We do have an inkling that this is down to better genetics. At the end of the day a very nice alternative to the standard Bishops Crown.