Bell Pepper

Overview

Bell Pepper is a crop in Starsand Island described in-game as "a bell-shaped sweet pepper that starts off sweet and cool but delivers an extraordinary kick afterward." It becomes available once you earn the Expert Farmer certification from Graminova. Bell Pepper grows exclusively during Autumn, giving it a single 28-day growing window each year.

Each Bell Pepper plant takes 7 days and 12 hours to mature on standard farmland and produces 4 Bell Peppers per harvest. It is a single-harvest crop, meaning you must replant after picking. With a seed cost of 750g and a sell price of 518g per unit, Bell Pepper delivers a strong profit of 176.3 gold per day, placing it among the better Expert-tier farmland options.

Bell Pepper does not appear in any cooking recipes. Its primary uses are selling for profit, gifting to NPCs, and processing at the Separator for Vegetable Juice. Despite the lack of cooking applications, the high per-unit sell price and solid yield of 4 make Bell Pepper a worthwhile addition to any Autumn farm rotation.

Quick Stats

How to Obtain Seeds

Bell Pepper Seeds are purchased from the Happiness Seed Shop for 750g each after you reach the Expert Farmer tier. The shop stocks Bell Pepper Seeds year-round regardless of the current season, so you can buy them during Spring, Summer, or Winter and have them ready when Autumn begins.

To unlock Expert Farmer, you must first complete all earlier farming tier trials (Apprentice, Junior, Intermediate, and Senior) given by Graminova. Once you pass the Expert Farmer certification, Bell Pepper Seeds and other Expert-tier seeds become permanently available for purchase.

You can also produce your own Bell Pepper Seeds using the Grinder, which converts harvested Bell Peppers back into seeds. Using the Grinder eliminates the 750g seed cost on subsequent plantings, which significantly improves your effective gold per day. Since the Grinder unlocks at the Senior Farmer tier and Bell Pepper requires Expert, this option is available as soon as you start growing the crop.

Bell Pepper Seeds may also occasionally be found through general exploration by chopping trees and shrubs, foraging weeds, and opening Treasure Chests scattered across the island.

Growing Bell Pepper

Bell Pepper grows on regular tilled farmland. It does not require a Trellis, Paddy Field, Planting Box, or any other specialized structure. To plant Bell Pepper, till a plot of soil with your Hoe, select Bell Pepper Seeds from your inventory, and place them on the tilled tile.

Once planted, Bell Pepper takes 7 days and 12 hours (7.5 in-game days) to fully mature. You need to water it daily using your Watering Can, or set up sprinklers to automate the process. Bell Pepper grows only during Autumn. If the season changes to Winter before the crop matures, it will wither and be lost.

Bell Pepper is a single-harvest crop. After you pick the 4 Bell Peppers, the plant is consumed and you must replant from seed. This differs from multi-harvest trellis crops like Honeyvine or Star Plum that regrow after each harvest. Plan your field space accordingly, since you will need to re-till and replant after every pick.

Seasonal Timing

Autumn lasts 28 in-game days. With a 7.5-day growth cycle, you can fit 3 full harvests per Autumn season (planting on approximately days 1, 8.5, and 16). A fourth planting on day 23.5 would finish around day 31, which is past the end of Autumn, so it would wither. To squeeze in a borderline fourth harvest, you would need to use Ripening Fertilizer to shorten the growth time.

Because Bell Pepper is restricted to a single season, it competes with other Autumn crops for field space. At the Expert tier, Star Plum (Spring and Autumn trellis) and King Water Chestnut (Autumn and Winter paddy field) are also strong options. However, Star Plum uses a Trellis and King Water Chestnut needs a Paddy Field, so none of them directly compete with Bell Pepper for standard farmland tiles.

Sell Prices

The base sell price for Bell Pepper is 518g per unit. Since each harvest produces 4 Bell Peppers, a single harvest sells for 2,072g at base quality. Higher-quality Bell Peppers sell for more. Quality is influenced by the fertilizer you use and random chance during growth.

You can sell Bell Peppers at Zerine's General Store at the prices listed below. For even higher returns, sell to the Merchant Ship when it docks at Starsand Port every Monday, as it pays 200% of the normal sell price for all items.

After subtracting the 750g seed cost, a base-quality harvest yields 1,322g profit. Selling to the Merchant Ship at double price pushes the profit to 3,394g per harvest. Timing your harvests to coincide with the ship's Monday visits can more than double your income from Bell Pepper.

Processing and Uses

Bell Pepper is not used in any cooking recipes. Its primary value comes from direct sales and processing into base cooking ingredients.

Separator

Bell Pepper can be processed at the Separator to produce Vegetable Juice, one of the base cooking ingredients in Starsand Island. Vegetable Juice is used in a wide range of recipes including soups, stews, and drinks. If you have surplus Bell Peppers that you cannot sell to the Merchant Ship, converting them into Vegetable Juice is a productive alternative.

Grinder (Seed Recovery)

The Grinder lets you convert harvested Bell Peppers back into Bell Pepper Seeds. This eliminates the 750g seed cost on subsequent plantings, which is significant for a crop at this price point. With seed recovery, your effective profit per harvest jumps from 1,322g to 2,072g (the full revenue), and your gold per day rises from 176.3 to 276.3 g/day.

Profitability Analysis

Bell Pepper is one of the more profitable Expert-tier farmland crops on a per-day basis. For a full comparison across all tiers, see the Crop Profitability Rankings article.

Comparison with Other Expert Farmer Crops

The Expert Farmer tier offers a variety of crop types across different growing surfaces. Below is how Bell Pepper compares to other Expert-tier crops.

Among Expert-tier farmland crops, Bell Pepper leads with 176.3 g/day, edging out Star Mango and Chirpy Plum (both at 172.7 g/day). Only the Paddy Field crops Zapweed and King Water Chestnut earn more at 186.5 g/day, but they require a Paddy Field rather than standard farmland.

The multi-harvest trellis crops at Expert tier (Honeyvine, Star Plum, Jadelume) operate on a different economic model with lower per-unit sell prices but multiple harvests from one seed. For straight farmland planting during Autumn, Bell Pepper is the top option.

Merchant Ship Sales

The Merchant Ship pays 200% of the normal sell price. A single Bell Pepper harvest sold to the Merchant Ship yields 4,144g (1,036g x 4) instead of 2,072g. After subtracting the 750g seed cost, that is 3,394g profit per harvest, or roughly 452.5 g/day. Timing your harvests to align with the ship's Monday visits can dramatically boost income during Autumn.

Everlasting Bell Pepper Seeds

Like all crops in Starsand Island, Bell Pepper has an everlasting seed variant. Everlasting Bell Pepper Seeds produce a plant that regrows after every harvest without needing to replant. This eliminates both the seed cost and the time spent tilling and replanting, turning Bell Pepper into a more passive income source during Autumn.

There is also a rarer Immortal variant. Immortal Bell Pepper Seeds ignore seasonal restrictions entirely, letting you grow Bell Pepper year-round in any season, including Spring, Summer, and Winter. This is particularly valuable for a crop like Bell Pepper that is normally limited to a single season.

Methods for obtaining everlasting and immortal seeds include:

1. Mirthshroom Soup: Eating this soup grants the Creamy Seeds buff. While active, harvesting any crop has a chance to drop everlasting or immortal seeds. Stacking 5 soups maximizes the drop rate.

2. Eternal Blessings: A Workpedia skill available at the Senior Farmer tier. Provides a permanent passive chance to receive everlasting seeds when harvesting. Can be upgraded with Starsand Points.

3. Treasure Chests: Found on the surface island and in the Moonlit Forest. Some chests contain everlasting or immortal seeds.

4. Islandpedia Rewards: Completing certain Islandpedia milestones rewards everlasting seeds.

If you dig up an everlasting or immortal crop with a pickaxe, the seed is refunded to your inventory. You never lose it, which lets you freely relocate crops as your farm layout changes.

Gifting

Bell Pepper can be gifted to NPCs and animals. Giving a Bell Pepper to a character who loves it provides a significant boost to your friendship level. The following preferences have been confirmed:

Since Graminova loves Bell Peppers and he is the Farming profession mentor, gifting him Bell Peppers is a convenient way to build friendship while shopping for seeds at the Happiness Seed Shop. Fang, Marston, Matilda, and Sagewood also love Bell Pepper, so keeping a small stockpile for gifting is worthwhile.

Be careful about gifting Bell Peppers to Alex or Hattie. They hate Bell Pepper, and giving a hated gift causes a significant friendship penalty that takes multiple liked gifts to recover from. Ginger, Loren, and Momo dislike Bell Pepper as well, so avoid gifting them this crop.

Tips

• Bell Pepper's 7.5-day growth time means you can fit about 3 full harvests in a 28-day Autumn season. Plan your planting to start on Day 1 of Autumn so you don't waste any growing time.

• Stock up on Bell Pepper Seeds during Spring, Summer, or Winter so you are ready to plant immediately when Autumn begins. The Happiness Seed Shop sells them year-round.

• Use Ripening Fertilizer to shave hours off the 7.5-day growth time. With Ripening Fertilizer III skipping 25 hours, you could potentially squeeze in a fourth harvest cycle before Autumn ends.

• Selling to the Merchant Ship on Monday at 200% price is the single biggest profit multiplier. Stockpile Bell Peppers in a chest and sell the entire batch when the ship arrives.

• Use the Grinder to produce Bell Pepper Seeds from harvested crops instead of buying them. This saves 750g per planting cycle and significantly improves your effective profit.

• Consider using sprinklers on your Bell Pepper fields. By the Expert tier, you should have access to upgraded sprinklers that cover a wide area, making daily watering completely hands-free.

• Place Bumblebee hives near your Bell Pepper fields. Bees significantly boost crop growth speed, letting you squeeze in extra harvests during the limited Autumn window.

• Bell Pepper pairs well with other Autumn crops in a diversified farm. Grow King Water Chestnut or Zapweed in your Paddy Fields, Star Plum on Trellises, and fill the rest of your standard farmland with Bell Pepper for maximum Autumn income.

• If you have surplus Bell Peppers that you cannot sell to the Merchant Ship, process them at the Separator for Vegetable Juice. This base cooking ingredient is always in demand for recipes.

• Work toward obtaining Immortal Bell Pepper Seeds. Since Bell Pepper is limited to Autumn, the Immortal variant removes this restriction and lets you grow it year-round, which is a massive boost to your overall farming income.