I planted several different peppers and had one plant that has me puzzled. I'm not sure what kind it was but it is red, round and tiny. I have one of the peppers still on the plant but all the rest of the peppers are completely different. They are green, long and slender. Kind of the shape of eggplant. I have a picture included so you can see what I am talking about

Probably a hot chili pepper of some kind. You were expecting a bell pepper? When young plants, they can easily get mixed up.

Yes, it is probably a larger chili pepper.

I'm not totally clear on what you are asking.
As far as the pepper in your photo, it could be any one of hundreds of cultivars/types. It could be anything from a sweet Corno di Toro type pepper to a hot chili of some sort.

Looks like you have an Anaheim pepper, a New Mexico Chile or something similar (Capsicum annuum in any event).

The little red one is a pepper pod that never fully developed. Since its development failed it has turned red prior to falling off. I would remove it from the plant and dispose of it because it may signal to the plant that the plant has successfully completed its life cycle and it may stop producing chilis.

You might try eating the red pepper. If its not too old, it can have a different and interesting flavor.

Thanks so much for all you taking time to answer my question. Well I took the little red peppers off of the plant and took a picture. It will be included with this post. I was wrong when I said the green peppers looked like eggplant. They kinda look like okra. lol
I found the tag that goes with this plant and it says it is a Carmen - Italian Sweet Pepper. It is a Bonnie Brand. To Henderman, I think you were right about the little red peppers being a pod that that turned red before falling off. I picked all of the red ones so the others can complete their mission. lol

Thanks so much.
Billie

I've had the same thing happen with 'Carmen'. Henderman had the right answer! You have to look lower down on the plant to see the little round red ones.

The good news is that 'Carmen' is the best producer of those bulls-horn type peppers that I've ever found! Well worth paying for the hybrid seeds. 'Gypsy' is another insanely productive non-bell sweet pepper.

to Crittterologist,
I hope this is the way to reply to your post. I loved your response to my question. We live on opposite sides of the country and in different zones. I am zone 9. We have a Mediterranean climate and it was so hot this year our plants made requests for more shade. I wasn't able to do that but now the weather is settling a little they will start producing again.
I just planted some of my fall plants so we'll see what happens.

I should add that overall, 'Gypsy' is more productive (by weight/volume, the peppers are smaller but more numerous) than 'Carmen', but those bulls-horn types are just my favorite sweet red pepper. Before I found the hybrid 'Carmen', I would make room for a couple 'Corno di Toro' -- worth the garden space even if I only got a couple peppers per plant.

In zone 9, many of your peppers may be perennial. I've heard of hot pepper plants living for several years, makes sense that might extend to sweet varieties. for a good harvest for you!

If the peppers could be perennial do you mulch them heavily? That would be nice not to have to plant again. Just have to mark where they are to find them in the spring.
I just planted Red Cabbage and Brussel Sprout. Also some Burger Red Onions. I planted them from loose plants last year and they were the best onions ever. We just ran out and miss them a lot. My husband said the plant a lot more this year. I'm not very knowledgeable about science tific names of plants and am approaching an age that I may have to get someone else to do the planting.
If you live in Arizona and have a 6b zone, you must live in a higher elevation.
Thanks for your reply,
Billie

I live in Maryland. Map says zone 7, but according to what survives and what doesn't, my yard seems to be more of a 6b.

If you have frost, your pepper plants will not survive... they will not die back to the ground and return in spring. If you have occasional frosts or freezes, you might consider throwing on some row cover (spun polystyrene made for this purpose, usually comes 6 feet wide and 25 or 50 or more feet long)... even old sheets and quilts will work. Plastic will not work, unless you put it over supports so it doesn't touch the leaves. For a frost, you can also get away with going outside before direct sunlight hits the plants and rinsing off the frost with a hose.

If you have temps below freezing for weeks at a time, it may not be worth trying.

You might also enjoy the vegetable gardening or regional forums for finding input from somebody with a similar climate. DH wants to move to FL in a few years, but I'm really just guessing about zone 9 gardening!

Adding, I'm not trying to put you off... am happy to carry on conversing... but also wanted to get you exploring the forums here if I can.

No worries about not knowing botanical names with veggies, as most seem to use common names. Botanical names are more useful when somebody says they are growing, oh, daisies. There are hundreds of plants called daisies with very different growing requirements! This site is very friendly to new gardeners... we were all there once!

thankyou: Appreciate you and now I have to go watch a baseball game. I am a Yankee Fan.

'Carmen' is a wonderful, productive corno di toro type pepper. When they turn red, the flavor is delicious! It's a consistent performer here.

For me, 'Carmen' seems to be a little more cold tolerant than some other cultivars. It won't survive a freeze, of course, but it continues to ripen fruit even when the temps get chilly (although more slowly).

Henderman & Critter are right about the stubby little pepper fruit. They seem to be the result of partial but poor pollination. The resulting fruit is usually seedless or contains a few feeble-looking seeds.

Critterologist is actually the one who got me addicted to 'Carmen' peppers over a decade ago. She had written an article about non-bell sweet peppers on Daves Garden. She also had a seed offer at the time and that was the source of my first seeds of 'Carmen' (and 'Gypsy').

One day, I really want to try the golden version called 'Escamillo'.

Glad you're still growing them, Danita! I came across that gold version just recently. Hmm...

If you're curious, here's the article: https://davesgarden.com/guides... There's a good recipe for sweet pickled peppers at the bottom, in case of a bumper crop.

I am curious. Did you eat the red stunted peppers? Did they taste the same? How was the weather when those peppers were growing?Because they were at the bottom of the plant, what could have happen was that they were the earliest to grow, maybe the weather was very warm and it could not grow further before they ripen in a hurry---- I have noticed in my plants, when the weather is warmer, the flowers are smaller, when it is cooler, the flowers have time to grow bigger before they open their petals--

tantefrancine,

I did save them and we will try to see what they taste like. One other member said they might not have seeds in them.
The weather has been very very hot. Almost everyday was over 100 degrees. We are in danger of having 100 degree weather until November. We've had a few days in the 90's and our tomatoes are coming to life again. We are in zone 9 or 9b.
Thanks for your reply. I love this gardening site.

Really glad I spotted this question as I have a pepper that has done the same thing. I traded veg starts with someone and I think she called it a Carmen pepper but I didn't know what it was and when I got two totally different looking peppers on the plant I really got confused. Now I know!

KJill
So glad to have the help with my question. Glad it has helped others too.