How to Harvest Bell Peppers

Bell peppers are a cultivar of Capsicum annuum, commonly known as chiles. However, bell peppers have been given a recessive gene to prevent capsaicin from being produced, which this species normally does. Bell peppers are not at all hot and also have been modified to produce fruit in a wide range of colors. The following steps will show how to harvest bell peppers.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Make sure the bell peppers are firm and shiny with a crisp texture. Use garden shears to clip the fruits from the plant instead of pulling them off.

2. Pick bell peppers when they are smaller in the beginning of summer. They may be taken when they are the size of a golf ball and frequent picking will encourage near-continuous fruit production. Immature bell peppers are soft and pliable with thin pale walls.

3. Take fully mature bell peppers when they are four to five inches long and have full, well-formed lobes. The older the fruit is, the thicker the skin will be.

4. Allow the bell peppers to ripen to their final color later in the season to get fruit of different colors. Ripe bell peppers may be yellow, red, orange or purple, depending on the variety. You can continue to harvest bell peppers until the first frost.

5. Store bell peppers at 50 degrees and at least 90 percent humidity, if possible. They should be stored away from other fruits and vegetables because they are sensitive to ethylene gas, which causes them to age faster.

Resources

• Learn more about bell peppers at the Farm-Garden website.