• If you need help identifying a pepper, disease, or plant issue, please post in Identification.

harvesting Orange Thai: Colour Progression to Ripe?

Hello

I'm having seemingly good luck this year (UK), and have already harvested maybe 15-20 huge Hangjiao 4/Comet's Tail, and maybe 12-18 Early Jalapeno peppers. I think I possibly started too soon for my location (sowed most seeds on New Years Eve half drunk), but used a heater in my greenhouse for the first time out of necessity. This is the first year (my fourth chili growing season) I wanted some variation of colour, and chose Orange Thai as one from Plant World Seeds. It's a UK company that I have used at least once before, and had great results.

I used the Orange Thai as a kind of first hand experiment to see the difference between pot size, and what effects it has on growth and... wow... the difference between a 10 liter (apologies, my US friends) bucket and a 6 liter pot has been genuinely remarkable to watch; and I am very joyful that I made the decision to do that. But...

Roughly eight chili's in the bucket (low and close to the main stem) are already ripening fast, and have gone from green to red. They are about 5-6 inches long, and when I give them a soft squeeze, they do feel ripe. The plant probably has a good 30+ more green chili's on it, but new buds are seemingly very slow and sporadic, but are forming. Right now I'm thinking snip the red bastids off for "om-nom-nom's", and see what happens. But I'm also thinking... where my glorious orange fruit at? :(

A bit of a TLDR for my question, but I do enjoy reading other peoples infectious enthusiasm, and would not wish to buck the trend. So. Can anyone tell me if I should wait longer? Can a ripening (sp?) cycle go beyond red to orange? I think I remember that some go from red to black, but from red to orange makes no sense to me. :(

Any thoughts or experience would be greatly appreciated. :)

Regards
 
Hi! So nice to hear that you having a great start this season! I haven't grown the orange thai, but from what I read online they are supposed to go from green to orange. No red in between. And I can't recall growing a pepper that went from red to orange, it's usually always the other way around like you say. Would be cool to see some pictures!

If it has been red for over a week, and you can feel it starting to get a bit softer it's usually safe to say that its ripe!
 
I have grown Orange Thai peppers before, and the ones I grew ripened from green to orange. I am thinking your plant must be something other than an Orange Thai. I also don't recall ever seeing a pepper turn from red to orange; if a pod turns red then that is usually the final, ripe color.
 
Back
Top