Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I've never grown bell peppers, but the place I'm housesitting has a few plants in the greenhouse. They told me they don't harvest until they're red, but I went to check on stuff yesterday and the peppers that were yellow were all slimy. I picked a few of them and I'm going to eat them after cutting the slimy parts off, but what's the deal?

There's still quite a few green peppers on the plant and they're really big...should I harvest them? It's already pretty cold here, but they are in a mini greenhouse with tons of tomato plants that are still producing ripe fruit. I don't really care for green peppers so I'd like to let them ripen if that's a possibility, but I didn't expect the weird slime that I'm assuming is rot.

Sorry I know nothing about this. I could google but I know y'all have my back.

Are the peppers turning from green to yellow? Could it be they're yellow bell peppers and not red? If they're red ones, they should turn directly from green to red with no yellow stage.


On the left in this photo is yellow bell pepper plant and on the right is a red bell pepper plant.

Mollyjade has good advice. But if there aren't any healthy looking yellow peppers too, I'd guess the affected peppers are just diseased. Low night temps and water sitting on the plants can set off both bacterial and fungal problems, causing peppers to yellow and rot. Green peppers will eventually change color - be it yellow, red, purple or orange, so no need to pick them green unless you notice bad spots on them as well. For preserving big quantities, peppers also freeze well without blanching, just destem & seed, dice and pop in freezer bags.

Oh interesting, thanks! The people who own this place said they were all red bell plants, but they are kind of new to greenhouse gardening too so maybe they don't know. I think probably it's the time of year and this climate that is messing with them.

Jill and Molly hit the nail on the head. Another thing to consider: peppers cross pollinate if planted to close together. Point in case: My sweet yellow I sat next to my jalapeno is now a spicy sweet yellow.

mmmm spicy sweet yellow! I'm going pepper crazy next year. I don't necessarily love green bell peppers, but sometimes the fragile branches break and I'm forced to harvest some green ones. I have nothing really useful to add to this thread, sorry.