| grizzman, When talking about ripening, do you mean turning to red- respectively the expected final color? The time of ripening depends on the specie (actually the cultivar) as roughly mentioned above. Jalapeños and many other "meaty" varieties (lacking vocabulary here), as well as big sized pods need much longer than most smallies. Most yellow or orange varieties may change color over night, so to speak and in my experience. For some varieties, ripeness and turning to red (or final color) isn't synonym. Some cultivars are even conceived to be consumed green. In the tropics, a classic Habanero takes me about 50 days from initial crop building to full ripeness. All in all fruit ripening of peppers (from blooming to final ripeness) takes from 40-70 days. Some exceptions like wild species or Jalapeños excluded. Time from transplant to ripe fruit is between 4 and 5 months in soil and may be as short as 3 months in hydroponics in a best case scenario. I have been cultivating hundreds of different pepper varieties here in Thailand since a few years, but never used or heard of anything or any "shortcut", to rush final ripeness, besides sunlight and photosynthesis. But then again, with my climate I do not need anything of the sort ;-) From a more scientific point of view, there is research about the influence of P and K with the final ripening process, fruit quality and even color intensity. But I am not sure if that fits in here, and have some doubts if it is' what you are looking for. Patience is the best advice I can give here. | 
