Pepper does not turn red: reasons, how to ripen pepper, useful tips

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How to speed up the ripening of peppers in a greenhouse?

Why peppers don't grow well in a greenhouse

How to grow greens and peppers in a greenhouse?

First of all, it is worth checking what type of pepper you have chosen. Perhaps ripe fruits should not be red at all, but green or lilac. Therefore, if the peppers have acquired not a red, but a yellow, orange or dark green hue, do not be surprised; perhaps this is a natural stage of development.

To get an early harvest, you need to choose the right variety. Residents of the middle zone and northern latitudes need to choose only early and very early varieties of hot and sweet peppers, while those who live in a milder climate will benefit from mid-season varieties. The best harvest is produced by hybrids: they are resistant to frost and disease, and have excellent taste. There are a huge number of varieties of both red hot and sweet peppers on the market, so it will not be difficult to choose the most suitable one, and growing peppers in a greenhouse will give excellent results.

Pepper ripening stages

Peppers can be picked long before they turn red; they are tasty even when unripe. Not only their taste, but also storage features and harvesting technology depend on the stage of maturity at which the fruits are picked.

There are two options for pepper maturity:

Technical. It is also called harvest maturity. From the moment of formation of the ovaries to technical ripeness, 40-45 days pass. At this stage, the fruits have not yet acquired their full varietal properties, but are already quite ready both for consumption and for making winter preparations.
Biological. It occurs during the period of seed ripening, and the fruits acquire bright varietal characteristics.

It takes 3-4 weeks from technical to biological ripeness. All this time, the fruits can be collected and eaten, canned, added to salads and all kinds of dishes. But it is during this last month that the vegetable accumulates a maximum of nutrients, sugars, and microelements.

Biologically ripe pepper differs from technically ripe fruits not only in appearance - color, but also in usefulness. Red peppers are healthier than unripe green peppers.

Why peppers don’t turn red: the main reasons

It happens that peppers, having become large, remain green for a long time - they do not turn red. There are several reasons why fruits do not ripen. The gardener’s task is to find out what exactly caused the slowdown in the redness of the pepper, and based on this, take appropriate measures.

Features of the variety

Often, gardeners try to get high-quality peppers from seeds obtained from store-bought vegetables. It is useful to know that most of the large and beautiful peppers were brought to Russian supermarkets from warm countries or from the south of Russia.

Why do peppers not turn red?

Zoning. Vegetables grown somewhere in Egypt, Turkey or the Krasnodar Territory are not suitable for regions with a temperate climate. Varieties grown in warm climates do not have time to ripen in most regions of Russia. Or they ripen several weeks later than the released varieties.
Varietal features. There are varieties of pepper that do not turn yellow or red even at the stage of biological maturity. As they ripen, they acquire a green color - light or dark, purple, chocolate. To avoid being misled, read the information about varietal characteristics indicated on the packaging in advance. “Non-reddening” varieties include, for example, Viking, Zephyr, and Green Miracle peppers. If you need red peppers, familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the variety in advance.
Terms of ripening. There are varieties that ripen several weeks later than others. Find out in advance which category the pepper belongs to - early ripening, mid ripening or late. The range of ripening times is very large - some varieties ripen in 90 days, others in 150 days.

Unfavourable conditions

Pepper “refuses” to turn red if it finds itself in unfavorable conditions - agricultural practices are violated, the weather is bad.

Circumstances under which peppers do not turn red:

Temperature. Pepper grows and ripens well at +18...+30°C. The fruits do not ripen if the weather is cool - when the thermometer drops to +12...+13°C. A heat-loving crop simply stops growing at such temperatures. If the temperature rises above +35°C, the pepper bushes dry out quickly.
Lighting. Pepper grows provided that it is illuminated for at least 12 hours during the day. If the daylight hours are too long—more than 14 hours—the ripening of fruits may also be disrupted.
Watering. Peppers have problems with growth, ripening and fruiting if they are watered with cold, unsettled water. Also, the method of watering affects the development of pepper - water should not be allowed to get on the foliage and stems; it is poured only at the root.
Thickened plantings. If the pepper bushes are planted too densely and block each other's light, the fruits are not in a hurry to ripen, they do not turn red, as they do not have enough nutrition.

Errors in agricultural technology

Errors in agricultural technology, which are often made by inexperienced gardeners, can also lead to delayed ripening.

Agrotechnical errors due to which peppers do not ripen:

Incorrect planting of seeds. Sowing in the ground can be carried out only after temperature fluctuations have stopped, the soil has warmed up and stable heat has been established.
Unsuitable soil. Pepper needs light, fertile soils; heavy clay soils and overly acidic soils are not suitable for it. To prevent the pepper from slowing down in ripening, organic matter and dolomite flour are added to the beds, which deoxidizes the soil.
Fertilizers were applied incorrectly. Pepper reacts negatively to excess nitrogen fertilizers. Plants, instead of directing their energy to ripening fruits, build up green mass. Nitrogen is added before the beginning of summer; it is contraindicated during flowering and fruiting. A lack of potassium also has a negative effect on the ripening of fruits; if it is deficient, peppers may not ripen at all. A similar situation is usually observed on soils that contain a lot of sand and peat. Calcium deficiency is also dangerous, which can be combated with wood ash.
Excess of ovaries. Their abundance negatively affects the yield and can cause a delay in the ripening of peppers - they do not have time to either reach a large size or turn red.
Thinning the ovaries helps to avoid the problem. It is recommended to cut off the first inflorescence located at the branching point of the stems. Only one bud, the most powerful one, should remain in the internode. Otherwise, the bush will not have enough energy to ripen all the fruits.
Root damage. This situation can occur with the seedling growing method. If the roots are damaged when transplanting seedlings, this can have an extremely negative impact on the entire subsequent growing season of the plant. Peppers with damaged roots take a very long time to recover, the bush will lag behind in development, and the fruits will not have time to ripen. Careful picking and replanting of pepper seedlings helps prevent the problem. It is carried out exclusively by the transshipment method - the seedlings are removed from the planting container and moved to a new place along with a lump of soil. It is advisable not to touch the roots at all during transplantation.

How to speed up the ripening of peppers on a bush?

The goal of any gardener growing peppers is to get large, fleshy and brightly colored fruits. Having reached biological ripeness, peppers become incredibly tasty, go well with other vegetables and meat, and are ideal for processing and preservation.

General methods

It is not always possible to reliably, with 100% accuracy, determine the cause of delayed maturation. If the weather is good and there are no problems with the variety, then you need to take measures that will encourage the bushes to accelerate the ripening of fruits.

What to do to make peppers turn red faster:

if it’s autumn and it’s getting cool, cover the beds with ripening peppers with agrofibre or non-woven material;
water the pepper only with warm water, heated to +60°C, pour it exclusively into the root zone;
spray the bushes with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers - for example, potassium sulfate (1 teaspoon per 10 liters of water) or a solution of wood ash (300 g per 10 liters of water);
tear off some of the leaves - they delay the ripening of the fruit, but do not overdo it, tear off the tops and bottom leaves;
if there are autumn rains, protect the pepper from excess moisture by constructing a film shelter;
add yeast solution (200 g live or 10 g dry per 10 liters of water).

Hot peppers, unlike bell peppers (sweet ones), do not ripen after they are picked from the bush. To make the hot pepper pods turn red, the bushes are dug up and hung with the tops down.

Nuances for closed ground

Pepper is a heat-loving crop, therefore, to prevent the ripening of fruits from slowing down, in greenhouses it is necessary to close all the windows and the entrance door at night. This will protect the bushes from freezing and drafts.

How else to speed up the ripening of peppers in a greenhouse:

install and turn on additional heaters;
place plastic bottles filled with hot water between the beds;
cut off too long shoots during active growth - this will improve the lighting of the bushes and stimulate the ripening of peppers;
add light by installing ultraviolet lamps - blue light is beneficial for peppers even if there is enough sun in the greenhouse.

Weakened pepper bushes that are unhealthy in appearance are not recommended to be pinched and pinched - they may die from this procedure.

Nuances for open ground

The lack of cover makes it difficult to grow peppers heading into fall. If ripening is delayed, and it is already cold outside, you will have to provide the bushes with heating - bottles or stones heated in the oven are placed between the beds, as in a greenhouse.

In order for the peppers to turn red in time, it is important to regularly form bushes. At the end of August, all flowers are picked off and shoots that are too lush are removed. With the arrival of autumn, all the small peppers are picked - they still will not have time to ripen, but will prevent the ripening of large fruits.

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.

Is it possible to ripen peppers at home?

Bell peppers can be ripened in much the same way as fruits. To ensure that the fruits reach biological maturity and do not deteriorate, turn red or lose their taste, they are placed in a warm and dark place for 4-5 days.

How to ripen peppers:

First way. Place the peppers in a dark room, such as a pantry, and place one red pepper or ripe apple between them.
Second way. Place food foil on the windowsill. Better on the north window. Place unripe peppers on foil. They will be exposed to sunlight reflected from the foil, this will stimulate the ripening process.
Third way. If the harvest is large, place the peppers in paper bags or cardboard boxes. Place bananas and apples nearby. Close the container tightly; after a few days the pepper will turn red.

If there is no task to make the pepper red immediately, it is placed in a cooler room.

Optimal conditions for storing pepper:

temperature - +10...+12°C;
air humidity - 85–90%.

Under these conditions, the pepper will be stored and ripened at the same time. Biological ripeness - complete redness, the fruits will be reached in about a month.

What to do to make the pepper turn red. Pepper harvest

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, rather than break them off, since the pepper stems are very fragile and the whole shoot can be damaged.

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.

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.

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

What to do with green peppers to make them turn red Bell peppers: harvesting and storage 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.

Sweet peppers are not ripe, what can be done with them? Bell peppers: harvesting and storage Harvesting peppers is possible both in a state of technical and in a state of biological maturity. In the first case, after harvesting sweet peppers, the fruits should be consumed immediately. In the second, leave it to ripen.

Is it possible to pick green peppers for ripening? Bell peppers: harvesting and storage Harvesting peppers is possible both in a state of technical and in a state of biological maturity. In the first case, after harvesting sweet peppers, the fruits should be consumed immediately. In the second, leave it to ripen.

What to do to make green peppers turn red faster at home Bell peppers: harvesting and storage 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.

There are no green peppers - true or myth?

In markets and stores you can see green, yellow and red bell peppers. Many people think that the fruits offered belong to different varieties. In fact, these peppers may belong to the same varieties, they are simply picked at different stages of ripening.

Green, yellow, orange fruits are unripe red peppers. But there really are varieties in the world that, even when ripe, remain yellow or orange. Green peppers are an intermediate stage of red, orange or yellow varieties.

The color of pepper affects not only the taste of the fruit, but also the nutritional content:

Green pepper. It contains more phytosterols, which regulate fat metabolism and remove cholesterol from the body, and vitamin K, which prevents atherosclerosis.
Yellow and orange peppers. They contain a lot of carotene and vitamin C. They are superior to red and green peppers in terms of potassium and iron content, therefore they are useful for people suffering from anemia and cardiovascular diseases.
Red pepper. It has a lot of sugar, so it tastes sweeter than other peppers. It contains a valuable substance - lycopene, which is recommended for the prevention of cancer. Red pepper contains more vitamins A, C, B, E.

Advice from experienced gardeners

Along with the basic rules for accelerating the ripening of peppers in open and closed ground, there are a number of simple measures that can speed up the ripening of peppers.

Useful tips from experienced gardeners:

In order for the peppers to ripen faster, you need to harvest more often. This is especially important at the beginning of fruiting - it is necessary to pick the first peppers, then the next copies will ripen faster.
Banana peels placed on the beds help stimulate ripening. It releases ethylene, which accelerates the ripening of vegetables and fruits.
If the gardening season is drawing to a close and temperatures are dropping, only the largest peppers should be left on the bush and the small ones should be picked off. Also, all flowers and ovaries must be removed from the bushes, then all the energy of the bushes will be directed to ripening the remaining peppers.

Delayed pepper ripening is a minor problem that has many solutions at different stages of the growing season. If you do not violate agricultural practices, the peppers will definitely reach their biological ripeness. As a last resort, if the weather does not allow waiting, the fruits can be ripened at home.

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To make the peppers turn red faster. What can you do to make tomatoes and peppers turn red faster?

The cold weather is coming, and the tomatoes are huge, beautiful, but still green. Will they have time to blush, and how to speed up this process? Maybe water it with something? I tore off the leaves and shoots. What else?

To make the tomatoes turn red faster, there is another way: take a bucket and put green tomatoes in it. Place one or two red tomatoes in each layer of these tomatoes. red tomatoes secrete substances that promote the ripening of other tomatoes. In this case, the bucket can stand anywhere, but it is better at room temperature. Tomatoes (both those and others) should be unwashed, but dry.

You don't have to wait for them to turn red. We pick slightly red tomatoes and place them on the windowsill in the sun at home. After a couple of days, they turn red on their own and can be salted or eaten. I heard that you can’t water tomatoes too much, they can start to rot and crack.

Take tomatoes and peppers, put them in a saucepan, put in a few apples cut into 2-4 pieces, and cover tightly with a lid. Apples will speed up the ripening process of tomatoes and peppers several times.

To speed up the ripening of tomatoes and peppers on the bushes, you need to create a stressful situation for the plants

The tomato bushes need to be carefully lifted or turned; you can split the trunk and insert a stick into the split. A plant that has been subjected to a stressful situation begins to produce offspring faster

You can do the same with peppers, but be more careful; this plant has a weaker root system. You need to stop watering the tomatoes, tear off all the flowering clusters and pinch off the tops.

The pepper culture is very heat-loving, and therefore it is mainly grown in the southern regions. However, in recent years, due to the acquisition of film and glazed greenhouses by gardeners, as well as the introduction of new varieties into circulation, and the improvement of agricultural technology, the cultivation of peppers and eggplants is gaining a certain interest in central Russia.