Completely normal. With longer time on the plant, they will end up truly red and not the orange-red I'm seeing in the photo.

Completely normal. All peppers eventually turn to a color other than green. Oftentimes, many varieties won't get their true heat until ripened fully. They also tend to get sweeter and less chlorophyll tasting.

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Tue, Dec 23, 14 at 14:37

Thanks Kevin, I never knew that, but glad to know it means they could be hotter n' sweeter than the green boys :)

Mine did just the same. And the experience was mutual, I didn't realize Jalapeno's turned red, lol. When I save seeds for the Jalapeno's, I let them go to maturity - being red - but keep them on the plant until they do so.

Serrano's are the same. People like picking them green. But when they turn red to maturity - they are very sweet and hot. I love the taste of Serrano's when they turn red.

~Garret

I actually prefer the taste of red jalapenos. They are very much sweeter and have a richer flavor in my opinion. It's worth waiting a few out on your plant and trying yourself.

Hey thanks guys. I ordered the seeds online quite late, (May in fact) so they didn't even start until June, but I was too impatient to wait until the following year, and figured even if they didn't produce pods, they could be early starters. But they did produce 7 Peppers, although as its now the back end of December, I'm not sure if they will even ripen on the plant. Fingers crossed.

Best thing to do is at least harvest "some" when green. More pickin', more flowers, more fruit again!

Kevin

This post was edited by woohooman on Tue, Dec 23, 14 at 23:39

I love the taste of red jalapenos, and I also let a few ripen for seeds, but as they would turn red on the plants they would disappear. Then one day I caught the culprit: they were birds. So beware if you are planning on red jalapenos.
Christmas greetings to all!!

I also think that when Jalapeno has just turned red has more flavor and aroma. But I have little patience to wait that long. But I should and instead buy green one from store (90 cent per pound). Jalapeno is one pepper that I almost use year round along with Anaheim and poblano. Those are tastier than bells to me.
SO, yes let them get red !(talking to myself: -))

Seysonn

We smoke-dried some ripe Jalapenos over mesquite. The SO claims they are delicious, but I prefer milder chilis. He also smokes ripe Serranos, which is the best variety we've tried so far. Sandias were meh, green chiles turn bitter.

Some chilis are good green or ripe, some far better ripe, some better green ... depends on what you want.

Red & Green Jals on my overwintering project.

What makes you think xalapeños don't ripen red?

{{gwi:2132038}}

Bell peppers ripen as well.

@ Willard3.... Where you livin'n now that you can take pix of red jals with that much corking?

I know you used to live up here in the NE near me....

And how do we revive C2C?

Spend as lot of the year in Méjico and the rest of it in rural NY.

i had red jalapenos a couple of years ago
and i swear they would stand up
to some of the extra-hots ive had.
they were also tasty. i love them red.

i grow like 20 different peppers each year
and have tons of bees and hoverflies etc...
so, i get strange looking fruits here and there.
This was on a jalapeno pepper plant last year.

i had picked it Xmas day
so, it was my christmas pepper

Hi northeast_chileman.... so you leave your pods on the plant when you overwinter right? That answers a question I had with my Jal, [top pic] I wasn't sure if I should now remove all the pods, as we now have frost in North East UK so I've brought them all indoors. I figured the ice would kill them.
Wow, greenman62... that round Jal looks like a half n' half 'Satan's Kiss' pepper :)

Hi northeast_chileman....

Good evening ChillyDog!

so you leave your pods on the plant when you overwinter right?

I always let my Jals ripen to red unless I need some when they're green. I believe it adds a sweetness that I like with the classic Jal flavor and heat.

That answers a question I had with my Jal, [top pic] I wasn't sure if I should now remove all the pods, as we now have frost in North East UK so I've brought them all indoors.

When indoors I watch the fruit carefully. They may not turn red before starting to "soften", read starting to rot. Then I pick 'em green and use immediately.

I figured the ice would kill them.

The 0ðC and below temps will crystallize the liquids in the leaves, stems & fruit causing tissue damage & basically death to the plant & softness/rotting of fruit.

Hope this helps!

How do you think they get Chipotle peppers? ;)

Chipotle is just a method of drying. Not all chipotle is xalapeño.