Pepper question

[Gryfon]

My peppers are coming along swimmingly and the biggest is about a couple of inches long

However I think they're hot chillie peppers (guessing because I've written H.C. on the label and I can't find the seed packet). However I'm not sure when I can harvest them!

Any ideas? I want some fresh and others I want to dry and store.

[Silverfox]

I harvest to the colour and size you need

[Gryfon]

Ok thanks. Is green mild with red hot? And does it go green, yellow, orange, red?

[Silverfox]

With chilli's I personally think red is hotter but there is others that may disagree. Both my chilli and pepper plants miss out the yellow stage. They go from green to a brown and then to red.

Come to think of it where do the yellow's come from?????? - Hope someone can answer that for us both.

[bramble]

Silverfox, like you mine go from green to red with red being hotter. However if you grow Hungarian Hot Wax they will go from green to yellow and eventually a reddish orange.

[Gryfon]

Ah so it depends on the type then!

I need more pepper plants...they're so expensive to buy peppers in the shop!

[Silverfox]

I agree. I think that is where I went wrong in my planning this year. I got veggies that I like to eat (pointless otherwise), but what I should have thought about was what i eat alot of. I eat peppers and onions in everything....... sunday roast love? yeah lets have roasted peppers with it ha ha ha. I only eat a handfull of Tom's a day but have 4 tommy plants (think I will cut that back next year), 3 peppers but i am waiting on 5 actual peppers to pick when they are big enough, 1 chilli which now has about 47 chilli's on (counted last night). All the rest that is now left in the garden is winter veg, as I have given up hope on my cucumber, courgette, and french beans.

[smallblueplanet]

I like peppers too but find the 'ordinary' blocky type sweet green peppers take ages to ripen and you don't seem to get many overall. Perhaps thats down to the way I've been growing them?

Anyway this year we tried a type more common on the continent - Cubanelle green peppers. They've been great we've had 4 or 5 from one plant already and there's loads more growing. They smell good and taste good too.

- cubanelle peppers

[JayJay]

Silverfox

Last Sunday week I planted 8 more french beans as my last lot were eaten by slugs and 6 are already about 4 inches high so dont give up get more planted. I haven't counted my chillies yet but will do so tonight - sad or what!! and all my Toms are still green but I wait in hope.

JJ

[Gryfon]

I wish now I'd planted more pepper plants! 4 just isn't enough

I think as you go along down the years you learn not to sow too much and only to sow what you're going to eat! I only do tomatoes as the others in my family like them, if I had my way I wouldn't grow them!

[Silverfox]

I think I have said this in another post.... Anyway I was a bit silly this year (first year growing) and planted far to many seeds (I thought they would not take), when they all came up i had loads on my hand. I sold some on to people at work and took the rest to a car boot sale it was a great way to cover the costs of everything I have now planted into my garden, so really I have free veggies everytime I pick something.