when will my bell peppers go red?

[queen of the cobs]

Dear all,

thanks to the last few days of sun, my bell peppers are coming on a treat - will they go red on the plant, or do I need to pick them and then ripen on a windowsill?

many thanks.

[moggssue]

I was wondering the same thing - I have a couple of green peppers looking ready but showing no sign of going red, so I'm interested in any replies as well Qeen of the Cobs!! (Sorry not to have an answer by the way!).

[Alison]

It depends on the variety, some will never go red but others will blush up nicely on the plant. I tend to pick my green to start with as leaving them on can make the plant stop fruiting but will leave the later ones to go red. Hope this makes sense. BTW I find that leaving them off the plant in the sun usually results in mushy and wrinkled fruits but again, it varies a bit with variety. No such problem with chillies, they redden no problems after I've picked them. Strange but what I've found.

[tricia]

I have lots of peppers of different varieties, all fruiting well. It requires patience to let them mature to red ripeness (or in the case of one of mine - yellow), but it is worth it IMO.

Tricia

[sheep farmers other half]

Last year I just left my on the plant and they went red by themselves

[momol]

Hi queen of the cob,

I grew Romanian hot, which is an early type, from growing to fruiting takes around 3 months or so but the green matured pepper need around 1 more month or 5 weeks to turn red ( I haven't been having real summer hier for more than a month, the temp' just go up and down , but more down to be honest), If you have continuous warm and sun it should turn red in within a week or 10 days. Be patience, it will come
Momol

[queen of the cobs]

thanks so much everyone - I was a bit worried about not picking anythign off the plant, as i think it can encourage more fruit to come. I only have 2 or 3 peppers on each plant atm, and I might take one green pepper off each to stimulate it, and leave the rest to colour.

I appreciate all the advice.

[rustylady]

Peppers are perfectly useable green. They do ripen and turn colour better on the plants than off. Good luck. Don't worry about picking them green, if you are going to use them then why not. Keep watering and feeding your plants, make sure they are in a big enough pot, and look forward to your harvest.

[Alice]

Hello Queen of the Cobs. You can cut and use your peppers green. Or you can leave them on the plant to go red. Once you leave them to ripen to red that is the end of your crop. I tend to cut them green for use, leave them to keep flowering, and leave the late ones to ripen to red. Hope you get a great crop.

[Leah and Andy]

Can i ask the same questions about chilli peppers please

We've sown an unknown variety and now have lots of long green chillis. But we're not sure if they are meant to go red or not. Can we take them off the plant and wait to see if they go red then? Is there any danger leaving them on the plant? And how can you tell if they are actually ready i.e. how long and how fat they are meant to be? Do we just wait for one to fall off and take it that that is a fully ripe one? Thanks in advance.

[raine]

I'm really jealous as i've just about got tiny flowers on my bell peppers. Don't think I'm gonna have much success.
Raine

[Alison]

We've sown an unknown variety and now have lots of long green chillis. But we're not sure if they are meant to go red or not. Can we take them off the plant and wait to see if they go red then? Is there any danger leaving them on the plant? And how can you tell if they are actually ready i.e. how long and how fat they are meant to be? Do we just wait for one to fall off and take it that that is a fully ripe one? Thanks in advance.

You can pick chillies when ever you want, just the longer you leave them on the plant, the hotter they tend to become. If you leave them on too long the plant will stop producing any more so I always pick the first few pretty young to keep it going. Different varieties come longer / shorter / fatter / thinner etc and also will go different colours. One of my varieties this year is supposed to ripen to a purple colour - not seen this yet so will believe it when I see it. I do find that chillies will sometimes go red off the plant like tomaotes will but it's a bit hit and miss. I'd suggest picking one off and trying it, if it is to your taste pick some more etc etc. Note that some varieties will never go red so if your's don't it may not be your fault.