When do peppers turn red: how long does it take

Peppers are always green to begin with and turn red, orange or yellow when fully ripe. But how long does pepper ripen and are there ways to speed up the ripening process?

Ripening time of peppers

Depending on whether outdoors or Glasshouse is cultivated, the first fruits are red between mid-July and mid-August. The timing may vary variety and size of the fruit vary. Harvesting can continue into October, which depends heavily on the weather, especially the temperatures. It takes about three weeks for a green fruit to turn red.

Tip: Although green fruits are unripe, they can usually be eaten anyway. They have a slightly longer shelf life, but have a tart taste and hardly any aroma.

accelerate maturation

The maturing process

can be accelerated especially in the garden by attracting pollinating insects, even though peppers are self-pollinating. This can be done by planting flowering perennials nearby or a insect hotel in the garden, which would also benefit many other garden plants.

In addition, plants with unripe fruits can be covered with fleece before the first cold nights to speed up their ripening. In the best case scenario, the harvest time can be delayed by two to three weeks, provided the weather cooperates. This allows the fruits to develop their full aroma. This works all the better the further the maturity has already progressed. Under certain conditions, it is also possible to let the peppers ripen later.

let ripen

At the end of the harvest season in early autumn, many fruits are often not yet ready for harvest. Then there is the possibility of letting them ripen. This works all the better the further the maturity has already progressed. However, the fruit will only take on a minimal red colour, as peppers do not belong to the types of vegetables that later ripen. You can do this as follows:

• dig up the entire plant and fruit
• put into pots, continue to care for in the house
• keep warm and bright
• Temperatures constant at 20 degrees
• alternatively allow individual fruits to ripen
• Harvest the fruit, put in a bowl and cover for a few days
• add an apple if you like

Tip: When it comes to ripening, peppers have a hard time and this usually doesn't work with completely green fruits.

Create ideal growing conditions

In order to be able to harvest a lot of red peppers early on, it depends on the one hand correct sowing time on and on the other hand on the right location and needs-based care. Plants should be planted from mid-March for an early harvest prefer in the house and plant out after the ice saints.

• Night temperatures not below five degrees
• planting distances of approx. 50 cm
• warm, sheltered location
• Water regularly, keep soil evenly moist
• Planting under black foil recommended
• keeps heat and moisture in the ground
• fertilize with vegetable fertilizer
• break out the royal bloom

The best conditions are useless if the seed quality is poor. So it is all the more important to pay attention to good quality seed or to grow seeds from your own fruit from the previous year. Incidentally, the seeds of green pods are not yet reproductive or biological. viable. So do you want to Harvest seeds from your own pods, they should be fully mature, i.e. red.

Tip: Peppers should always remain on the plant as long as possible, because that's how they ripen best. Since the fruits are sometimes quite heavy, it is advisable to plant plants from a size of approx. 30 cm to be stabilized with appropriate supports.

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