Debra,

The best way to identify a young pepper is probably by its shape. If it is a jalapeno pepper, the fruit will be more smooth and uniform, and in a tapered cone shape. If it is a cayenne pepper, it will tend to be fairly narrow and will be less regular in shape....and often curly or twisty.

The problem is that there are a lot of jalapeno peppers (Grande, Ixtapa, Jaloro, Mucho Nacho, Biker Billy, Purple Jalapeno, Fooled You, Senorita, TAM, Jalapeno M and Jalapa, to name a few) and they can range a great deal in length, at maturity, from 2-4" and in width from about 1 to 1 1/2". There also are a variety of cayenne peppers including Purple Cayenne, Super Cayenne II, Golden Cayenne, Large Red Thick Cayenne and Long Red Slim Cayenne, so there's a lot of size variation there too. Most cayennes, though, will be between 1/2" and 3/4" wide, although Large Red Thick Cayenne can be up to 1 1/4" wide.

In general, cayenne pepper plants get taller than most jalapeno pepper plants and have smaller leaves, but I've seen some pretty tall jalapeno pepper plants too. Pepper leaf size can vary a lot depending on soil fertility, moisture available to the plants and the amount of sunlight they receive.

Some peppers are picked and used green, and this is especially true of jalapenos. I pick them when they are about the size I'm expecting for whatever particular variety I am growing. If you leave your jalapeno peppers on the plant until they turn red, they'll often have a slightly (but not much) sweeter taste. With cayennes, I don't harvest them green but instead let them turn their mature color before harvesting. Another way to judge whether they're ready is by the "Days To Maturity" for the type you're growing. Many cayennes mature in 70-80 days and many jalapenos mature in 80-100 days, so that might help you decide when to harvest, especially if you know which cayenne and which jalapeno you're growing.

One clue that peppers are vey mature is that you'll see little brown stitch-like lines on them. This is a sign they are ready (almost beyond ready) to pick.

When you pick them, cut them with a pair of scissors or pruners because pepper plants are very brittle and break easily. It is easy to break off an entire limb while trying to "pull" a pepper.

Sometimes you have to toss a bird-pecked tomato and sometimes you can leave it on and let it mature. If they pecked a green tomato so deeply that you can see the seeds and gel inside, go ahead and pick it and toss it because bacteria will set in and ruin the fruit before it can ripen. If the bird peck mark is mostly superficial and not deep, you can leave the fruit on the plant. Sometimes it will ripen and you can use it after cutting off the affected portion. Other times, rot may eventually set in and you'll have to toss it too. The birds are wanting water most of the time when they peck into tomatoes. I keep a shallow pan of water just outside the garden gate for them and that seems to help although it doesn't guarantee me peck-free tomatoes.

Hornworms eat my daturas and also the common wild nightshades in the pastures, so I imagine yours will too. I also have the very similar tobacco hornworms show up on my flowering nicotines some years.

Dawn

I went out to take a second look after reading your descriptions. I feel a little silly. After thinking about it, I should know what jalapenos look like. I've certainly eaten enough of them in Mexican food over the years. I love Mexcian food!

Pretty sure what I have then is cayennes, only when I went back out I discovered I have not one but three of them! All on the same plant.

I'm pretty sure the birds were after water since the damage occurred while I was running the sprinkler over the veggie bed. I think they may have been pecking at the water droplets on the fruit. I have a birdbath I keep filled for them (when I'm not at work), but I guess they couldn't see it for the Rose of Sharon. ;)

I have a question about cucumbers now. The one I picked a couple of weeks ago wasn't really fully ripe. The meat was still light green (though it still tasted pretty good). I have a couple more now that are getting very large. A friend tells me to pick them when all the little "spikes" disappear, but these two still have spines on them and are just enormous. When is the correct time to pick them?

Debra

Debra,

Most cucumbers are ready to harvest beginning about 50-60 days after the seeds germinated. I just pick when the cukes are a usable size.

If your cukes are slicers, they should be a medium- to dark-green, firm and not too large. If pickling types they may be a little green or even a little uneven in their coloring, and the pickling types tend to be darker green at the stem end and lighter green to almost white at the blossom end. It is better to pick them at slightly smaller sizes than at larger ones. I usually pick when they are between 5 and 7" for the best quality.

If you leave even one cuke on the plant too long, the plants will slow down production, so pick regularly. If you miss a cucumber and don't pick it, that cuke will get very big and turn first a yellowish-green, then either white, yellow, or yellow-orange to orange. Once they've started turning yellow (unless they are one of the yellow cucumbers), they are not good for eating. By the way, the cukes with white spines turn either yellow or white when overripe, and the ones with black spines turn yellowish-orange to orange.

I have never heard of the spines having anything to do with ripeness. However, the spines are commonly found on pickling cucumbers but not slicing cukes, although pickling cukes can also be used as slicing cukes. Just scrub off or brush off the spines before you use the cukes.

Dawn

Thanks, Dawn. I had a feeling my friend didn't really know what he was talking about. He talks like he knows about veggie gardens, but I suspect the real work of gardening has been done by his wife and his mother.

BTW, these are Burpless Beauty. While I like cucumbers, they don't like me very well. Any time I eat them, even just one small bite, I burp them the rest of the day so I bought seeds for a variety that will hopefully let me enjoy them when I choose to and not all day long.

Debra