Will Bell peppers ripen off the plant?

[PunkRotten]

Hi,

If I have a Red bell pepper and it has just a touch of red on it can I cut it off and will it ripen later? Reason I ask is, I had a bell red on one side and still green on the other. I waited around until the whole fruit was red but by the time that happened one side was over ripe and mushy and the other side was still firm.

[DeborahL]

I'd pick now. I'm nervous about taking chances !

[SPierce]

Not sure, but I'm wondering the same thing! We're moving closer to a frost, and I've got about 12 green peppers I'd like to pick (that will hopefully eventually turn orange)

[rainbowgardener]

I have read that chili peppers will finish ripening off the vine. I don't grow them and don't really know about that. I do know that I got some green chili peppers from my CSA farm this year and dried them in the sun. They dried and didn't turn red. But I think to ripen them you are supposed to put them in a paper bag out of the sun.

But I grow lots of bell peppers and I have never seen them ripen off the vine in any kind of storage. I don't think it works that way for bell peppers, at least not in my experience either.

If it is half red and comes off the stem easily, I would accept that and not try for all red.

[carolyn137]

Hi,

If I have a Red bell pepper and it has just a touch of red on it can I cut it off and will it ripen later? Reason I ask is, I had a bell red on one side and still green on the other. I waited around until the whole fruit was red but by the time that happened one side was over ripe and mushy and the other side was still firm.

I think your use of the word mushy is a key word.

You're in S Cal and there should be plenty of time for the colored sweet bells to ripen up to the proper color, so I think that the one fruit you had had one of the so called soft rot diseases of peppers and that's what made that one side mushy, not that the red side was overripe.

Please let us know about the other fruits on your plant as they ripen up.

Carolyn

[gardenvt]

I ripened dozens of of peppers (Carmen) when they had just a touch of color or no color. I put them in a basket with the ones having the most color on the bottom - in a week, we had ripe peppers. They should be crisp and firm when they come off the vine.

[digitS']

. . . They should be crisp and firm when they come off the vine.

There's the thing.

I often hang Italian sweet peppers in the kitchen near the end of the season. The Italian sweets seem to have a better chance than bells of, at least, getting close to ripening in this climate.

They need to have that blush and they must be sound. I've made mistakes and have to keep a close watch on my pepper ristras to be sure that no decay is taking place.

They should ripen and then move on to drying if they were to have that chance. I don't give them that chance however:

[img]https://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h22/Digit_007/harvest014.jpg[/img]
all of these had a week or so of hanging from a kitchen cabinet knob

Steve

[garden5]

I've never really tried, but observation leads me to to think that they would probably rot before they would turn red.

I know that it takes just about all year (I'm in the north with a short growing season) for them to turn red in the garden. However, I've never really tried.

What you could do is bring them in, eat most, than leave a few to see if they turn.

[PunkRotten]

I pulled 2 big bells off the plant the other day thinking they were green bells and then realized after they were reds. They have been on the table for 3 days or so and I don't see any color changes and they are still pretty firm.


But I hear even green bells will get red too if really ripe. Earlier this year I could not figure out if the green bell was ready. So I left it then found it getting a little red one day so I pulled it. Now I just visualize the size you see them at the store and touch them to see if there is a slight softness to them. I also hear smelling them can give you an idea if they are ready. They usually smell just how they are gonna taste.

[jal_ut]

PunkRotten, it seems others have had a variety of experiences. From my own experience, I don't remember them ripening off the vine. I guess you are going to have to try it then report?

I reckon if I were not expecting frost, I would leave them on the vine until ripe. Most things taste better if ripened on the vine.

[garden5]

UPDATE!!

OK, so I know what I posted above. However, I picked the last of my crop to be ready in case there was a freeze.

Now, 2 bell peppers and 2 banana peppers had a little blush of red to them when I picked them. Now, 4 days later, the 2 bells are almost all red and the 2 bananas are almost all red. In fact, one of the jalapenos is starting the get a little bit of red to it (I've never been able to get a red one).

However, some of the other bells are still green as could be. So, I think that a pepper would have to have at least a little bit of red on it in order to turn after being picked.

Like I thought in my earlier post, though, they are getting soft. So you may want to use them before too long if you are waiting for them to turn red.

I hope this helps you!

[elvinschwab]

YES they ripen,, at least mine do.
Not sure of the variety.
I had to pick them green to avoid the frost and they are doing great on a window sill that does not have direct sun,, maybe better if it did.
They are sweet firm (mostly) and juicy.
I have ton of them now,, hope they all can turn before some go bad.

[garden5]

I thought I would post another update.

The 2 banana peppers are all red now (and soft) and now one of the bells is all red and the other is almost all red.

Even one of the jalapenos turned red, and that's a first for me !!

However, some of the same peppers (bananas, bells, jalapenos) are still all green (or yellow in the case of the bananas).

So, I guess that a pepper has to have reached a certain stage of maturity before it will continue to ripen after it's picked.