Pepper growing question

[1969912 0]

I have three small pots with Serrano pepper plants outside. A few of the peppers are ~3" long. Anyone know when I should pick them? Or do they fall off when they're done? Thanks.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[Beerlight 0]

I have the same.....cept' 2 pots. 3" maybe 4" is enough. Not long after they'll start to turn red in color. I don't like em red.

[monkycndo 0]

You can pick them any size. If you let them go red, they will be sweeter.

If you want them to be hotter, once it starts bearing peppers, water the plant just enough to keep the leaves from wilting. We used to do that with jalapinos. Those suckers got super hot. Man they were good.

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[warpedskydiver 0]

I pick them after they show the smallest amount of color change, serrano's are at their best when green/ a tinge of color.

[warpedskydiver 0]

The harsher the year, the hotter the pepper.

Nature has a way of keeping the animals from eating all the fruit and seed, especially in a harsh year.

Birds are the exception, they do not feel the heat of the capsaicin.

[1969912 0]

Thanks all.

Since there are a whole bunch of peppers in various stages of growth, I'll just experiment by picking them at varying stages of color. Also have two tomato plants in 5-gallon buckets. Should end up with 30-40 lbs. of tomatoes. Salsa sounds like a plan.

"Once we got to the point where twenty/something's needed a place on the corner that changed the oil in their cars we were doomed . . ."
-NickDG

[monkycndo 0]

When I lived in the upper desert of California, we grew some peppers in our garden. We played with just how hot we could get them by adjusting how much/little water we gave them. Some of the jalapenos were real sweet, others were so hot they were painful. Some of the local farm workers found out about the hot batches we harvested. They loved em. They asked if we could even get them hotter. From then on, we only watered to get just the hot ones. They ended up being our most popular crop.

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