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Leaving ripe pods on plants.

HotandHeavy

HotandHeavy

Hi everyone.  :)
 
Is it okay to leave ripe pods on the plant for a while? Do they dry on plant if you leave them? Are there reasons for and/or against doing this? Thanks in advance!
 
The plant won't make more pods while they're on, and when I did it it didn't dry them. They just stay fresh until they drop and rot. They will last for a while, but I wouldn't do it if I have somewhere to put them.
 
Thanks! Another question, this one may be dumb. Is there a difference between plucking the pods off or cutting them off with scissors?
 
To me theres no point in over ripening pods. If you leave them on the plant long enough thry will shrivel up and dry out
 
I'll fess up to the origin of the question. I'm colourblind, so I'm not overly confident in identifying the ripeness of my peppers. I'm gathering that leaving them on a few extra days to be sure they are finished isn't that big of a deal but I really don't want to be letting it go longer than that.
 
HotandHeavy said:
I'll fess up to the origin of the question. I'm colourblind, so I'm not overly confident in identifying the ripeness of my peppers. I'm gathering that leaving them on a few extra days to be sure they are finished isn't that big of a deal but I really don't want to be letting it go longer than that.
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You should be fine. If you really need to, take a picture of the peppers and run it through a color inverting filter. I take it you have red/green problems, but the inverse of both should be different with the filter on.
 
cruzzfish said:
Pepper stems are really tough, so another part of the branch very well could break before the stem does. Also, if it peels instead of snapping off then the plant can get infected.
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I've made the mistake of trying to pull pods off with my hands.  Once, I had to pull so hard that I accidentally pulled off an adjoining stem which had some immature pods.  Since then it has always been scissors.
 
dragon49 said:
I've made the mistake of trying to pull pods off with my hands.  Once, I had to pull so hard that I accidentally pulled off an adjoining stem which had some immature pods.  Since then it has always been scissors.
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I use both hand when I don't have scissors. Twist it then use fingernails to cut.
 
With regard to plucking versus cutting; my method is this:
 
I will grasp the pod in question and gently pull upward. The the pod stem should seperate cleanly and easily from the node. If it does not separate easily with a clean 'snap', I will wait a day or two and try again.
 
I have never tried using scissors, therefore I cannot comment on that metod, although it should work.
 
cruzzfish said:
I use both hand when I don't have scissors. Twist it then use fingernails to cut.
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I had to try a different technique earlier.  Some pods were in places making them uncomfortable to get at with scissors, so I held the back of the stem with my thumb and index finger and cut it with my thumbnail by moving it side to side.  This was a pain, but much safer than trying to pull it off.
 
dragon49 said:
I had to try a different technique earlier.  Some pods were in places making them uncomfortable to get at with scissors, so I held the back of the stem with my thumb and index finger and cut it with my thumbnail by moving it side to side.  This was a pain, but much safer than trying to pull it off.
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Not as much of a pain as if you cut the pepper with your thumbnail. That sounds like a bad place to get capsaicin.
 
cruzzfish said:
Not as much of a pain as if you cut the pepper with your thumbnail. That sounds like a bad place to get capsaicin.
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The pods that I were picking were <500,000 SHU.  I can handle that kind of juice no problem :) :)
 
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