Ready to pick?

[Slimbob]

Okay the first image is from 7/15 the other 2 today. It took 2 weeks to change color and one side is still a dark reddish brown. This is the first pepper from this plant so I cant wait to taste it. So far My growing and eating portfolio includes some choc habs and some other small red pointy pepper(was suppose to be Ghost Pepper) that taste like a bellpepper. Can I pick this now? If so is it ready or should I let it ripen a few more days on the counter to see if the dark red will brighten up a bit? Should I leave it on another week(or longer)? Is my understanding correct in that once I pick this pepper( the first from this plant) it will be inclined to produce new fruit or will it just have more energy for current fruit? Anyone care to put their 2 cents in as to what kind of pepper this might be? Came from home depot possibly a bonnie plant.

 

[FadeToBlack]

I would wait and see if it gets darker in color. No idea what it is unfortunatly.
Also the first pod on the plant might not give an accurate idea of the heat and flavor.
I had Red Savina's and Yellow Scorpions first pods on the plant that had no heat or much flavor.

 

[Dave2000]

It's not finished ripening, will gain some sweetness and fruity flavor by staying on the plant longer. It would gain much of that if picked and left sitting too but then it starts to dry out or rot eventually. I would go ahead and eat it to satisfy your curiosity, remembering those you let ripen more will taste even better.

After the first one as a sample I would leave all the rest on the plant till they are fully ripe, unless the weight of the fruit is bending branches enough that you fear they will break (or if they are dragging the ground).

A lot of people say that picking encourages new blooms (then pods) but I don't always agree with that. My theory is the plant was putting energy into increasing the size of the existing peppers and once it gets to full size, the plant then puts the energy it was using to grow the pod, into more stem growth so it will have a new node for a new bloom, AND into growing the other peppers to their full size faster. I have tons of peppers on plants and they are not slowing in blooming enough to notice, actually they are blooming faster now than ever because every time the stem forks off there are twice as many sites for new blooms.

 

[PepperWhisperer]

Hard to tell from the pics and not knowing what strain the pepper is if they are fully ripe or not but it looks like they could use another week or so on the plant. I agree that the earliest pods sometimes are weaker in heat and flavor. Also, picking one or 2 pods isn't going to make any difference in new flower production. Sometimes if I pick a big batch like 30-40% of all the fruit on a big plant it will show a spike in flower production, but otherwise the plants seem to keep their own schedule and are more sensitive to weather conditions than anything I do to them.