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harvesting When is it time to harvest?

F

Forza1337

Hi there,

I'm new here. If i put this in the wrong section, I am sorry. Feel free to move it to the right section of the forum.
 
 
As said the topic title says, when is it time for me to harvest the plant? This is my first time I grow peppers. I only have 2 plants and just one is doing ok.
Just last week the green fruits started to change to orange. This took over just 24 hours. Now, 1 week later I got 2 peppers which are pretty red by now.
The surface of the pepper is still smooth.

What does that say?
How long do I have to wait with harvesting the red ones?
If I should harvest now, can I consume them immediately? Or should I dry them for a certain period?
 
Oh, and I do not know which pepper this is. I think its a Trinidad Scorpion Red but I do not know for sure.
 
Thanks for reading and I hope somebody can give me some advise. :)
 
 
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The color is usually the best indication of ripeness, but the fully-ripe coloration will vary from variety to variety.  For red chiles, some go from green through an intermediate color (or colors), like you´re seeing with your green>orange>red progression.  Other red pods go from green to red directly, but the red typically starts out fairly pale, and gets darker as it becomes fully ripe.  Personally, i like to let some pods go as long as i can, to get a sense of what their fully ripe color is.  Typically, they hit a ¨plateau¨ n terms of color change once they´re done.  FWIW, not all red chiles are the same; my Nagas never get as dark red as my 7Pot Brains, for example.
 
So yeah, short answer is, pick´m when they´re red.  Longer answer:  leave a few on the vine to see how red they´ll get, and don´t be afraid to educate yourself thru trial and error.  If you pick a pod too early, it won´t be ¨wasted;¨ it will likely still taste good, and it´ll be a learning experience for ya.  Plus, your plant will make more pods anyway...
 
HTH
Rob
 
Bicycle808 said:
The color is usually the best indication of ripeness, but the fully-ripe coloration will vary from variety to variety.  For red chiles, some go from green through an intermediate color (or colors), like you´re seeing with your green>orange>red progression.  Other red pods go from green to red directly, but the red typically starts out fairly pale, and gets darker as it becomes fully ripe.  Personally, i like to let some pods go as long as i can, to get a sense of what their fully ripe color is.  Typically, they hit a ¨plateau¨ n terms of color change once they´re done.  FWIW, not all red chiles are the same; my Nagas never get as dark red as my 7Pot Brains, for example.
 
So yeah, short answer is, pick´m when they´re red.  Longer answer:  leave a few on the vine to see how red they´ll get, and don´t be afraid to educate yourself thru trial and error.  If you pick a pod too early, it won´t be ¨wasted;¨ it will likely still taste good, and it´ll be a learning experience for ya.  Plus, your plant will make more pods anyway...
 
HTH
Rob
Click to expand...
Hi Rob,
 
Thanks for your answer. I appreciate it. I just took  one pepper and taste it a bit. Man man, that was hot. I have another 10 peppers that are turning orange at the moment. I don't think i'll get more out of the plant. I live in the Netherlands, Europe,  and the weather isn't that good anymore now. I also started too late, seeds germinated end of March. After research I found out it's better to start in January. That will be my lesson for next year. I also start a little greenhouse as they now grew in my livingroom and garden. 
 
But as said, weather is starting to turn. Autumn is ahead and I will start again in January, but then better prepared :) I will stay here and hang around a bit and share my trial and error.
 
I went thru a lot of similar stuff; started late and i´ve got someof plants that are finally podding up, but no ripe ones yet, so I´m crossing my fingers, hoping some turn color before the first frost.  I´m in NJ USA, so my climate isn´t too far different from yours.  Definitely starting my supers and other late varieties in January 2018; I can start the annuums and stuff later, of course.
 
But hey, you got these ripe pods on your Scorp already, so you´ve got to look at this as a ¨victory,¨ even if you can improve upon it next year...
 
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