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ripe

judohero

judohero

first year growing peppers i have some pods on a few of my plants. how do you tell that the pods are ready to be picked? it being my first time growing i did not keep track of what the first rounds of seeds where i have a guess but could be wrong.
 
you wait for them to change a color and then you wait a week or so to see if they change another color if not, them pick if so, wait till it changes that color. one of my plants pods go from green to orange, then take a few weeks to fully change to red
 
What spongey said is a good rule of thumb but i would add that many people prefer certain chiles picked and eaten while still green. It depends on the chile, how you're gonna use it, and your personal preference. Picking them while still green is trickier.
 
each pepper has a different taste at different stages of ripeness...usually when they turn their "final color" they are sweeter because some of the capsaicin is metabolized into sugars...for instance...I love green corked Jalapenos for salads and such but when I make my chipotle from them, I want them red ripe before I smoke them...you just have to try them for yourself and make your decision...I let all of my chinense go full ripe before using them...
 
I pick my Caribbean Red Habs right before they get dark red. Any I then freeze will be red after 2 months or so in the freezer.
 
Some taste better ripe and some green. When ripe they tend to taste sweeter and green a little bitter. I almost always take my peppers to fully riped stage. Though, I noticed that Fatallis taste really good green. When ripening the pods out I wait till they change the said color and then wait a week or two to make sure they are fully ripened especially if your saving the seeds. Some annumm thin wall pods you can leave on the plant and they will dry out, more meatier peppers have to be pulled off as they would be likely to spoil.
 
I'm a trial and error type of person. When I grow a new type of pepper I try one in each colour stage, and figure out which I like best. I tend to like the majority of them when they are full ripe. The only exception that comes to mind is a peruvian one I tried out last year, that had a wonderful smokey flavour when purple that was gone or masked by the heat (not sure which) when it turned red.
 
I have a tough time with birds sometimes, they seem to love my Thai Hots then the other day they nailed a couple Red Datils! I try to let em ripen on the plant if possible.
 
I like to fully ripen Jalapeno to red and corked so I can make chipotles. I also let chinense go red or yellow also. The exception is when I want to stuff Jalapenos. Basically what AJ said.
 
One of the best ways to tell if a green pepper is ready to be picked is to give a gentle squeeze. If it is ready, you will hear a "pop" on the inside.
This works for anything from bells to jalapenos to ajis.
 
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