harvesting When to harvest? Red habaneros

[nice.chili]

First time red habanero grower, believe it or not, after growing many other varieties. Anyway the plants have been fruiting and they're just now starting to turn red. Which led me to think: when is the best time to pick them, such that they're perfectly ripe?
 
This could have been answered in a different post, and apologies if so, just point me in that direction. But they're really interesting in the colour change that happens over the space of 2-4 days.
What's the consensus - when a proper "glowing" red, after a few days? Or should they mature a little longer? Or even a little earlier (e.g., to ripen in a bag)?

 

[solid7]

You just pick them when they develop their full color.  Peppers will stay on the plant for a while with color, but eventually, they'll start to wrinkle, and fall off.  Just get them when they're obviously done changing colors.
 
I wouldn't count on a pepper to ripen once it's picked.  They're not tomatoes...

 

[nice.chili]

Thanks solid7 for the advice. Full colour - understood. Pretty much what I expected, but still wanted to check.
 
(In comparison, just because I'm also growing them at the moment, tabasco short yellow do take a good week or a tad longer to come to their full orange/yellow after starting to turn.)

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

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I've never grown red but I see so many people pick when ripe, check out these pix, (1 of this - couple of those - a few of these.) which is fine & dandy but I wait until the plant is loaded with ripe fruit so I get a large quantity that are not softening in the fridge cause they were picked when they looked "ripe", see my yellow hab pic below. It's what I do & I have to keep an eye on 'em if they do start to get soft (Read over ripe.) on the vine. So you might ask why? Gonna make sauce, jam, salsa or a ferment? Usually you need more than 1 or 2....
 
As usual, YMMV, what works for me may not be the best solution for you.
 
 

 
 

I wouldn't count on a pepper to ripen once it's picked. They're not tomatoes...

 
 
Again, YMMV  applies here. I have successfully ripened fruit but they were not picked, they were still on vine, see below. 
 
 

 

 
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[Chorizo857_62J]

I have picked several ones that are fully orange and transitioning to red, and the continue to ripen up while resting indoors on the " Plate of Glory".  This has also been the case with Red Bhuts and others.  You may not have success if you pick them too green, but then just make a green sauce .

 

[Chorizo857_62J]

I have picked several ones that are fully orange and transitioning to red, and the continue to ripen up while resting indoors on the " Plate of Glory".  This has also been the case with Red Bhuts and others.  You may not have success if you pick them too green, but then just make a green sauce .

 

 

[nice.chili]

Thanks also The_NorthEast_ChileMan!
 
Good point regarding purpose, and in a way why I asked. So far I've been picking the other varieties when ready and then freezing. Not perfect for a ferment, but should be good for a cooked hot sauce. And of course general cooking duties.
I'm unlikely to make a fermented sauce out of the red habs - I already have a good couple of jars of such, with chillies sourced from a commercial grower. A jam sounds interesting - I have about 10 peppers ready for picking.
 
BTW - do you have any particular advice for how to get so many fruits on your vines?

 

[Chorizo857_62J]

 

 
Sorry, having PC issues posting pics.  Will get back on that. 
 

 

[Chorizo857_62J]

Thanks also The_NorthEast_ChileMan!
 
Good point regarding purpose, and in a way why I asked. So far I've been picking the other varieties when ready and then freezing. Not perfect for a ferment, but should be good for a cooked hot sauce. And of course general cooking duties.
I'm unlikely to make a fermented sauce out of the red habs - I already have a good couple of jars of such, with chillies sourced from a commercial grower. A jam sounds interesting - I have about 10 peppers ready for picking.
 
BTW - do you have any particular advice for how to get so many fruits on your vines?

 

Your climate will vary, and be different that mine, and others.  My experience here has been that the plants will not produce until they get to a certain size (12-16 inches in height).  Then they will start producing flowers, but many of them will drop.  Then, at some point after much prayer and repentance, the flowers will not drop, but become pods, and develop into beautiful peppers.  In my region, this seems to happen with much fruiting in the fall, when temperatures and precipitation mellow out.  Right now, it is the storm season, and week to week is a gamble.  Last November and December, I was harvesting a bunch of peppers.  This past two months, I have harvested a couple of gallons, just freezing them as I go along.  At some point, we will have to over-winter things and make a bunch of powders and/or sauce. 

 

[nice.chili]

Nice - tomorrow when there's a little sunlight I'll do some picking and then post a picture or two.
(Always conscious of "pics or it didn't happen"...) 

 

[Bicycle808]

I just want to say that I find that chinense will continue to ripen after being picked, so long as they've already begun to change color. Depending on how far along they were when picked, they may or may not get skanked before reaching full ripe coloration. That being said, imo, it is best practice to leave those bitches on the plant until they are fully ripe. Basically, once they have achieved fill ripe color and the color had been stable for a day or two. Like Solid7 said, peppers will get skanky on the plant, too, eventually.

Of course, all of this is a matter of opinion. Some ppl like to pick unripe pods, or partially ripe pods. Apparently, Scotch Bonnets in Jamaica are picked when they are part Yella and part green, and that tends to be how they sell them at the Trenton Farmers Market. But to me, I really want to eat my chinense when they are fully ripe, or at least 90% or so. IMO, that's how you get the best flavor.

 

[solid7]

Again, YMMV  applies here. I have successfully ripened fruit but they were not picked, they were still on vine, see below. `

 
Interesting.  Mind you, I only said that I wouldn't count on them ripening, but I typically only ever picked them early when something went wrong.  I know you fellas run into the end of a season, and sometimes have to pick what you've got.  Do they taste right when you do this?
 
 

I just want to say that I find that chinense will continue to ripen after being picked, so long as they've already begun to change color. 

 
That's always what I've found to be the case with Anuum varieties.  Honestly never tried to post-ripen a picked chinense.

Good to know.

 

[AndyW]

I had a pretty small reaper fall off of my plant green and it's starred to change color a couple days later. I'm almost positive it wasn't close to its final size. I wouldn't count on it, but it seems to happen even then occasionally. It was my knowledge that a lot of people who sell pods pick them still slightly green so they arrive fully ripe though. I personally wait until a few days after they ripen to pick so I can't really say much on how sure of a thing it is, but my bit of experience has confirmed that they continue to ripen.

 

[The_NorthEast_ChileMan]

Thanks also The_NorthEast_ChileMan!

Your're welcome.
 

BTW - do you have any particular advice for how to get so many fruits on your vines?

Back when I got started, mid 90s through early 2000s, like many others here I had to grow everything I could find....EVERYTHING!.....The hottest, the latest great thing, what everyone else was growing, unique shapes and unique species.....LINE 'EM UP!....
 
As I matured (Read gotten older & less capable of maintaining a large garden.) I spent the the New England winters researching how to produce peppers with less. So I found varieties and/or sellers that had peppers that produced higher #'s and greater quantity of fruit. So that's my advice, find peppers that produce and growing methods that help that.  Ain't gonna happen overnight but you're younger than me!
 
Don't know your Hardiness Zones In France but I'm 6a so I'd recommend starting there, how many months does your garden grow?  Oh, personal favorites...
 

 
MALAYSIAN GORONONG
 

 
HABANERO LONG CHOCOLATE
 

HABANERO CHOCOLATE
 
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[Mr. West]

"Colour Breaker Stage:
These are the stages just before the pepper turns to its full genetic colour. Internally the pepper has already started to colour. On the outside one could clearly see blotches of the green fruit starting to colour. In South Africa this is the most common stage to pick coloured peppers as some farms are far away from the national markets. Fruit colouring to the full ripe stage will happen during the transportation process, or if temperatures are low it will colour on the market. Colouring of the fruit will start around the side mostly exposed to the sun. Fruit at this stage should be stored at 16-21°C... In the green stage the pepper is not matured and shelf life is expected to be much longer. Shelf life in the coloured stage is highly vulnerable to the fruit being fully matured... As an indication of when peppers should be harvested in the green stage the firmness of the fruit plays an important role. Coloured peppers are normally harvested at colour break stage. This will give sufficient time to get the product to the desired market depending on the distance etc."
https://www.starkeayres.co.za/com_variety_docs/Sweet-&-Hot-Pepper-Production-Guideline-2014.pdf

I agree with the others: peppers fully ripened on the plant have superior flavor. It seems like growers consistently do this with reds.
Still, I sometimes harvest breakers along with mostly or fully ripe fruit. I might freeze the mature ones and keep those early stage pods around at room temperature for further ripening or eating.
Part of the appeal in picking when partially ripe is to allow the plant to refocus its energy on forming new fruit. When done regularly, this reduces the plant's turnaround time for production.

 

[Chilidude]

I wouldn't count on a pepper to ripen once it's picked.  They're not tomatoes...

 
They do ripen if you pick them up when they are starting to change color to the final one. I often pick those early c.baccatum pods, when they are almost ripe to refocus the plants energy and put them somewhere warm for several days to ripen. But still peppers are not tomatoes in that regard, but they do have pretty good ability to ripen once picked up.

 

[nice.chili]

So here are some photos of one of the plants in question. They won't win any awards but do show the pods at various stages, particularly the last photo.
 
Originally I was giving it a trim now and then, but then had to go away for work for 3 weeks - of course exactly at the growth spurt stage... 
 

  

 

  

 
I checked on the hardiness zone for where I'm at and it's 9/10. Unfortunately I live in an apartment so there are some limitations to what's possible.

 

[Mitzi]

For me, it depends what I want to use them for.  Eating raw - pick very soon after they change colour, so they will still be nice and crisp.  Cooking with them / making sauces - leave them on a few more days so they are properly ripe.  Saving seeds - I leave them on the plant until the pod starts wrinkling / drying, that way I know the seeds are fully mature and should keep better.  (If sowing the seeds from fresh rather than saving them then this probably isn't necessary.)
 
Oh and I do find that pods that are approaching maturity but not yet changing colour will ripen off the plant, but they often go a bit soft or shrivelled at the same time.  We had storms on Saturday which knocked off some unripe pods and they are happily changing colour on a sunny windowsill indoors now.
 
If I need a lot of the same variety for a dish but only one or two are ripe then I stick those in the freezer whilst waiting for the rest to ripen.  

 

[ShowMeDaSauce]

This is the first year i have not been in a hurry to harvest. Pods left ripe on the plant longer are much sweeter. Shelf life will suffer though. I need to harvest today. Some pods have been ripe on the plants for over a week. I did lose a couple bonnets or rather a couple have a soft spot or two. Not a total loss but not very attractive either.

 

[Bicycle808]

This is the first year i have not been in a hurry to harvest. Pods left ripe on the plant longer are much sweeter. Shelf life will suffer though. I need to harvest today. Some pods have been ripe on the plants for over a week. I did lose a couple bonnets or rather a couple have a soft spot or two. Not a total loss but not very attractive either.

If you're just gonna sauce with them or jerk with them, who cares?