If you wait long enough, the peppers will turn red. You can pick peppers at
any stage and eat them. Your best bet is to just pick one and try it. If
it's sweet tasting, then you know you've got a sweet, mild pepper. If it's
hot, then enjoy. You can also freeze peppers whole. I've grown so many
different types of hot and sweet peppers to use in canning salsa. I always
end up with extra. I ziploc them in freezer bags and use them in chili or
stir fries throughout the winter months. This year I only grew cayenne,
green bell, and jalapeno. I moved last fall and didn't have time to do lots
of different ones. Even if I pick a small cayenne or jalapeno, they are
still hot tasting.

Hope this answers your question.

Penny
Zone 7b - North Carolina
"Bobbett" wrote in message
...
I bought what I *thought* was a cayenne pepper plant from a nursery
earlier this season. I'm in zone 6 (NJ). The plant *finally* produced
some peppers, but they're still green and getting bigger every day!
Right now they're almost 9" long. I doubt very much these are (red)
cayenne peppers. Since they're probably not going to change from green
to red, how will I know when they're ripe to pick?

tia, Bobbett
--
Third star to the right and straight on 'til mid-afternoon...