Sweet Red peppers

[Martina]

O.K. so my peppers are nice and big on the plant but they have not gone red and are still pretty hard. Can I / Should I take them off the plant and let them mature the rest of the way on a table where they may get more sunshine hours (it has been an awfully overcast summer so far). I thinking this might help them turn red and minimise the likelihood they will rot on the plant before getting ripe and also allow more "energy" to go to the smaller peppers coming in after these big ones.

What do you think?

Thanks for your help.
Martina

[Millymollymandy]

I'd leave them on the plant to mature - well that IS what I do. I don't actually know if they will change colour once picked. If they are still hard they aren't even mature enough to eat green really. Anyway it isn't even mid August yet so unless your winter arrives really early then there's plenty of growing season yet to go.

I have a problem as I bought a black pepper - so how am I supposed to know when it is ripe? It doesn't change colour!

[Odsox]

I'd leave them on the plant as well, but I do agree they seem to take AGES to turn red, or yellow, or orange, or purple, or whatever colour you grow.
You can of course eat them green which is what we do, and freeze a mixture of green, red & yellow for the winter.

[Martina]

I'd leave them on the plant to mature - well that IS what I do. I don't actually know if they will change colour once picked. If they are still hard they aren't even mature enough to eat green really. Anyway it isn't even mid August yet so unless your winter arrives really early then there's plenty of growing season yet to go.

I have a problem as I bought a black pepper - so how am I supposed to know when it is ripe? It doesn't change colour!

Thanks for for the advise MMM.

Black Pepper? Is that so you can dehydrate and use, like in a mill? Or am I way out of touch? If not, I am guessing that you would wait until they are no longer hard. But that's just a huge guess/suggestion. I am way out of my league here.

Regards,
Martina

[Martina]

I'd leave them on the plant as well, but I do agree they seem to take AGES to turn red, or yellow, or orange, or purple, or whatever colour you grow.
You can of course eat them green which is what we do, and freeze a mixture of green, red & yellow for the winter.

Okay. So that's two votes for leave them alone. You guys win.
I'll leave them at let 'em do what they're gonna do.

Thanks Odsox.
Martina

[Millymollymandy]

Sorry Martina, I hadn't realised how ambigous that sounded! No I mean a black coloured sweet pepper, it's called 'Violet de Mavras' or something similar. But the fruits start green then turn black when they are tiny so I've no real way of knowing when they are actually sweet and ripe!

[Martina]

Sorry Martina, I hadn't realised how ambigous that sounded! No I mean a black coloured sweet pepper, it's called 'Violet de Mavras' or something similar. But the fruits start green then turn black when they are tiny so I've no real way of knowing when they are actually sweet and ripe!

Totally O.K. I am always finding it difficult to figure out things like tone/intent on internet postings, so I compulsively preview my own posts about three times before hitting the "submit" button Just a little paranoid, I guess. Well since that is some sort of exotic sweet pepper, I guess the best bet would be googling the darn thing and see what shows up .

Good Luck, MMM!

Martina

[Millymollymandy]

Guess what, the first black one is now turning a mottled greeny/red colour! I have no idea what colour it intends to be but I think I can safely say that it is actually ripening!!!

Good thinking Martina, I will go and google it. I only bought it because I'd never heard of or seen black/violet peppers before!

Edit: http://www.bakker.fr/r_17533-005/Graine ... ide-F1.htm - as you are Canadian you can probably read French but anyway it says they become more and more red as they ripen.....

[Martina]

That is sooo cool looking. From black to fire engine red. I am definitely going to look out for them when I am buying my seeds/plants next year. Do you have an idea of what they taste like? Let us know what you do with them.


Have a nice weekend,
Martina

[Millymollymandy]

Well, another site said they were mature when they were violet/black so I picked the one that was changing colour and I wouldn't say it was particularly nice to eat raw - still a bit bitter but the reddish bit was sweet. The skin is thick though. So I'm leaving them to change to red (hopefully!). My three orange peppers (yes I got a whole 3 peppers on that plant which won't even cover what it cost to buy it as a little plant from the garden centre ) are starting to go from green to having a little hint of orange now - definitely leaving them to change colour!

I could have bought 6 'ordinary' green-turns-red peppers for the price I paid for those 2 individual plants, but I was tempted by the interesting colours!

[Millymollymandy]

So Martina, how did the peppers go?

My orange ones were absolutely delicious, so sweet and the best I've ever tasted.

Still got violet ones turning red but I'm watching the weather forecast in case of cold weather (warm and humid at the moment, so we're OK!), but they'll be edible as they are. Not as good as the orange ones.

Bit of a slow process, growing peppers!

[Martina]

So Martina, how did the peppers go?

My orange ones were absolutely delicious, so sweet and the best I've ever tasted.

Still got violet ones turning red but I'm watching the weather forecast in case of cold weather (warm and humid at the moment, so we're OK!), but they'll be edible as they are. Not as good as the orange ones.

Bit of a slow process, growing peppers!

It sounds like your peppers turned out really well. Gosh your lucky to have such a long growing season over there. I am most envious of you. I am glad the experiemental violent ones turned out well. I suppose, like peppers in general, you can eat them at whatever stage of ripeness you like. From what I gather there is no real right or wrong time to eat them, as long as you enjoy the firmness and flavour, it's irrelevant. I personally like a bit of crunch in my peppers and eating them raw is my favourite way to consume them. Let me know just how long you can get out of your pepper season. By the sounds of it, you will have them well into the end of the year---Lucky girl!

As for me, well I only got one real red pepper. The rest I had to take off whilst still green because we have had a few cold snaps and they didn't look like they would last. They were going "wrinkly" on the plant. They were nice though. The green one only gave me a couple of peppers. I suspect because of the lousy wet, overcast conditions. So I am definitely going to try again next year. I figure if I got 2 or 3 from a plant in a bad season, perhaps next year I will do better if the weather co-operates. All in all, I just enjoyed going out on to my balcony and getting my ingredients, instead of lining up at the grocery store. Even though I still had to go to the store, as I don't grow enough to be self sustaining, having just the makings of a salad or some of the ingredients for stuff like soup or tomato sauce at my fingers and grown by me, was a treat. I also enjoyed bring some of the stuff I grew or made out to family and friends. People were geniunely surprised when you show up with something they can add to their salad that came from an urban balcony. They got as much of a kick out of it as I did.


It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada, so it is traditionally the weekend people use to do things like clean up their yard and get it ready for the winter. I will be doing that with the pots I had my annuals in. My berry plants I will leave for now as it is not yet consistantly cold enough to wrap them for the winter. I also have a major project I am going to attempt this weekend. But for that I will keep you guessing. I will put up a thread about it when I get under way and, most likely, need advise/support.

Talk to you soon,
Martina

[Millymollymandy]

II am glad the experiemental violent ones turned out well.

Sorry Martina, I had to laugh at that typo! No they didn't bite me!

Our growing season won't last until Xmas (it won't really last very much longer), and there's only 3 peppers left so I'm just hanging on until I see frosty weather forecast then I'll whip them off the plant, if not before. We've been lucky this autumn so far as it's been very mild and no frosts yet.

It's great that you've had so much success with your balcony garden and good luck for next year!

[Martina]

II am glad the experiemental violent ones turned out well.

Sorry Martina, I had to laugh at that typo! No they didn't bite me!

Our growing season won't last until Xmas (it won't really last very much longer), and there's only 3 peppers left so I'm just hanging on until I see frosty weather forecast then I'll whip them off the plant, if not before. We've been lucky this autumn so far as it's been very mild and no frosts yet.

It's great that you've had so much success with your balcony garden and good luck for next year!

Thanks MMM. I am already looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, take care and....Watch out for the VIOLENT peppers.

Martina