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Ripening Times of Various chinense

AjarnV

AjarnV

I've got orange and Red Costa Rican Habaneros and I've noticed the reds take longer to ripen than the orange.
In your experience is there a significant difference in the various Habs; red, orange, and chocolate and their ripening times? Cheers.

Edit: I've also got chocolate Habs coming on line.
 
I would also like to know the ripening time of Bhut jolokias? I have a plant with some pods that are new changing color to orange/red. I am out of the country so I need to be able to relate this information to the person caring for my plants.
 
AjarnV said:
I've got orange and Red Costa Rican Habaneros and I've noticed the reds take longer to ripen than the orange.
In your experience is there a significant difference in the various Habs; red, orange, and chocolate and their ripening times? Cheers.

Edit: I've also got chocolate Habs coming on line.
Click to expand...

Choc habs seem to take the longest to ripen, at least that's how it's played out for me this year.


Emeoba69 said:
I would also like to know the ripening time of Bhut jolokias? I have a plant with some pods that are new changing color to orange/red. I am out of the country so I need to be able to relate this information to the person caring for my plants.
Click to expand...


I pick them when they are about 80 - 85% orange/red and then they typically take another day or two inside to ripen fully. If I can avoid it I never let anything ripen 100% on the plant, I like to get em' right before. my jolokias tend to ripen at 45 - 60 days (usually a lot closer to 60) after the pods form.
 
Well my Caribbean Red Habs seem to be taking FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My chocolate habs(thanks Sean) are beating these lately. Everything else seem to be taking the normal times. The white habs are right on par with the orange habs if not a tad quicker. Some of my 7 pod's have been dark green for about 2 weeks. Waiting for some blushing
 
ThePepperGrowingMan said:
Choc habs seem to take the longest to ripen, at least that's how it's played out for me this year.





I pick them when they are about 80 - 85% orange/red and then they typically take another day or two inside to ripen fully. If I can avoid it I never let anything ripen 100% on the plant, I like to get em' right before. my jolokias tend to ripen at 45 - 60 days (usually a lot closer to 60) after the pods form.
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Really, why is that?
 
I remember reading somewhere around here that heat is at it's peak just as the pepper starts to turn, after that, some capsaicin is metabolized into sugar.
 
AjarnV said:
Really, why is that?
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charlesNYC said:
I remember reading somewhere around here that heat is at it's peak just as the pepper starts to turn, after that, some capsaicin is metabolized into sugar.
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There's that and I tend to leave them laying around a few days. If they ripen outside and I do that they tend to get mushy faster. It's probably just more my preference/habit than anything else, I suppose ripening on the plant works just as well.
 
ThePepperGrowingMan said:
There's that and I tend to leave them laying around a few days. If they ripen outside and I do that they tend to get mushy faster. It's probably just more my preference/habit than anything else, I suppose ripening on the plant works just as well.
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Well, that was quick, LOL. Thanks. I've been letting mine ripen on the plant. It seems to me that either way the ripening process goes on even after picking the fruit so I wonder if it really matters? Cheers.
 
I've found that my yellow and orange C. Chinese were on average ready much faster than my reds. This season was very strange though. It could be that my yellow and orange did better in cool weather.
 
I have some "Aji Chombo" which is pretty much a Costa Rica Red (it's thick walled like a Jalapeno, Red Habanero type with long-ish pods that turn red from light green immature pods).

Out of all of my C. Chinense's, when they first start to change colors, it takes 2x as long to reach deepest color. It never reaches a shade of orange, it goes red in blotches which start to pop up as a Chocolate color and can hang around like that with little change for days. After that, the blotches start to darken and connect which eventually forms a dark red pod. It has to be the oddest pepper I have grown so far, but they have an overpowering fruity aroma and very strong flavor with Orange Habanero heat. Very good for cooking with directly (cut up raw into pan with meats). The ripen time from set to first color change is average, probably a bit faster than my Caribbean Reds (which take a while).

My quickest ripen time from set to first color change has to be the Congo Trinidad (and the fastest to grow to full size). The quickest from first signs of color change to deepest color has to be my Orange Habaneros.
 
AjarnV said:
Well, that was quick, LOL. Thanks. I've been letting mine ripen on the plant. It seems to me that either way the ripening process goes on even after picking the fruit so I wonder if it really matters? Cheers.
Click to expand...

I tend to pick the ones that turn shades (like Congo's) when they reach full color of the first shade (like dark orange for Congos) and Caribbean Reds which turn light red in the first shade and Bih's which also turn a light red color on the first shade. I put them in plastic bins, with the least ripe on the bottom and most ripe at the top. They will ripen in the bins to fully dark red in a matter of days and after that I either use some for cooking or sauce making, or mostly just freeze them. Any pods that start to soften get eaten or go in the freezer right away.

Any pepper will ripen off the plant pretty well, as long as they have started to ripen on the plant (best if they reach a full shade first) and are placed in bins in bunches to capitalize on the ethylene gas released by the other pods. Also I find that a little light helps, placing them in the dark tends to slow ripening down.
 
I pick in various stages since I usually don't get a chance to harvest every day. I also try to keep picked pods fairly cool and fairly dark so they don't rot as fast. Ethelene gas is the ripening gas as well as the rotting gas so I try to keep peppers away from any closed-in environment to maximixe shelf life
 
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