ripening peppers?

donna73

hi quick question,
my peppers are a decent size to pick and id like to pick them in order to try and encourage more to grow. but i would also like them to turn from green to red, do they need to be left on the plant for this to happen?

jimbo_the_jetset

I think they need to be in quite a warm place to turn red. Are they in a greenhouse? Actually I noticed in the supermarket the other day on the mixed peppers I bought were from the UK, apart from the red on which was from Holland (assumingly grown in a glasshouse). Does this mean our climate is too cold for red peppers?

Have you got many peppers? Worth trying on off the plant to start with and see how you get on?

I've got one mini pepper so far so I'll leave it on. Just brought all my chilli's back inside cause they were looking sick outside. Bloomin weather

alanobrien

Me to, i have peppers and chilli peppers on south facing window cills and they have yet to go red. I think they need that elusive thing called the sun......

noonesperfect

Ooh gosh, you're well ahead! Mine are still only flowers......:o

My tomatoes are lookin good tho.

donna73

oh well lets keep our fingers crossed for some sun then!

kingmonkey

Peppers will ripen off the fruit especially if just about turning.

One trick it to keep your green peppers in a paper bag of bananas.

nnik

Hi, whilst on subject. Growing my first lot of chillies. How can I get these to turn red? Also, anyone got any ideas for storage - can they be dried/frozen/pickled?

Thanks
Nicola

Pink.

Hi nnik,

I don't know the answer about how to get them to turn red because mine are still flowering at the moment and I've only got teeny weeny green bits coming out of the flowers, but they do freeze and dry well. Have a look at these older threads:

Another chilli question

My chilli plants have chillis on them!

Pink

nnik

Thanks for that Pink-winged.

I have already picked a few chillies and still have lots of flowers as well as baby chillies on plant. It started flowering ages ago outside but the flowers just dropped off and nothing else appeared. Got covered in green fly so I just brought it in and put it on window ledge in kitchen. South facing so gets the sun (when we have it!).
Will try freezing some and was thinking about possibly pickling but not sure how to and which vinegar to use. Going to look into using white wine or cider vinegar but not sure if this will work.

Primrose

Your green peppers won't necessarily ripen and turn red if you remove them from the plant. It's best to let them ripen on the vine and what they really need is exposure to a lot of sunshine. I'm growing peppers outdoors in a sheltered spot against the house wall. I have just one ripening red pepper so far due to the poor weather. They and chillies freeze well too. I freeze my chillis whole and larger peppers cut in two to save freezer space.

lightisfading

Don't despair, my chillis sat on the plant green for ages before they finally went red in about 2 days flat! Think it's just the weather really!