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Harvesting Chilies
Comments
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Yes, those red ones look read to pick. Snip them off with scissors to avoid damaging the plant.0
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Hi jonny- I tend to pick mine as soon as they are big enough to use. I find they tend to get hotter as the season gets on and if you leave them to get red they also tend to get hotter. Once they are bright red (or orange/chocolate/peach etc depending on variety) they want picking and using/drying/freezing before they go wrinkly.0
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The reason I ask is I picked one that looked ready around 2 weeks ago, and ate it there and then, but the skin was a bit softer than I am used to (i.e. supermarket bought), and it just didn't taste quite right.
That's because it was fresh.
Chilis are able to be picked as soon as they are big enough - green or not you can leave them to go red [or whatever colour they go]in their own good time...if you pick off the first chili you will find the plant sends a flush of new flowers out thus increasing the number of chilis you will get on the plant0 -
Chilis are able to be picked as soon as they are big enough - green or not you can leave them to go red [or whatever colour they go]in their own good time...if you pick off the first chili you will find the plant sends a flush of new flowers out thus increasing the number of chilis you will get on the plant
If I pick the first chilli early, can I still use the seeds from it, or do I need to get it red to make the seeds usable??“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”
Juvenal, The Sixteen Satires0 -
Depends very much on the chili - chilis can cross fertilise so you would need to isolate 2 flowers before they open [using muslin tied round them], hand pollinate them and then save those ones for seed, if you want it to come true. Some chilis won't come true if you don't isolate, so they can lose their heat in the next generation [which is usually quite important in growing chilis].
I believe personally that if saving for seed, the fruit should be kept on the pant for as long as reasonably possible, to mature, to be as viable as you can make it. However I know that peppers are taken early and mature as they cross oceans to get to Mr T - and people sow seeds from those so I am guessing they might well be viable if taken early.0 -
I believe personally that if saving for seed, the fruit should be kept on the pant for as long as reasonably possible,Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.0
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mrbadexample wrote: »I think my red ones are ready:Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.0
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Lotus-eater wrote: »What chilli is that? I was given a plant and it looks exactly the same.
Hello
Just stumbled across this thread as I grow lots of chillies. That pic to me looks like a Chilli Bomb?
I'm growing Chilli Bomb and also Apache, Ring of Fire, Cayenne Long Slim and Birds Eye from seed.
I have a Scotch Bonnet plant I bought as a plug plant so will get some seeds off that to grow next year!
I freeze my chillies too - either defrosting for 10 mins or so before use or I just snip rings straight off.0 -
davemoreton If you want to save your chilli seeds, you really need to ensure they're taken from mature fruits, i.e. ripened red, yellow, purple fruits (whatever final colour they ripen to) to ensure the seeds are totally viable. Just put them on a piece of kitchen tissue on a sunny windowsill until they harden off, then store them in an envelope in a cool dry place. You may find that your subsequent plants have a slightly different heat strength. I grow Hungarian Wax (large) chillies, and from saved seeds I've sometimes had plants with chillies of lower heat, and real fire bombs! I've never bothered to isolate two particular flowers to pollinate them and keep them separate. All my chilli plants seem to get so many flowers on them that this would be a real hassle.0
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Hi, is anyone else growing Pinnochios Nose chillies? I have some beautiful plants with lots and lots of peppers on them. This is my first time growing them and I am so thrilled lol ( see small things - small mind
) But I have a question. On the packet it says. 'Fruits change through bottle green to red.' Now my fruits have been green for AGES and no sign of turning red. Am I just being impatient, or does it mean they are ready to harvest when they are bottle green and won't necessarily go red. Sorry for being so tupid. TIA
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