The pimento is the small, sweet, heart-shaped red pepper tucked inside green olives and folded into Southern pimento cheese. It is one of the mildest peppers you can grow, with thick, juicy walls and a flavor that lands somewhere between a red bell pepper and a ripe tomato, only sweeter. Botanically it is Capsicum annuum, the same species that gives us bell peppers and jalapenos, and it is just as easy to raise in a backyard bed or a five-gallon pot. Below is the full path from seed to jar: what a pimento actually is, how to grow it, when to harvest, how to roast and peel it, and how to put it up for the year.
What a pimento pepper is and how it tastes
A pimento (also spelled pimiento) is a sweet pepper that ripens from green to a deep, glossy red. Most mature fruits run 3 to 4 inches long and 2 to 3 inches across, with a squat, heart-like or pumpkin-like shape and thick, succulent flesh. Plants stay compact, usually 18 to 24 inches tall, and a single healthy plant will set anywhere from a half-dozen to dozens of fruit depending on the variety.
The defining trait is sweetness with almost no heat. On the Scoville scale pimentos register from 0 to about 500 units, with most fruit sitting near the bottom of that range. For comparison, a jalapeno runs 2,500 to 8,000 units. Only the bell pepper is reliably milder, and even then the pimento usually wins on flavor: it is juicier, fruitier, and more aromatic than a bell, with a richness that intensifies the longer the fruit stays on the plant. Picked green it tastes grassy and slightly bitter, much like a green bell. Left to ripen fully red, it turns sweet, almost candy-like, which is why nearly every classic use calls for the red stage.
That sweetness is what made the pimento a pantry icon. Its mild, gentle flavor cuts the briny bite of a green olive, which is the whole reason olives are stuffed with it. Ground and dried, the same pepper becomes sweet paprika. Roasted and minced into sharp cheddar with mayonnaise, it becomes pimento cheese, the spread sometimes called the pate of the South.
Pimento versus allspice, a quick name untangling
Search for “pimento” and you will hit a genuine source of confusion, so it is worth clearing up before you buy seed. The word “pimento” is attached to two completely unrelated plants.
The pepper on this page is Capsicum annuum, a sweet chile in the nightshade family. Allspice, on the other hand, is the dried unripe berry of Pimenta dioica, a tropical evergreen tree native to the Caribbean and Central America. That tree is also commonly called pimento, or pimenta, or Jamaica pepper. The overlap is purely historical: Spanish explorers met the allspice berry, decided it resembled black peppercorns, and named it after pepper. The same Spanish root for “pepper” later got pinned on the sweet Capsicum fruit too, and the two have been muddled in English ever since.
The practical takeaway is simple. If a recipe wants pimento and means the soft red pepper in olives or cheese, you want Capsicum annuum, fresh or jarred. If it wants allspice, the warm baking spice that smells of clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg, you want the dried Pimenta dioica berry. They are not interchangeable, and you cannot grow allspice from a packet of pimento pepper seed. Everything that follows is about the pepper.
A short history, from the boll weevil to the olive jar
The pimento has surprisingly deep American roots, centered on Georgia. The story usually starts in 1911, when a Spalding County farmer planted Spanish pimento seed near Griffin. The breakthrough was not the pepper itself but a way to strip its skin quickly, which made commercial canning practical. Around the same era a local grower named Samuel Riegel selected a reliable, easy-to-peel strain he called Perfection, and his family began distributing seed in 1911 as well.
What followed was a boom. As the boll weevil wrecked cotton across the South, pimentos gave farmers a cash crop to fall back on. The Pomona Products Company formed to can and market them, and by 1929 roughly 7,000 acres around Griffin were in pimentos, served by some twenty processing plants. Georgia briefly billed itself the pimento capital of the world. Production peaked around 1950, then faded, because the crop was labor-intensive to grow and to peel and the margins were thin. The legacy survives in two places: in pimento cheese, still a fixture of Southern tables, and in the little red strip inside almost every jar of green olives.
Pimento varieties worth growing
Pimentos are not a single cultivar but a family of sweet, thick-walled red types. A few stand out for the home garden:
- Perfection is the historic Georgia canning pimento, cone-to-heart shaped, smooth, and bred to peel cleanly. It is still the benchmark for flavor and skinning.
- Sheepnose Pimento forms ruffled, squat red fruit with flesh so juicy and tender it is often compared to tomato. It is a favorite for fresh eating and pimento cheese.
- Alma Paprika is a thick-walled, round pimento type traditionally dried and ground for sweet paprika.
- Sunnybrook and Early Sweet Pimiento are rounder, flatter, pumpkin-shaped strains that mature on the early side, useful where summers are short.
- Red Ruffled and Sweet Meat Glory round out the field with the heavy walls and deep sweetness that define the group.
When buying, read the label rather than the name alone. “Pimiento” and “pimento” are used interchangeably, and shape, size, and days to maturity vary enough between strains that it pays to match the variety to your season and your intended use.
Starting pimento seeds indoors
Pimentos need a long, warm season, so almost every gardener outside the frost-free far south starts them indoors. Sow seed 8 to 10 weeks before your last expected spring frost. Plant about a quarter inch deep in a quality seed-starting mix and keep it lightly moist, never soggy.
Warmth is the single biggest factor in germination. Pimento seed wants soil at 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and a heat mat under the tray makes a dramatic difference; cool soil can stall sprouting for weeks or stop it entirely. Under proper warmth, seedlings emerge in roughly 6 to 14 days. Once they are up, give them strong light, six to eight hours minimum, from a bright south or southwest window or, better, a grow light a few inches above the leaves. Leggy, pale seedlings are almost always a sign of too little light.
When the first true leaves appear, you can begin a quarter-strength liquid fertilizer. Keep the mix moist but let the surface dry slightly between waterings to discourage damping off. Plants typically spend about two months indoors before they are ready for the garden.
Hardening off and transplanting
Do not rush pimentos outside. They are cold-sensitive, and chilled plants sulk for weeks. Wait until all danger of frost has passed and nighttime temperatures stay reliably above 55 degrees Fahrenheit, which is usually two to three weeks after your last frost date.
Harden seedlings off first. Over 7 to 10 days, set them outdoors in a sheltered, partly shaded spot, starting with an hour or so and adding time each day until they handle a full day of sun and wind. Plants around 6 to 10 inches tall transition best.
Choose a site with full sun, at least six to eight hours a day, and well-drained, fertile soil with a pH near 6.0 to 6.8. Work an inch of compost into the bed before planting. Space plants 18 to 24 inches apart in rows 24 to 36 inches apart; pimento roots spread wider and deeper than many peppers and resent crowding. Set transplants slightly deeper than they grew in their pots, firm the soil, and water in well. A drink of compost tea at transplanting supplies phosphorus that supports flowering and fruit set. In containers, use a pot at least 12 inches deep, or a 5-gallon size, with drainage holes, and plan on one plant per pot.
Growing on, watering, and feeding
Once established, pimentos are forgiving as long as three needs are met: heat, steady moisture, and modest feeding.
Heat and sun. Plants thrive in summer warmth. Fruit set suffers at the extremes, though: nights below 60 or days much above the high 80s can cause blossoms to drop. In very hot, dry regions, a little afternoon shade during the worst of the heat keeps plants productive. In cool-summer or northern gardens, planting against a south-facing wall traps extra warmth.
Water. Pimentos fill their thick walls with moisture, so consistency matters. Aim for about 1 to 2 inches of water per week, applied deeply, and let the top inch or two of soil dry before watering again. Use the finger test rather than a fixed schedule. Erratic watering is the leading cause of blossom-end rot, the sunken dark patch on the bottom of the fruit. Water at the base rather than overhead to limit leaf disease, and lay 2 to 3 inches of straw or shredded-leaf mulch to hold moisture and steady soil temperature.
Feeding. Side-dress as the first fruit sets, then feed every one to two weeks with a diluted organic liquid fertilizer, or every three to four weeks with a balanced product. Go easy on nitrogen; too much pushes leafy growth at the expense of flowers and peppers. If your soil runs low in magnesium, a teaspoon of Epsom salts worked in around each plant can support growth, and consistent calcium availability through even moisture is the real defense against blossom-end rot.
Support. Plants get top-heavy as fruit ripens. A bamboo stake or small tomato cage and a length of garden twine keep stems from snapping under the load.
Common problems and how to handle them
Most pimento troubles trace back to cultural conditions, and most are fixable.
Yellow leaves often follow cold nights, overwatering, or the normal shedding of older bottom growth. Widespread yellowing with soggy soil usually points to overwatering or root rot; let the bed dry to a wrung-out-sponge feel before watering again.
Blossom-end rot is not a disease but a calcium-and-water problem. Keep moisture steady and make sure soil calcium is adequate; erratic watering, not a lack of calcium in the soil, is usually the trigger.
Pests to watch are aphids, whiteflies, spider mites, and pepper weevils. A strong jet of water knocks aphids and mites off, repeated daily for a week or two. Row cover or fine mesh early in the season keeps whiteflies off vulnerable young plants; remove it once flowers open so pollinators can reach them. For pepper weevils, promptly pick off any soft or rotting fruit, since larvae burrow into peppers, and rotate where you plant peppers every two or three years.
Diseases include root rot in waterlogged soil and tobacco mosaic virus, which spreads from infected plant material and even tobacco products; avoid handling tobacco near the plants and keep the bed well drained.
When and how to harvest pimentos
Pimentos are ready to pick roughly 70 to 100 days after transplanting, depending on variety and weather, which usually lands in mid to late summer. Size is one cue, around 3 to 4 inches and full, heart-shaped, and firm, but color is the one that matters most.
For the sweet flavor pimentos are prized for, wait for the full deep red. Green fruit is edible and works like a green bell, but it is grassier and slightly bitter; the sugars and that signature fruity richness only develop as the pepper finishes ripening on the plant. You can harvest green if frost threatens, but otherwise patience pays.
Harvest with clean pruners or scissors, cutting the stem and leaving a short stub on the fruit. Do not tug or twist; the brittle branches snap easily and pulling can knock off other peppers still ripening nearby. Picking regularly, rather than letting a heavy load hang, encourages the plant to keep flowering and setting fruit through the season. If frost arrives with green peppers still on the plant, pick them and let them finish ripening indoors, or pull whole branches and hang them.
Roasting and peeling pimentos
Pimento skin is thin but tough enough that most cooks remove it before stuffing olives, canning, or making cheese, and roasting is the classic way to do both peel and deepen flavor.
To roast in the oven, place whole peppers on a sheet pan at 400 to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and turn them every few minutes until the skins blister, char in spots, and loosen, generally 6 to 8 minutes per side. You can do the same over a gas flame or grill. The moment they come off the heat, drop them into a bowl and cover it, or seal them in a paper or plastic bag, and let them steam as they cool. The trapped heat lifts the skins free. After 10 to 15 minutes, the charred skin rubs off easily under your fingers; a quick rinse clears any stubborn flecks. Then slice off the stem, halve the pepper, and scrape out the seeds and white ribs. What you have left is sweet, silky roasted pimento ready for the kitchen.
Using and preserving your pimento harvest
A good pimento plant produces more than you can eat fresh, and the pepper preserves beautifully.
Fresh. Stored whole in a paper bag or perforated plastic bag in the refrigerator, fresh pimentos keep one to two weeks. Use them raw in salads, roasted on sandwiches and antipasto plates, blended into sauces and marinades, or stuffed and grilled.
Pimento cheese. The most famous use could not be simpler. Fold roasted, peeled, and finely diced pimento into shredded sharp cheddar with just enough mayonnaise to bind it, then season with salt, black pepper, and a pinch of cayenne if you like a little warmth. The sweet pepper plays off the sharp cheese; that contrast is the whole appeal.
Stuffing olives. To recreate the jarred classic at home, pit brined green olives and tuck a small sliver of roasted, peeled pimento into each. The pepper’s sweetness tempers the olive’s salt and bite, exactly as it does commercially.
Freezing. Roasted and peeled pimentos freeze well. Lay pieces on a sheet to freeze solid, then bag them so they do not clump. Use within about six months for the best flavor.
Drying. Thick-walled paprika types in particular dry into a sweet seasoning. Use a dehydrator or a low oven, then grind the dried peppers in a spice grinder into homemade paprika. Some gardeners blend a little hot pepper powder in for a sweet, smoky custom blend.
Pickling and canning. Pimentos can be quick-pickled in a tangy vinegar brine for the refrigerator. For shelf-stable canning, follow tested home-preservation guidelines closely: low-acid peppers must either be pressure canned or acidified with the bottled lemon juice or vinegar a tested recipe specifies to keep the contents safe. Properly processed and sealed jars hold their quality for many months in a cool, dark pantry.
A pimento is a small reward for a simple season of work: start the seed warm, give it sun and steady water, let the fruit ripen all the way to red, then roast, peel, and put it up. Grow a few plants this year and you will never look at the strip of red in an olive jar, or a bowl of pimento cheese, the same way again.