Ripening Chillies

[237SJ]

I`ve got two pots of chilli plants which are Hot Prairie Red. Except that they`re not red, they`re pale green and have been for at least a fortnight. Do some chillies take ages to ripen? I`ve only grown Apache before. I`ve been feeding them with tomato plant food. Should I give them a bit longer or pick them?

[kylesmum]

I've had the same thought on my *still* green 'red sweet pepper chillis' :)

They apparently don't ripen until the autumn. In fact as I was analysing them last night I noticed more buds and flowers, so definitely a work in progress !!

[Ratty2E]

I have loads in the green house and they are all green, but they do usually take a while to go red, long after the tomatoes.

[Booldawg]

me too I have a Moruga Scorpion still green. I know with tomatoes I was told if you put some red material (cloth, sheet of plastic - whatever) to relflect the sunlight back onto the plant it will speed up the ripening process. Tricking nature into thinking other fruits around are ripening too.

Seemed to work for the tomato plants.

[237SJ]

Thanks for advice. The funny thing is, there is just a lone chilli that has turned red on each plant. I`ll keep an eye on them and if I think they are going to shrivel, I`ll pick them.