chillis going black

Hi, my dad is growing chillis for the first time and they look great, excuse my ignorance but they are green ones about the size of a large mans thumb. (i forgot to ask him what type they were) anyhow, from the stalk they are going black, is this normal, it does just seem to be the colour, it hasnt gone soft or anything. Does he have a bug?

 

Hello Sharon. I've seen this happen with certain varieties of peppers and its perfectly normal - just the beginning of the ripening of the fruits. So it there is no other sign of distress/desease I wouldn't worry.

G x

 

I thought I had the same problem on my chillie peppers. After a while though, they were actually turning red and are perfectly ok.

 

Thanks, they do look perfectly healthy otherwise. Im glad i asked as the whole bush is doing it now, so he wont be worried about them.

 

Hi ALL

I have some chillies (about 30mm long) that are green can I eat them now or do you have to wait for them to change colour?

I am unsure what type they are as I grew them from some supermarket chillies I bought last year.


Thanks

Dave

 

Hi David, very often chillies are green when you eat them (ie ripe when green) but very often not (very helpful!??). Totally depends upon the variety and I am not able to tell you the type of chilli that you have purchased in the supermarket as I get my chillies from an online company: http://www.chillipeppersonline.co.uk/
Length and diameter are important aspects to consider to determine the chilli variety. However, even then it becomes more difficult due to the fact that the seed names are quite regularly changed in the industry. I think the likes of Waitrose would have a relatively broad range of chillies (4 or 5 varieties maybe?), whereas Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury stock a very limited range making the variety easier to determine.
I doubt this answer is of much help and sorry for my ranting. I really have a "red-hot" passion for chillies...
Kind regards
Roy