I am pretty new to the whole pepper gardening thing, and especially to actually having my plants survive a year. My chocolate hab plants have about 30-40 pods left on em that are near ripe, but not quite, prolly need 1-2 more days of decent weather, which I am unlikely to see as we are in November now and are dipping into the 30's at night. If I pick em now will they ripen indoors at all? tbh I didnt care much for the taste of em when they were a little green when I tried em but I just dont know at this point if I will hit temps need for a ripen and didnt know if they will fully ripen if picked.
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Pod Picking question
- Thread starter Chiliguana
- Start date
Haven't done this myself as I haven't yet tried my hand at growing peppers (will do it beginning next year). But many people on here talk about picking them and placing them in a paper bag with an apple or a banana. That should help them continue to ripen. Others have also said that if they've begun to ripen that a lot of times they can just be left on the counter and will ripen on their own.
Guess i'll give it a try, its been a miserable year weather wise here and would like to finally get my pods since i've been waiting for em since I planted em in april
i would pick half of them and see for myself
sort of like not putting all of the eggs in one basket
pods that show a hint of ripe coloring are likely to color fully after a few days (whether you pick them or not)
please try to hedge your bet if you think there is a chance of frost
or freeze damage you can move the whole kit and caboodle to
a milder climate like the kitchen or living room
it is ok to cut and run sometimes
i knocked a mostly green pod off the yellow seven plant saturday night,
stepped on it sunday morning and it is nearly all ripe colored here now tuesday
sort of like not putting all of the eggs in one basket
pods that show a hint of ripe coloring are likely to color fully after a few days (whether you pick them or not)
please try to hedge your bet if you think there is a chance of frost
or freeze damage you can move the whole kit and caboodle to
a milder climate like the kitchen or living room
it is ok to cut and run sometimes
i knocked a mostly green pod off the yellow seven plant saturday night,
stepped on it sunday morning and it is nearly all ripe colored here now tuesday
Almost all of the pods are about 97% brown, they just have that little smidge of green thats turning to brown but not quite there yet, but its really nearing that point where we could get a freeze any time now.
Even if they're just starting to turn brown they should ripen up indoors fine. Right before my first frost I picked about 300-400 cayenne pods that were completely green. Only about 50 failed to ripen to red indoors. The grocery store I buy habanero peppers sells their pods green. Almost every one I've bought have ripened indoors without rotting/molding. Good luck!
I harvested all of my Habaneros at green/semi-ripen stage (because of frosts), and the latter became fully ripened in a couple of days (in the fridge)...and the rest...well, they stayed green, but they were very hoooot! 
Hate to say it, but our local WX man says the La Nina will continue. If so, it could mean another extended cool Spring for the NW. We shall see.
Things to defeat La Nina: Upgrade lighting system and indoor grow area so you can start plants earlier, plan on an extra pot up or two. Grow in containers--my theory is the pots absorb heat more readily and of course benefit by being moved to favorable sun angles and locations as needed. A mini green house provides extra storage area come March or April. A cold frame or row cover should help warm things a bit if you're planting in the ground. Overwinter a plant or three.
Sorry a bit off topic...it sounds like your pods will have no problem ripening. I've had some in bags and some on the kitchen counter--the habs are holding up really well and are almost ripe all the way from green. Anything that had partial color has already ripened. Definitely pluck anything prior to a freeze--- Good luck....
