another newbie question...peppers..when to harvest?

I have 5 different hot peppers...they came in a variety pack, so I'm not even positive which ones are which, but I THINK the cayenne long, jalepeno and carribean are the ones growing. On the card that came with the seedlings, they show all the cayenne long and the carribbean to be red.

I have 2 red pepper plants and 1 yellow bell pepper plant.

My question....am I supposed to wait until they turn yellow/red ON the plant before I harvest? Or do I pick when they seem big enough and then they turn color after? I apologize if this the dumbest question ever asked here

The bell peppers just seem so big and ready...but they are all still green...and the carribbean peppers are green but some are turning black..one has a red tip so I think it might be turning. (Oh, this particular plant the peppers are growing UP, if that helps to identify it!)

TIA!!

Om the bell peppers I found that if I picked them when they first got a blush of red they would turn red indoors. They would also turn red on the stem, but it seemed to go faster if I picked them earlier. Any that I picked green I just ate that way, so I can't tell you if they would have turned or not.

Typically you let the peppers ripen on the plant. You can eat them at any stage, and even certain "green pepper" plants will turn a new color if you leave them on long enough. It does take a while for them to change on the plant, some people do have success with picking them when they have some of the color, and they will ripen indoors (just like elliephant). My family never had this happen though, so we ate a lot of green peppers due to impatience, and that's one reason why I don't care for them much anymore. Plus I think they are bitter.

As for the hot pepper plants, I'm not familiar with the kind that actually grow upwards, I wanted to grow one next year but I forgot to add it to my order and I can't justify spending that amount of money for one packet of seeds (but if anyone places an order at burpee and wants to order a pack of these for me, I would be happy to send you a check and an envelope w/stamp for them). I know these might not be the exact kind, but it's similar. But anyways, when hot peppers are left to ripen on the plant to their true color, usually 8/10 times the ripened color is going to be more hot. For example, when jalapeno's are green they are actually milder than the red ones. There are some where the heat doesn't change from color to color. Also, the smaller the pepper the hotter it is 9/10. So if you have wee tiny ones, they most surely will be hotter.

I personally find that yellow, orange, and red peppers are far more sweet and less bitter than green peppers. I am also a very mild hot pepper girl. I like a mild HEAT not the intense spice that some have. I hope that helps some, and happy gardening! Love to see pictures!

<-- looks like a hot pepper bomb

What are you, new?!


I picked my jalapenos when they looked like the ones in the store. I accidentally ( ) picked my gypsy sweet peppers when they were about 1/2 the size they were going to get if I had left them the hell alone. My bad. Good thing 15 more are growing at the moment. My bell peppers aren't big enough to pick yet. Good question.

thanks everyone! i will take some pictures later- they look really good, imho...i just started worrying i was going to miss my opportunity with them if i was supposed to be picking them now!

This is all great to know. This is the second year I've ever grown peppers. Last year was nearly complete failure.

Of my pepper plants, the one I bought had fruit on it when I got it, and the ones I started from seed are only now starting to get bigger... no blooms yet that I can see.

The storebought one is a chocolate pepper (sweet, I think) and it's supposed to turn brown before it's ready. I have watched those darn little green peppers for weeks (a month??) until finally today I saw one of them had turned color. Not sure if it is a brown or more of a purple...I was watering at the time and didn't want to go poking around in the leaves. Maybe we'll get a taste this weekend.

The sweet one from seed is Ozark Giant which starts green and turns red. The hot pepper from seed is Red Mushroom, which is supposed to be a flat wrinkled disk type. Am very curious to see how hot it is. (I like heat, but not so hot I can't taste the flavor any more.)

Well...I'll give you a visual of what I did....tonight actually.
I've been wanting to pick this thing for a month. This is the only pepper this plant has produced. All the other blossoms have fallen off, and now it doesn't have anything.

Here's the pepper on the plant last Sunday (about 4 days ago).


Here's one side...mostly green...(less sun exposure)


Here's the other side (more sun exposure)....maybe on it's way to yellow? red?....and eventually in my belly!


You can see all my patio tomatoes with blossom end rot in the background. And our grape tomatoes that are kickin' butt. We've probably harvest 50 of those suckers, and there's probably 50 more on the plant! And it's in a pot in miracle gro soil .....

My pepper plants didn't get that huge or bushy. I was thinking of going for two per SF next year.

That looks really tastey and I think it was fine to pick it. I've picked them at all different stages and they keep pretty well. I do believe that will turn for you and soon.

My hot peppers are a bit of a mystery to me as well. I've yet to produce a jalepeno yet and that plant keeps getting bigger, but I picked a hungarian wax that the tag said woulud turn red when mature, however the photo on the tag was long and yellow, and the description said "long yellow pepper turns red when mature". I picked it and tasted it and it was HOT at the membrane. I used half in my recipe that called for a jalepeno, and it was very mildly "hot". I should have used the whole thing once I deseeded it and I assume it would be tad more hot if I left it out there to get angry on the vine, but man, it just seemed like it needed to be eaten. They get to their max length and don't really grow anymore. When that happens, ya just want to pluck it. (at least *I* do)

Chopper wrote:My pepper plants didn't get that huge or bushy. I was thinking of going for two per SF next year.

That's the only plant of mine that did....and it was a Home Depot $2.99 special.

All the pepper plants I started from seed are MUCH smaller.

Visual...(Home Depot pepper plant on the right. All the others were from seed. The square that is doubled-up is a jalepeno and a pepperochini. The other two on the left are sweet peppers.)


I doubled-up two peppers in a 12" pot in Miracle Gro soil. One is kickin' butt...the other, not so much.

Seems to be very hit or miss...

L&K-IL wrote:

Chopper wrote:My pepper plants didn't get that huge or bushy. I was thinking of going for two per SF next year.

That's the only plant of mine that did....and it was a Home Depot $2.99 special.

All the pepper plants I started from seed are MUCH smaller.

Visual...(Home Depot pepper plant on the right. All the others were from seed. The square that is doubled-up is a jalepeno and a pepperochini. The other two on the left are sweet peppers.)


I doubled-up two peppers in a 12" pot in Miracle Gro soil. One is kickin' butt...the other, not so much.

Seems to be very hit or miss...

That's about what mine look like. Don't you think you could fit 2 of those per square?

Chopper wrote:

L&K-IL wrote:

Chopper wrote:My pepper plants didn't get that huge or bushy. I was thinking of going for two per SF next year.

That's the only plant of mine that did....and it was a Home Depot $2.99 special.

All the pepper plants I started from seed are MUCH smaller.

Visual...(Home Depot pepper plant on the right. All the others were from seed. The square that is doubled-up is a jalepeno and a pepperochini. The other two on the left are sweet peppers.)


I doubled-up two peppers in a 12" pot in Miracle Gro soil. One is kickin' butt...the other, not so much.

Seems to be very hit or miss...

That's about what mine look like. Don't you think you could fit 2 of those per square?

Easily!....but my plan next year is no pepper plants from seeds, I think. I'm just going to buy all the pepper plants. One pepper from 9 plants (hot a sweet combined) is not what I anticipated.