When are my chilli peppers ripe? This is one of the most common questions we receive here at The Chilli King. In this post we will give you some tips to help you pick your chillies at the right time. This will enable you to maximise both the flavour and yield of your chilli crop.
As a general rule you can usually eat chillies at any stage of ripeness. Most varieties tend to ripen from green to dark brown to red/orange/yellow. Perhaps the best known example is the humble jalapeno which most people either think of as either red or green. In fact these are the same variety of Jalapeno, just at different stages of ripeness.
The fruit of chillies can generally be eaten at any stage of the ripening process however the flavour will change as the ripening process occurs. Green fruit tend to be slightly bitter. As they ripen further to orange/red they tend to sweeten in taste.
There are no set rules and every chilli variety is different so be warned of generalisations. The best way to know when your fruit are ready to ripen is to try and taste them at different stages. For example I tend to pick jalapenos red if i’m using them fresh but for pickling I find the taste is better when they are green.
When your chillies are ripe it is definitely worth you while picking them as opposed to leaving them on the plant. The more peppers you pick, the more the plant will direct it’s energy to set or ripen additional fruit. If you have a surplus of peppers do not leave them on the plant. Instead pick them and look at different ways to preserve and store your chilli crop.
Chillies can also be harvested a little early and they will continue to ripen after they have been removed from the plant. Place the pods in a cool dark place to help them ripen off the plant. Try not to leave them more than 2-3 days. If you are not going to eat them fresh you should consider drying, picking or freezing them.
During the growing season it can sometimes seem that your chillies take an age to ripen. To help speed up the ripening process you should try and supply the plants with a consistent amount of heat and light. Ideally a greenhouse will provide the optimum conditions, if you don’t have one a small plastic greenhouse will certainly help.
I chop and freeze chilli’s, garlic, ginger & onion.
I spread the zapped (ie chopped in a small blender) item on re-useable baking parchment, on a tray, and freeze for a few hours.
Then, I quickly transfer to a used butter/margarine tub, and return to the freezer.
This gives me free-flow chillies etc, so I can just scoop-out whatever quantity I need.
If you want, you can scour the lid of the tub using a brillo pad, then use a permanent marker to ID and date the contents.
The permanent marker I use can be cleaned off, so you can use the tub again 😉
Hi all. We bought a Quaker parrot for our son. A favorite food of the parrot family are dried chilies, so just out of curiosity i decided to plant a few seeds. Low and behold we now have chilies coming out of our ears. We grow them indoors and not only the parrot eats them but we do too.
Great fun
Hi. love your site, I have a fatalli chilli plant with like 50 green chillis on, in a little polly tunnel unheated, I have had 5 yellow ripe chillis from it already, they are lovelly heat and taste, I picked a green fatalli and tried it, and it tastes almost exactly as a ripe yellow fatalli, so if these green chillis don’t ripen in the next month, can I freeze/dry them still, and just use as if they were ripe yellow ? do you ever do this yourself, thx
Hi
I live in Switzerland and have just grown Mozambique black eyed chilli with great success on my sun terrace….lots of fruit.not sure what to do with my plant should I leave it outside as we have a harsh winter, will it survive or should I take it indoors.
Thanks
Lee
Lee,
If i were you i would be inclined to take it inside over winter. Check out our articles on overwintering for some more specific advice on getting your plants through the winter.
Hi, we have chilli peppers in our garden it is mid September. They haven’t turned red yet, should I Transplant them into a pot and bring them inside? We live in central Michigan.
Dawn,
If you can get them inside in a sunny spot. Heat and light are key to getting peppers to ripen. Good luck!
Hey there, great website!!
I planted some Jalapeno seeds in late October and as we have had a relatively mild summer here in Melbourne Australia, they havent sprouted up until recently.Considering we are now heading into winter, and the nights are becoming quite cold is there anyway of wintering the seedlings over until summer? Im currently moving the pot around as to give them maximum sun however, as the days get colder im really not sure what to do?
Steven,
Over wintering seedlings is not going to be easy unless you keep them indoors and use some sort of grow lights. Good luck.
I have four chilli plants they all have lovely green chillies on them, but non have ripen yet. The thing is they are all growing outside in pots at the moment.. Should I bring them into the garage now. Or pick them and put into a dish and bring into the house.. or leave outside and see if they ripen. From Chilli Queen ..
Cecilia,
If you can move them inside somewhere where they still get lots of light and can be kept warm. Ideally a south facing windowsill or a conservatory would be best to maximise your ripening!
will chilis grow in Canada?
Matt,
Of course they will. However with you’re cold winters I expect you’ll have to start off by growing under glass in the spring like we do here in the UK.
Hi James,
Have got something noshing away at me scotch bonnets , the plant is in a pot where some of the leaves have been noshed as well , any ideas King ? Tried nibbling one meself-no heat as yet !
They are all green.
Kind Regards
Rob C
Hi Rob,
It’s hard to say without seeing pictures? Is it the fruit or the leaves that are being eaten?
I have a couple Scotch Bonnet plants that I was able to keep over winter last year. This year they have been prolific. However one of them seems to be producing yellow Scotch Bonnets when last year they were red. Is this common for them to change colour and is there a difference in taste as I have not tried one of the yellow ones yet.
Also how many time can a Scotch Bonnet plant be kept over winter?
Wardy,
This sounds strange. Are you sure the yellow pods won’t ripen through to red? Maybe you just missed the in between stage last year?!
Well, my oldest scotch bonnet plant is 5 years old now. I trim the roots every year and re-pot it into fresh compost. If you look after your plants they’ll reward you back!
I have two 3yr old Cayennes that never let me down. Mid Sept and still outside and giving lots of nice chillis. But as soon as I put my Jalopenos outside they died.
That’s a shame. My Jalapenos have done really well outside this year. Maybe you should have hardened them off a bit first (out in the day but bring them in over night for a week or two) so they got time to acclimatise.
Paul,
I grow chillies for fun, not ever having had a taste of one, but my scotch bonnets have been green for a long time. How much longer should I wait for them to turn red, assuming that is the time for picking. They are all in a non heated green house, but are watered every day.
Your valuable thoughts would be appreciated.
Mike
Mike,
Sometimes I find ‘under watering’ slightly can be good for chillies – some say it improves the heat levels. Patience is the only thing you can employ in this situations. You’ll find that once one pod starts to ripen, they will all start to turn.Good luck!
Hi there, we have both Jalapeño and scotch bonnets growing and look almost ready. Not bad for first timers yum yum! Gonna make some sauces as well as adding to pizza ect. Anyone ideas pls. (Also thinking of bottling in olive oil).
Try drying your chillies then grinding then with Himalayan rock salt and using it in cooking or at the table.
I have grown some yellow scotch bonnet peppers and I accidentally picked one that was not completely ripe. Will it continue to finish ripening on its own?
Jeremy,
It should continue to ripen a little before it starts to spoil. Try and keep it in a cool dry place to prolong it’s shelf life!
Good site. I currently have scotch bonnets, ghosts, nagas, morugas and satans kiss growing. They weren’t producing fruit only flowers. Took a small fine paintbrush to each flower to help then pollinate (some say they should produce themselves but this had always helped me) and with in a week they are fruiting like mad.
i have grown some scotch bonnets when are they ready to pick some of them are large they are still green should i wait till they change colour
Paul,
It can seem to take forever for them to ripen. You can try them green but they’ll be better with more flavour if you wait for them to ripen fully.
Hello guys and girls. Im new to growing chillis my plant has started to fruit but im not sure what type i have. My plant is about 25 30 cm tall producing white flowers, then fruits. The chilis are dark green And about 2 or 3 cm long but quite chunky ? Any idears people? Also is there any way to put A pic up for you? Cheers chris
They sound like maybe Jalapeno peppers?
Great site! I’m completely new to growing chilies and have one small apache plant which seems to be very happy in the garden! It’s only about 20cm high and fruiting like mad! Lots of green chilies about 4cm in length! How big do they get and when is best to harvest them? Many thanks
Faye,
Glad you have caught the cilli bug! Apaches tend to grow to about 3-5cm n length and are ripe once they’ve turned red. Apache chilli plants are great in that they crop heavily, grow quickly and put up with the British climate really well.
Happy growing!
thanks first time i’ve grown finger green chillies they are just coming out looking foward to tasting them.mmmmmmmmmmmm
Hi, great site, thank you, very useful and helpful. This is the first year of my Royal Black Chillies fruiting, (window sill in the UK) and I’m not so worried about the colour (presume black or turning fine) when they are ready but should they come away easily when ripe? Thanks in anticipation.
Hi Brie,
Glad you like the site and find it helpful. With most varieties of chillies you’ll need to snip the fruit off when ripe.
perfect, thanks.
I bought a chilli plant in the supermarket and have been keeping it inside on a window sill in the UK. There was no variety specified but I’ve identified it as most likely a bird’s eye plant, except the chillies grow upwards. Since i brought it home i have harvested some chillies that were already on it and it has flowered with new chillies growing successfully, however I’m finding they are turning from green to red when they are still extremely small, some around 1cm long. Is there anything i can do to help them grow to full size before ripening? Thanks for any advice you can offer me.
Maybe it is not a birds eye chilli plant. From the sounds of it you may have a Demon red plant. Check out my recent post on them.
Hi
i have an Enony Fire chilli plant ..the picture that came with it has red and black chillies on it …when and what colour should i pick these …i am hoping to get hot chillies
thanks ..wendy
Wendy – I believe Ebony chillies mature from the black/purple colour through to red. You’re able to eat them at any stage though they’re technically not ripe until they are red. The heat and flavour will probably change as they ripen to try one of each colour and see which you prefer.
I have a few Scotch Bonnet plants that have produced fruit, How do I know when they are ripe? One has been yellow for about 3-4 weeks, is this ripe?
NatteJ – What variety of Bonnets are you growing? Most ripen through to red but you can eat them when yellow.
I am growing a few varieties of Chillies in my garden in Durban South Africa. This is the first time I have grown chillies and they sure take a while to ripen. Planted seeds in July and first chilli to begin ripening was December.
Biggest problem I have is pests eating the leaves and the newly formed flowers. This is really stunted the growth of some of my plants.
yup, pests like aphids sure can ruin a plant if they are left to do too much damage. one simple remedy is to try spraying the infected plants with a weak soapy solution – aphids hate this.