Kitchen Garden Forum

Yestday at our local fruit and veg stall I bought a couple of packets of red, yellow and green "bell peppers" at.bargain price as I haven,t grown any this year. I probably ought to know the answer to this question but have only previously grown the red and yellow ones before which obviously started off as green, I wonder whether the green peppers in the packets will turn yellow or red if I leave them to ripen or whether they will stay green. I don,t find the green ones as sweet and have placed them amongst my ripening chilli plants in the hope that they might eventually turn yellow or red but wonder if I'm wasting my time.?

Usually the colour of peppers changes as they ripen but some will just turn to yellow and others will become a blackish colour. YOu can pick and use them green as well.

Green peppers are unripe. There are no actual green varieties. I don't use green peppers myself — they're not ripe.

...and they give you wind/indigestion

I can't eat green ones at all as they upset my stomach. The only problem with ripening the green shop bought ones is that they sometimes shrivel up before they change colour.

Do you think putting them close to some ripe bananas would speed up the ripening process? My previously grown bell peppers took quite a time to change from green to red when on the plants.

Ripe bananas/banana skins are said to give off a gas which induces other fruits and vegetables to ripen - perhaps it would be worth putting them with your peppers, Primrose?

For the same reason you shouldn't have fruit near cut flowers as the gas they give off will speed up the decaying process.