Will Ghost Peppers ripen off the Plant?

If you have to pick your hot peppers early – including Ghost Peppers or the Yellow Carolina Reapers or Habaneros – due to impending cold weather, don't worry! Often, many peppers do continue to ripen on their own on the counter after being picked. It can take a week or so, but it's possible if the peppers are close enough to ripe when picked. Check them to make sure they aren't getting soft (you don't want moldy insides!) Often, peppers picked at the end of the season will ripen to their final color in a few days at room temperature on a countertop or bowl. 

Ideally, of course it's best to leave them on the plant until they turn their final color, but sometimes you have to pick if snow or hard frosts are in the forecast. 

This Yellow Carolina Reaper, shown above, was totally green when we picked it before an early snowstorm. It was likely close to getting ripe, but the early cold cut off the opportunity for it to stay on the plant. We thought it would just stay green, but over the week it turned completely yellow, starting with the shoulders, and then working it's way down to the tail. Check out the final yellow color below, we ended up drying it in our dehydrator for future salsa use. When cutting it, it had a juicy sweet spicy aroma, so despite ripening fully off the vine, it still has the burning heat and flavor we were hoping for! 

Got Green Green Chile?
With New Mexican Green Chile varieties, don't count on the green pods turning red after picking. A few may if they are close enough to ripe, but after picking green chile doesn't ripen much more.  So we don't advise trying to dry green chile, or make Ristras from green pods (use only red, mature pods), as most green pods may not be mature enough to turn red, and these green chile will instead shrivel and turn whitish – not a pretty sight! It's best to use green chile for roasting! 

You can also pick peppers early by cutting the stems long enough to place in a bucket with water. Trim all the excess branches and leaves, and watch the peppers ripen on the vine indoors. 

Growing peppers in containers or pots is a great way to grow in short-season climates so that you can easily move them indoors or to a protected location if cold weather, frost or snow is expected. Most peppers don't like temperatures below 50˚F, so it's wise to move them indoors if you have cold nights in the spring or fall. And, if a frost is expected, all peppers will suffer and perish under 32˚ F – so growing peppers in pots allows you to move them indoors to a warmer location to spare them from an early demise.

Here are our favorite hot peppers to grow in containers »

Green chile peppers can still taste good in hot sauces or dried and used as powder. In fact, green chiles and green peppers are often eaten this way. Most peppers will eventually turn red (or the color of their full ripened state, including whites, yellows, oranges, reds, purples, browns!) Colored peppers that are picked green won't have the full normal ripe flavor as if it ripened on the plant, but they usually still have plenty of heat and enough flavor that we always use them up! If you're picking peppers at the end of the season, and they've been on the plant for several weeks, they are likely close to ripe and full of flavor, so don't despair!