pointer80
Senior Member
Posts: 233
Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2013 1:50 pm
Location: northern Michigan

leaving peppers on until it frost?

Hello all, I was wondering can I leave my pwppwrs on the plant until it frost and then pick them or will they be ruined? Thanks all

PaulF
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Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:34 pm
Location: Brownville, Ne

I pick as many as are on the plants just before frost, but if it a light frost, the next day is OK. Pepper plants seem to be very tender, but the fruit can take a little cold. If a hard freeze is coming, I like to strip the plants.

pepperhead212
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Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2014 1:52 pm
Location: Woodbury NJ Zone 7a/7b

Depends on the plants. Some peppers I only eat ripe - they just don't taste that good green, or I use them specifically for something where they are dried. Those I just keep picking until they have hints of ripening, when the weather is getting cold. Others, like Thai peppers, I use dried, as well as fresh ripe and green. Those I pick ripe, early on, then dry them. The next crop these peppers usually produce three crops) I harvest ripe, and freeze, enough to hold me through the off season, then dry the rest. The last crop I harvest full sized greens, up to the end of the season. There are always some wasted, but I always have way more than I need!

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applestar
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

What kind of peppers are you growing?

What is your concern? Are they still small? Full sized but green? You want them to be fully matured/colored?

Watery thick walled peppers are more susceptible to frost/freeze damage, thin-walled mature pods with less water in the walls are less likely to sustain damage.

But if you catch them immediately after, early in the morning, then they can be gently rinsed clean, cut up and immediately frozen for using later (or cooked up). Best if you don’t let them thaw out completely and then re-freeze.

Frost can occur above freezing, but degree of freezing temperature reaching your plants depends on lay of the land and how the area is protected. Low-lying or open areas are more likely to get frosted. You would reduce chance of damage by covering with agricultural fleece or even old sheets. Plastic sheeting alone will not protect where they are touching the plant. But if dip into colder freezing temperatures might be predicted before dawn, double covering with fleece/cloth, then plastic sheeting on top will provide greater degree of coverage, and this helps for many crops. Peppers are pretty susceptible to frosty temps though.

I dig up fruit laden medium to thin walled pepper plants that need more time — often the day before frost is expected that night —and put them in the garage under a temporary shoplight set up that stay on 24/7 ...and harvest out of the garage as they color up. If you pot them up in sufficiently large containers, they can even grow tiny fruits to full-term, but most of mine are severely root pruned so can’t support them, only sustain them. Thick walled peppers are harvested as green peppers before frost.

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Gary350
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Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

Many times I have covered pepper plants with a tarp to prevent frost from killing them. Plants live for 2 or 3 more weeks maybe longer until a hard freeze will finally kill them. My peppers continue to grow and do good it usually warms up to 50 or so degrees during the day the cooler weather makes peppers grow much better than hot summer weather. Be sure to pick all your peppers before a hard freeze or all your peppers will be lost.



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