Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

I've got a lot of green tabasco hot peppers still on my plants.
Surprisingly, it's November first, and we've avoided a frost so far here
in extreme north central Maryland.

So, what can I do to get these peppers to ripen before we do get a
frost? Or is there anything I can do after picking them to get them to
ripen?

--
---
Chris Smolinski
Black Cat Systems
http://www.blackcatsystems.com

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

In article ,
Chris Smolinski wrote:

I've got a lot of green tabasco hot peppers still on my plants.
Surprisingly, it's November first, and we've avoided a frost so far here
in extreme north central Maryland.

So, what can I do to get these peppers to ripen before we do get a
frost? Or is there anything I can do after picking them to get them to
ripen?

I bought some green poblanos the other day from the grocery store.
I put them on my windowsill. 7 days or so later, they turned red. :-)

Cheers!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

Let me see if I remember my high school biology here...

I think if you put them in a brown paper bag, they will ripen quicker.
I seem to remember that the skins of fruits give off methane which acts
as a ripening catalyst for other fruits. The paper bag traps the
methane while allowing them to breath a bit. Warmth (such as a
windowsill) speeds the process.

Leaving them on the vine? Maybe try a brown garden recycling bag at
night? Would protect against frost at least.

Or, I'm just talking out of my backside :)

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

In article .com,
"FriscoSoxFan" wrote:

Let me see if I remember my high school biology here...

I think if you put them in a brown paper bag, they will ripen quicker.
I seem to remember that the skins of fruits give off methane which acts
as a ripening catalyst for other fruits. The paper bag traps the
methane while allowing them to breath a bit. Warmth (such as a
windowsill) speeds the process.

Leaving them on the vine? Maybe try a brown garden recycling bag at
night? Would protect against frost at least.

Or, I'm just talking out of my backside :)


lol No, you are right... I don't think it's methane tho' but I can't
remember the name of the gass off the top of my head. Bannanas tend to
put out more than some fruits so you can put avocados, peppers or
tomatoes in a paper bag with a bannana or two to speed things up.

Cheers!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

How about ethane?

You can pull the plants up and hang them upside down, that'll work
pretty well. Other than more light and heat, not much.

John!


OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
In article .com,
"FriscoSoxFan" wrote:


Let me see if I remember my high school biology here...

I think if you put them in a brown paper bag, they will ripen quicker.
I seem to remember that the skins of fruits give off methane which acts
as a ripening catalyst for other fruits. The paper bag traps the
methane while allowing them to breath a bit. Warmth (such as a
windowsill) speeds the process.

Leaving them on the vine? Maybe try a brown garden recycling bag at
night? Would protect against frost at least.

Or, I'm just talking out of my backside :)



lol No, you are right... I don't think it's methane tho' but I can't
remember the name of the gass off the top of my head. Bannanas tend to
put out more than some fruits so you can put avocados, peppers or
tomatoes in a paper bag with a bannana or two to speed things up.

Cheers!

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

GA Pinhead wrote:
How about ethane?

It's ethene (old name ethylene). As frisco said, Bananas (particularly
ripe ones) and rice give off stacks of it, so that would be a good
source of it.


You can pull the plants up and hang them upside down, that'll work
pretty well. Other than more light and heat, not much.

John!


OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:

In article .com,
"FriscoSoxFan" wrote:


Let me see if I remember my high school biology here...

I think if you put them in a brown paper bag, they will ripen quicker.
I seem to remember that the skins of fruits give off methane which acts
as a ripening catalyst for other fruits. The paper bag traps the
methane while allowing them to breath a bit. Warmth (such as a
windowsill) speeds the process.

Leaving them on the vine? Maybe try a brown garden recycling bag at
night? Would protect against frost at least.

Or, I'm just talking out of my backside :)



lol No, you are right... I don't think it's methane tho' but I can't
remember the name of the gass off the top of my head. Bannanas tend to
put out more than some fruits so you can put avocados, peppers or
tomatoes in a paper bag with a bannana or two to speed things up.

Cheers!

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

That's it!

John!

Zax wrote:
GA Pinhead wrote:

How about ethane?


It's ethene (old name ethylene). As frisco said, Bananas (particularly
ripe ones) and rice give off stacks of it, so that would be a good
source of it.


You can pull the plants up and hang them upside down, that'll work
pretty well. Other than more light and heat, not much.

John!


OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:

In article .com,
"FriscoSoxFan" wrote:


Let me see if I remember my high school biology here...

I think if you put them in a brown paper bag, they will ripen quicker.
I seem to remember that the skins of fruits give off methane which acts
as a ripening catalyst for other fruits. The paper bag traps the
methane while allowing them to breath a bit. Warmth (such as a
windowsill) speeds the process.

Leaving them on the vine? Maybe try a brown garden recycling bag at
night? Would protect against frost at least.

Or, I'm just talking out of my backside :)



lol No, you are right... I don't think it's methane tho' but I
can't remember the name of the gass off the top of my head. Bannanas
tend to put out more than some fruits so you can put avocados,
peppers or tomatoes in a paper bag with a bannana or two to speed
things up.

Cheers!

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

So you're suggesting picking the fruit, and putting it into a bag along
with some bananas? Sounds easy enough... thanks!

In article , Zax
wrote:

GA Pinhead wrote:
How about ethane?

It's ethene (old name ethylene). As frisco said, Bananas (particularly
ripe ones) and rice give off stacks of it, so that would be a good
source of it.


You can pull the plants up and hang them upside down, that'll work
pretty well. Other than more light and heat, not much.

John!


OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:

In article .com,
"FriscoSoxFan" wrote:


Let me see if I remember my high school biology here...

I think if you put them in a brown paper bag, they will ripen quicker.
I seem to remember that the skins of fruits give off methane which acts
as a ripening catalyst for other fruits. The paper bag traps the
methane while allowing them to breath a bit. Warmth (such as a
windowsill) speeds the process.

Leaving them on the vine? Maybe try a brown garden recycling bag at
night? Would protect against frost at least.

Or, I'm just talking out of my backside :)



lol No, you are right... I don't think it's methane tho' but I can't
remember the name of the gass off the top of my head. Bannanas tend to
put out more than some fruits so you can put avocados, peppers or
tomatoes in a paper bag with a bannana or two to speed things up.

Cheers!

--
---
Chris Smolinski
Black Cat Systems
http://www.blackcatsystems.com

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

In article ,

Hang them up inside the house? Could I put them in the basement, or do
they need a fair amount of light and heat to ripen even after the plants
have been pulled out of the ground?

GA Pinhead wrote:

How about ethane?

You can pull the plants up and hang them upside down, that'll work
pretty well. Other than more light and heat, not much.

John!


OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
In article .com,
"FriscoSoxFan" wrote:


Let me see if I remember my high school biology here...

I think if you put them in a brown paper bag, they will ripen quicker.
I seem to remember that the skins of fruits give off methane which acts
as a ripening catalyst for other fruits. The paper bag traps the
methane while allowing them to breath a bit. Warmth (such as a
windowsill) speeds the process.

Leaving them on the vine? Maybe try a brown garden recycling bag at
night? Would protect against frost at least.

Or, I'm just talking out of my backside :)



lol No, you are right... I don't think it's methane tho' but I can't
remember the name of the gass off the top of my head. Bannanas tend to
put out more than some fruits so you can put avocados, peppers or
tomatoes in a paper bag with a bannana or two to speed things up.

Cheers!

--
---
Chris Smolinski
Black Cat Systems
http://www.blackcatsystems.com

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

In article ,
GA Pinhead wrote:



OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
In article .com,
"FriscoSoxFan" wrote:


Let me see if I remember my high school biology here...

I think if you put them in a brown paper bag, they will ripen quicker.
I seem to remember that the skins of fruits give off methane which acts
as a ripening catalyst for other fruits. The paper bag traps the
methane while allowing them to breath a bit. Warmth (such as a
windowsill) speeds the process.

Leaving them on the vine? Maybe try a brown garden recycling bag at
night? Would protect against frost at least.

Or, I'm just talking out of my backside :)



lol No, you are right... I don't think it's methane tho' but I can't
remember the name of the gass off the top of my head. Bannanas tend to
put out more than some fruits so you can put avocados, peppers or
tomatoes in a paper bag with a bannana or two to speed things up.


How about ethane?

Good job!


You can pull the plants up and hang them upside down, that'll work
pretty well. Other than more light and heat, not much.

John!

I just put mine on the windowsill with good air circulation.

Cheers!

--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

I have left them in the back of my truck for several days after pulling
them and more ripened.

So yeah, shake the all the dirt off and hang them upside down in the
basement with newpaper underneath.

I have also used the big bread trays lined with newspaper to spread the
biggest ones out. They ripened over a couple of weeks.

John!

Chris Smolinski wrote:
In article ,

Hang them up inside the house? Could I put them in the basement, or do
they need a fair amount of light and heat to ripen even after the plants
have been pulled out of the ground?

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

On Tue, 01 Nov 2005 15:59:22 -0500, Chris Smolinski
wrote:

I've got a lot of green tabasco hot peppers still on my plants.
Surprisingly, it's November first, and we've avoided a frost so far here
in extreme north central Maryland.

So, what can I do to get these peppers to ripen before we do get a
frost? Or is there anything I can do after picking them to get them to
ripen?

You know, I've been thinking about this. As the Queen of trying to eke
out a few more weeks of garden time, I have noticed how much ripening
slows down as the days get shorter and the sunlight less intense. It's
not unexpected, just...frustrating. I can keep the pepper plants
alive, but the return on fruit isn't really worth it much past this
time of year.

I was thinking that this would be the time of year that the red mulch
that some gardeners further north use might be an advantage. It
usually warms up quickly enough in the spring here that I don't see
much advantage in using it then, but I wonder about this time of year?
Hmmm, I might have to experiment by putting the red mulch around a
couple of plants and seeing if they ripen more fruit, or if the fruit
ripens faster.

Must add to my list of things to try...


Penelope

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

Penelope Periwinkle wrote:
...I have noticed how much ripening
slows down as the days get shorter and the sunlight less intense.
....
I was thinking that this would be the time of year that the red mulch
that some gardeners further north use might be an advantage. ....

How about aluminum foil? I've heard of people putting that down, shiny
side up, around plants in the early spring. -aem

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

On 4 Nov 2005 16:23:35 -0800, "aem" wrote:


Penelope Periwinkle wrote:
...I have noticed how much ripening
slows down as the days get shorter and the sunlight less intense.
....
I was thinking that this would be the time of year that the red mulch
that some gardeners further north use might be an advantage. ....

How about aluminum foil? I've heard of people putting that down, shiny
side up, around plants in the early spring. -aem

Alien telepathist or government thought control beams are keeping
my peppers from getting ripe?

Makes sense. grin

Naw, actually, I thought about the tin foil, but I've heard so
many good reports from folks that have tried the red mulch I was
leaning toward trying it.

Plus, my neighbors think I'm weird enough. After all, I squeal in
excitement over finding lady bug larva on my plants, flake out in
the grass out front to listen to an owl calling, and made them
all come and see my monarch and black swallowtail caterpillars
whilst I proudly burbled on about The Importance of Larval Food
Plants.

We won't even go into the earthworm incident.



Penelope
--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"

Any suggestions for hastening hot pepper ripening?
 

In article ,
Penelope Periwinkle wrote:

On 4 Nov 2005 16:23:35 -0800, "aem" wrote:


Penelope Periwinkle wrote:
...I have noticed how much ripening
slows down as the days get shorter and the sunlight less intense.
....
I was thinking that this would be the time of year that the red mulch
that some gardeners further north use might be an advantage. ....

How about aluminum foil? I've heard of people putting that down, shiny
side up, around plants in the early spring. -aem

Alien telepathist or government thought control beams are keeping
my peppers from getting ripe?

Makes sense. grin

Naw, actually, I thought about the tin foil, but I've heard so
many good reports from folks that have tried the red mulch I was
leaning toward trying it.

Plus, my neighbors think I'm weird enough. After all, I squeal in
excitement over finding lady bug larva on my plants, flake out in
the grass out front to listen to an owl calling, and made them
all come and see my monarch and black swallowtail caterpillars
whilst I proudly burbled on about The Importance of Larval Food
Plants.

We won't even go into the earthworm incident.

Please do. ;-)




Penelope
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson