When can i pick my chillis and Jalapeno's?

[maillme]

hi there,

I have jalapeno plants and chilli plants - my chilli's are long and thin - and some are curling - 'im not sure when i should be picking these??

My jalapeno's are various sizes - but i 'm not sure when they can be picked either?

many thanks for any help,
Neil

[HayleyB]

Hi Neil

I'm no chilli expert but I think you can pick when you like. I've just taken all mine off my plant as it was attacked by the dreaded red spider mite and now I've got them in the conservatory to ripen, some were small and a couple were large I have two that have almost finished going red.

Good luck with the bike ride

[maillme]

hi hayley,

thats great - thanks!

Is there any weay of keeping these chillis once picked?? / any good sauce recipes?

thanks again,
Neil

[HayleyB]

Hi Neil

You can dry them and use as and when you need, and there are millions of things you can use them for from curries to Mexican to Mediterranean. If you do a search you will find some recipes using chillis on this site otherwise try Chilli recipes - BBC Good Food

[bluemoon]

Last night a friend confessed that she always puts a tablespoon full of really hot chilli sauce in her chocolate cakes The woman isn't even pregnant.

[rustylady]

Jalapenoes are just a variety of chilli. They can all be picked young and green and used for whatever you normally use chillies for. I had a really bad year this year and lost all my greenhouse ones, but I normally pick green for immediate use, and leave the rest to ripen on the plant. They normally change colour to red when ripe. Ripe ones can be picked and stored dry in the kitchen to keep. My friend uses a darning needle and thin string and threads string through the stalks and hangs them in the kitchen to dry. You can use whenever you need them.

[Alice]

You can pick your chillies any time you like - everything from green to red.
You can also freeze them - either just whole or prepared and chopped, depends how you want to use them. After freezing they're only good for cooking with.