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How Long Before Picking

OROZCONLECHE

OROZCONLECHE

How Long do You Guys Normally Leave the Pods Hanging? I Mean Like after The Pod has Reach its full Color all Around, DO You Guys Keep the Pods a few more days?
Do the Pods Get Hotter the Longer You Leave Them Hanging? I Want Personal Preference Ideas
 
I usually pick as I need them. Some varieties will start to dry out pretty quickly if left on the plant too long. My Apaches do that, but many will remain firm for weeks on the plant after ripening. Again, some varieties will become hotter after ripening, and some get milder. My Aribibi Gusano and CGN21500 are both a little milder than when I tried them just before ripening. However, this could be incidental, since pods vary in heat, sometimes drastically, even on the same plant. I can tell you this for certain, however, that they will get sweeter the longer you leave them on the plant once they turn their final color.
 
Agreed with Hendrix. I usually try to pick most chinese as soon as they are ripe. I have hot lemons that can stay on the plant forever it seems and they will still be crisp. It all depends on how they are getting used I guess for me. Others could be different.
 
Depends on variety. Some pods I have to pick before fully ripe because otherwise they split and rot, while others can remain on the plant quite long after ripening.
 
Agreed, Potawie! I have noticed that my Chenzos tend to split more than others, which hardly ever do. I had a few Red Aribibi Gusano Hybrids that split, as well as a couple Red Biquinhos, too. Overall, though, most tend to hold up after ripe.
 
I try to leave mine on a day or two into full ripeness because I enjoy the sweetness with the heat. However, if they split I pull them the same day and they go in the pot for dinner that night. I hate letting them go to waste, so I try to catch the split ones before they have a chance to turn. The splitting is usually worst after a big storm. They absorb too much water and burst. I've lost a few watermelons this way as well. Crying shame.
 
Depends on time of year, free time I have, the use for the peppers, etc.

Early in season I'm itching for fresh peppers so they get plucked as soon as fully ripe. Later in the season I can't be spending multiple times a week to check every plant for a new ripe pod so they are harvested and processed in bunches appropriate for the use whether I'm freezing a half gallon bag full or making X amount of hot sauce, etc.

Sometimes I don't even wait for a full ripe color because some plants have so many pods that leaving them would break branches if it were to rain or get windy. Other times I'll pick them as I need for cooking, or to offload some to neighbors when I see I'm going to have more than I need but know that no one neighbor has any use for dozens at a time.

Otherwise, if it weren't for these factors I would leave every pod on the plant until they start to get a slight bit softer as I find the flavor more developed at that point, BUT if you wait that long to pick them then their shelf life before rotting isn't very long, usually less than a week.
 
Alright Thanks for The Answers Ill Will Pick Them as They are Easy to Pull out then, and leave some long enough for seed Collection.
 
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