Let's find out why peppers on the bush don't turn red: the reasons why sweet and hot peppers don't ripen, what to do to make the fruits turn red faster

Pepper ripening stages

Considering harvesting pepper to be a simple matter, many people pick the fruits at the stage of incomplete ripeness. This affects the taste and further storage and preparation of vegetables. Agrotechnicians distinguish 2 types of maturity:

Technical (cleaning). It occurs 40-45 days after the formation of the ovaries, when the pepper has not yet fully acquired its characteristic varietal properties, but is already suitable for consumption and processing.
Biological (natural). It begins when the seeds ripen and the crop acquires a bright varietal shade.

20-30 days pass between biological and technical maturity. During this time, vegetables accumulate the maximum amount of nutrients and vitamins and are saturated with sugars and microelements.

Important! Fully ripened bell peppers have the best flavor and distinct aroma. Therefore, it is recommended to collect them in this phase.

The heat of hot pepper can be adjusted. A technically ripe crop still contains a small amount of pungent substance, so it is collected for preparing mild dishes and marinades. If you plan to store the harvested crop for a long time or process it into a powdered state, it must be picked from the bushes at the stage of full biological maturity.

How to ripen hot peppers. How to properly store sweet peppers

14 pieces left. according to the Promotion.

Due to its excellent taste characteristics, sweet peppers are popular today among summer residents and gardeners. Experienced gardeners know very well that it is not enough just to grow a good harvest, it is also necessary to preserve it. We will tell you how to store sweet peppers.

First of all, the gardener needs to carry out ripening, and for this the vegetable must be properly prepared. Ripening is when an unripe vegetable that is removed and stored properly under certain conditions becomes suitable for human consumption. If you plan to store the crop fresh, it needs to be washed and dried.

To store fresh peppers, we recommend using a wooden box with thick paper or newspapers placed at the bottom. The peppers in such a box must be laid out in layers, sprinkling the vegetables with dry sand. This storage technology will allow vegetables to retain their taste for a long time.

It is also possible to store peppers, in which each fruit is wrapped in thick paper. If you provide suitable conditions, you can keep technically ripe peppers fresh for up to six months.

If we talk about the possible safety of biologically ripe pepper, that is, one that has ripened completely in the beds, the maximum possible shelf life of a vegetable usually does not exceed two weeks. In this case, he may recommend that you store the harvested crop in special fruit boxes in the refrigerator or dried, wrapped in paper.

Reasons why peppers don't turn red

Every summer resident dreams of collecting large, fleshy and bright fruits on his plot. However, why, having reached a large size, do the peppers never ripen? There may be several reasons.

Varietal features

One of the common mistakes of inexperienced gardeners is trying to grow a high-quality crop from seeds collected from store-bought vegetables . Beautiful and large fruits, which can be bought all year round in supermarkets, are imported from China, Turkey, Egypt or the southern regions of Russia. The climatic conditions of these regions are very different from the middle zone, where crops lack heat and sunlight. Therefore, these varieties either do not ripen completely or ripen several weeks later than more adapted ones.

Reference. Some species should not turn red or yellow. Depending on the varietal properties, the pepper can have a shade from light green to bright purple and even chocolate. On the package with seeds, the instructions indicate the ripening time and color of vegetables at the stage of biological ripeness.

Unfavourable conditions

Unsuitable growing conditions for pepper also affect its ripening and coloring:

Temperature regime. When the thermometer drops to 12°C, the growth and development of pepper stops, and when it rises to 35°C, the bushes quickly dry out. The optimal range is from 18 to 30°C.
Lack of lighting . Peppers require at least 12 hours of exposure to sunlight. Ripening and fruiting are also impaired when daylight hours are too long - more than 14 hours.
Violation of irrigation technique. Cold, unsettled water is absolutely unsuitable for this culture.
Thickened planting. Fruits on bushes blocking each other ripen poorly and do not turn red for a long time due to lack of nutrients.

The method of watering affects the development of bushes. Water should not get on the stems and leaves; it should be carefully poured right to the root. The soil should not be overly moist - this will lead to the development of fungus and bacterial diseases.

Agrotechnical errors

Beginner gardeners make mistakes even at the stage of planting seeds. They can be added to the soil when temperature fluctuations are not expected day and night . The weather should be consistently warm and the soil should warm up sufficiently.

The soil for peppers should be light, fertile and nutritious. The beds are fertilized with organic compounds and dolomite flour is added. This allows you to normalize acidity. Neutral or slightly acidic soil is suitable for timely ripening of vegetables.

One of the reasons why peppers do not ripen is incorrect fertilizing technique. The crop does not tolerate excess nitrogen: instead of bearing fruit, the green mass actively develops and the bush grows strongly. A lack of potassium has a negative effect on the plant, without which redness may not occur at all. This problem is common in areas with a high content of peat or sand.

Attention! Compositions containing nitrogen cannot be applied during fruiting and flowering of the crop.

Pepper needs calcium fertilization at any stage of ripening. Its deficiency is well compensated with the help of wood ash. At the moment of fruit formation, phosphorus is added, and calcium nitrate is added 2-3 times throughout the growing season, which prevents rotting.

A plant with too many ovaries also does not produce a good harvest. For this reason, the fruits do not have time to develop to large sizes and the desired color. Therefore, it is recommended to remove the first inflorescence at the branching point of the stems. Only one, the strongest bud is left in the internodes, otherwise, due to the growth of branches, the bush will not have enough strength to ripen.

Reference. A large number of ovaries on one bush (more than 25) slows down biological maturity, and the pepper grows small.

Features of pepper care

In addition to the above, there are the following features of caring for pepper:

This is a fairly heat-loving crop, so to plant it in the ground you need to choose a well-lit area, and in the greenhouse you need to use additional lighting.
It is better to plant peppers in the ground using seedlings.
Seeds should be disinfected - this will reduce the risk of various diseases. The shelf life of seeds is up to 4 years.
Crop rotation must be observed. It is possible to plant a crop in an area where the predecessors were nightshades only after 3–4 years.
You can plant seedlings in the garden bed when they grow to 20–22 cm and the soil warms up to a temperature above +15°C.
Plants need to be watered at least 2 times every 7 days. During flowering and fruiting, watering can be increased.
Hilling up the bushes will help strengthen and grow the root system.
Perform at least 3-4 feedings - after planting in the ground, during flowering, ovary formation, and fruit appearance. During the formation of buds and flowering, spray with a solution of boric acid and wood ash.
At the first sign of the appearance of diseases or pests, take appropriate measures. Prevent their occurrence. To repel insect pests, you can plant marigolds, marigolds, and garlic between rows of plantings. And to prevent fungal diseases, carry out preventive spraying.
It is necessary to remove excess shoots and form a bush of 1–2 stems.
For poor soils, add organic fertilizers (manure, bird droppings, ash) before planting.
Apply root dressings under the roots so that the solution does not get on the stems and leaves, so as not to damage them.

What to do to make the pepper turn red faster on the bush

Experienced gardeners know several tricks to speed up the reddening of peppers. These tricks will help extend the bell pepper harvest until the very first frost:

construct an additional shelter from non-woven materials or agrofibre (used for young seedlings and adult crops with the onset of autumn cold weather);
use very warm, almost hot water (up to 60°C) for irrigation, pour strictly under the root;
carry out foliar feeding once every 10-12 days, spraying the bushes with phosphorus-potassium compounds or a solution of wood ash;
remove some of the leaves; peppers do not need them to ripen.

It is important to protect bell peppers from excess moisture during periods of heavy rainfall by constructing a shelter of low arcs and film.

Reference. Bell and bitter peppers respond well to the addition of yeast solutions. They are made from fresh bread, crackers and even moldy remains of rolls. The yeast fungus saturates the soil with useful microelements and vitamins and stimulates the ripening of fruits.

Unlike bell peppers, hot peppers cannot ripen once they are picked from the bush. Therefore, a trick is used for it: if the peppercorns have not yet turned red enough and are ripening too slowly, the bush is dug up and hung upside down. The harvest ripens faster and is very hot.

How to ripen peppers. Ripening peppers at home

More often, pepper is stored in basements or refrigerators. Temperature is important. Optimal - 8-10°C.

Bell pepper: harvesting and storage

If you have properly cared for your plantings, you will undoubtedly have a good harvest. And now the hottest time is coming - we need to have time to collect the fruits of our labors and preserve them.

Harvesting peppers is possible both in a state of technical and biological maturity. In the first case, after harvesting sweet peppers, the fruits should be consumed immediately. In the second, leave it to ripen.

Peppers usually begin to bear fruit abundantly in mid-August.

It is better to cut the fruits with pruning shears along with the stalk, and not break them off, since the stems of peppers are very fragile and the whole shoot can be damaged.

Harvesting sweet peppers

Technical maturity. The fruits have reached normal size, but are still unripe. During this period, they are collected for sale, transportation and storage. During the period of technical maturity, sweet peppers are harvested.

Such a crop can be dark green and even white, or slightly yellowish, although there are exceptions.

At technical maturity, the fruits are cut every 5-10 days. Peppers are harvested selectively before the first cold weather arrives. With their advance, it is completely removed.

Fruits collected in a state of technical maturity, if properly stored, can last up to 2 months and ripen. If you take them out of storage and place them in a well-lit place, then very soon the peppers will acquire a color characteristic of the biological maturity of the fruit.

Biological maturity. This is the real ripeness of the fruit, it is also called physiological. At biological maturity, the fruits become bright - red, yellow, orange, brown, etc.

If for some reason the sweet pepper crop was harvested during biological maturity, then the fruits should be used immediately, since they will not be stored for long.

There are varieties that are harvested only when the crop reaches full biological maturity. These include hot peppers. It is collected as it ripens.

Harvesting occurs every 4-5 days. Fruits that are not collected on time lead to the cessation of branching, which negatively affects the amount of harvest.

How to store peppers after harvesting: fruit ripening

Fruit ripening. To store bell peppers, fruits of technical maturity are selected. Before storing them for ripening, they must be sorted and sorted to get rid of damaged ones. Thin-walled peppers are best stored in refrigerators. The stem of the fruit is cut off, leaving a small tip.

How to store peppers at home so you can enjoy the fruits for as long as possible? Various containers are used for storage - from boxes to plastic bags. Polyethylene does not allow air to pass through, and carbon dioxide forms inside the bag. Under such conditions for storing bell peppers, the products remain in the best condition. In addition, each fruit can be wrapped in paper or other material, and special plastic packaging is used for transportation and further sale.

More often, pepper is stored in basements or refrigerators. Temperature is important. Optimal - 8-10°C.

Temperature and storage conditions of bell pepper for seeds

How to store peppers after harvesting if you are going to get seeds from them for later planting?

Fruits for seeds. To get good seeds, you only need to grow one variety of pepper. To do this, in the summer, several of the healthiest plants are selected in advance and the best fruit is taken from each.

The fruits are removed when they are fully ripe and left indoors at room temperature. Thin-walled varieties last 5-6 days, thick-walled varieties - no more than three. Then the seeds are separated from the pulp and dried at a temperature of 50°C, after which they are placed in paper bags and stored in a dry room. The storage temperature for pepper in this case is 20°C.

The selected seeds must be large, healthy in appearance and color. It is important that even if storage conditions are met, germination is lost after 1-2 years.

Nuances for greenhouses

Since pepper is a heat-loving crop, it is recommended to close the windows and doors in the greenhouse at night. This will prevent freezing and protect against drafts. For additional heating, you can install heaters or place plastic bottles of hot water between the beds.

Long shoots during the active growing season need to be pruned in a timely manner to improve illumination and stimulate reddening of the fruits.

Important! Unhealthy or weakened-looking bushes should not be pinched or pinched, otherwise the plant will completely die.

Light is added to the greenhouse using ultraviolet lamps. Even if there is enough sunlight, the blue spectrum will not be superfluous for peppers.

Two types of pepper ripeness

In pepper farming, there are two degrees of fruit ripeness:

Technical ripeness is the stage of pepper development when the fruit has stopped growing, the seeds in it have already ripened, but outwardly it still remains green.
Biological ripeness occurs 15-30 days after technical ripeness. At this time, the pepper fruits acquire the taste and color characteristic of the variety.

Important! It is recommended to collect sweet peppers at the stage of technical maturity, but hot varieties - when they have fully acquired their color and spiciness.

At the technical stage of ripeness, the fruits are still green and firm, but have stopped growing, and the seeds inside are fully ripe. Biological maturity occurs later, sometimes 20-30 days after technical maturity. By this time, the peppers have already acquired their final color and taste. Therefore, if the bell pepper has grown but does not change color, you just need to wait a little and it will reach the desired state.

Unfortunately, in their biological ripeness, some varieties of pepper lose their juiciness. They turn red, but at the same time wither and wrinkle. Fully ripened fruits are poorly stored and wrinkle easily. But unripe vegetables can be stored for a month, and it will not lose its beneficial properties.

Everything is exactly the opposite with hot peppers: you can cut them from the bush only when they become completely red and hot. Thin pods of hot peppers dry out quickly and can easily lie on the shelf with seasonings for several months.

But in a greenhouse and open ground, the onset of biological ripeness may be delayed. It would seem that all the deadlines have already passed, and the pepper on the bush does not turn red. What's the matter? Let's try to figure it out.

For open ground

In open areas, it is more difficult to protect the crop from hypothermia, so it requires shelter and heating similar to a greenhouse (bottles between the beds or stones heated in the oven).

A prerequisite for rapid maturation is regular shaping . At the end of the summer period, all flowers are removed, and shoots that grow too large are plucked during the entire growing season.

Small peppercorns are also removed from the bush at the beginning of autumn, as they will no longer be able to reach biological maturity. The remaining fruits can be removed from the bush unripe in the event of early cold weather and constant rainy weather. In conditions of increased dampness and coolness, the fruits quickly rot.

How bell peppers ripen. When is the best time to pick peppers?

Bell peppers are grown both in greenhouses and in open ground. In order for the fruits of this crop to be stored better and longer, they must be picked on time, and most importantly, correctly removed from the bush. The removal time depends on the type of vegetable. The first harvest can be harvested, as a rule, in mid-July, but the main part of it finally ripens by the end of August - beginning of September.

Did you know? The Aztecs and Mayans used hot peppers as a substitute for salt, which was not well known to them, and consumed sweet peppers as a regular vegetable.

In the open ground

The harvest time for vegetables growing outdoors is influenced by 3 main factors:

ripening times are different for each individual variety: for early ones - 70–80 days, for late ones - from 130 days or more;
variety of culture - bitter or sweet;
seasonal weather conditions.

The main part of the harvest begins in mid-August, the fruits are removed at intervals of 6–8 days. By the onset of the first frost, not a single vegetable should remain on the bushes.

After harvesting the fruits, they need to be sorted according to their degree of ripeness. Those that have not had time to fully ripen must be folded separately for ripening.

If storage conditions are properly observed, this crop can be stored for a long time, even longer than tomatoes or eggplants can be stored.

The rules for storing pepper are as follows:

The main condition is that the vegetables should not have any flaws (scratches, signs of disease, cracks, dents).
Fruits with thin walls are best stored in the refrigerator, but first you need to cut off their stalks so that a small tip remains.
Ripe vegetables must be stored at a temperature of +1...+2°C, and those that are still ripening - at +10...+12°C.

Important! Plastic bags and boxes are excellent for storing peppers, in which the fruits should be folded and sprinkled with sawdust.

In the greenhouse

The ripening of this crop in greenhouse conditions occurs in 90–110 days; the fruits can be collected over a long period of time. The fruiting period, as when grown in open beds, depends on the variety.

Finally ripened fruits, located at the level of the third tier from the soil, should be selected for collecting seeds. The collected vegetables must be set aside until completely dry, and only after that the seeds are removed from them. The seeds are wrapped in paper or placed in paper bags and stored until completely dry. Shelf life - 3 years.

Advice from experienced summer residents

Most experienced summer residents agree that peppers do not have to ripen completely in the garden beds. Shiny, weighty and juicy vegetables already contain a lot of vitamins, and they can even ripen on the windowsill.

After the first harvest is harvested, the bushes will continue to bear fruit under favorable conditions. This process can be further stimulated by spreading banana peels on the soil under the plant.

If there is no well-lit place on the site and the crop has to be planted in the shade, you can add light using reflective screens.

Reference. You can speed up reddening by placing ripe apples and tomatoes next to the bushes under covering material. The process of ripening vegetables is accompanied by the release of ethylene, which will affect the peppers.

Useful tips for gardeners

Gardening experts give the following useful tips:

Fruits of sweet varieties should be picked before they are fully ripe. After the first fruits are harvested, the pepper begins to bear fruit again and produces a larger harvest.
It is necessary to pinch the top of the bush and remove the first 4 buds because the first fruits always take a long time to ripen and absorb a lot of nutrients.
When the temperature drops to +15...17°C at night, it is necessary to cover the bushes, otherwise the fruits may darken.
In order for picked unripe bell peppers to quickly acquire their red color and fully ripen, they are recommended to be placed in a storage container along with apples, tomatoes or already ripened peppers of another variety. Such manipulations are due to the fact that when vegetable crops ripen, they release ethylene, which affects other vegetable specimens, which leads to faster ripening. This mechanism can be used to quickly ripen peppers in open ground. To do this, you can place a ripe apple under the covering material when it gets cold.
Spicy varieties need to be left on the bush longer so that they acquire their red color and pungency. All varieties of hot peppers are not able to ripen in the sun after being picked from the bush, unlike sweet varieties.
When frost occurs, if the chilies are only 50% red, the bush needs to be dug up, slightly dried and hung upside down so that the peppers ripen on the branches. In this form, the fruits ripen faster and turn red, the pepper becomes more hot.
Large quantities of unripe peppers are recommended for preservation and pickling.
In order not to make a mistake in the variety for cultivation, it is better to purchase seeds of zoned varieties.

Did you know? Most ascorbic acid is found near the stalk of the pepper. Therefore, when cleaning these fruits, you should not cut off their upper part too much.

So, if the peppers in your beds do not ripen and turn red, then you should familiarize yourself with their varietal characteristics and pay attention to their growing conditions.

Common Mistakes

Novice housewives and gardeners make mistakes when storing bell peppers. The most common of them:

incorrect storage temperature for fresh vegetables, they quickly wither in heat and freeze in frost; choose cardboard or wooden boxes, the fruits need air exchange; During preservation, it is important to follow the sterilization rule; if the lid does not fit tightly, the jars will explode; the fruits are protected from direct sunlight, so they wither faster; When drying, the product is constantly stirred so as not to overdry; Fully ripe and overripe vegetables are processed immediately, since they do not last long.

Mistakes happen to every person, so don’t be upset if you didn’t succeed in preserving the harvest correctly. You need to be patient and have more experience.

Eliminating the causes

No matter what climatic conditions the bell pepper grows in, it requires proper care for full ripening. Let's look at how to correct the situation when the fruits do not turn red:

In the greenhouse, close the doors and windows at night. Additionally, you can use agrofibre.
Install heat accumulators between rows of plantings. These can be containers with heated water, heated stones or bricks. During the day they will be heated by the sun's rays, and at night they will give off heat to the plants.
Strictly monitor soil moisture. It should be slightly damp. Avoid overwatering.
Do not feed the crop fertilizer containing nitrogen. During the fruiting period, it will be enough to add 1-2 tbsp of wood ash under the bushes. l., phosphorus and potassium.

When planting this vegetable, the main condition for obtaining high yields is good quality seeds. In most areas of the country, it is better to use ultra-early or early ripening varieties. Mid-season crops are suitable for greenhouse conditions.

Recommendations

You need to water with warm water

Gardeners have learned in practice that it is possible to speed up the ripening of paprika fruits by resorting to little tricks. These include:

creation of additional shelters;
maintaining optimal temperature conditions;
watering the crop with hot water;
foliar feeding of plants;
removal of deciduous mass.

Covering

After planting the seedlings in a permanent place, maintain a constant favorable temperature regime. For peppers, the comfort zone ranges from 200C to 250C during the day and from 150C to 180C at night.

To ensure this, build a shelter for the plants. Use non-woven material, agrofibre. Cover crop beds as needed.

Continue to use such shelters during the first autumn colds. This way you can harvest before frost sets in.

Ventilation

At the end of summer and beginning of autumn, condensation forms in greenhouses due to differences in day and night temperatures. This leads to the proliferation of pathogenic fungi and pathogenic bacteria. The plant stops developing.

To get rid of this problem, ventilate the greenhouse. Leave the room open during the day and close it at night.

For those bushes that grow in open ground, take care of film coverings at night.

Warm water

To speed up the ripening of tomatoes and peppers, gardeners advise using fairly hot water for watering crops in cold weather. Its temperature can be from 40 to 600C. Water the plant at the root, try not to pour water on the leaves.

Foliar feeding

During the period of mass formation of ovaries, spray the crop once every ten days. Use weak solutions of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers or an infusion of wood ash.

Drugs that stimulate fruit formation have appeared in specialized stores. Such compositions are not recommended for use at the end of August and autumn. They will provoke the formation of new peppercorns, and existing fruits will stop ripening.

Plucking leaves

When peppers are attached to the bushes, they do not need leaves to ripen. Tear off some of the leaves. This will allow the plant to redirect its forces to ripening the fruits. Don’t be overzealous; you shouldn’t cut off all the foliage. This can lead to burns of the ovaries themselves.