They will probably turn red, and when they do, you can harvest them when they turn completely red.

Linda

Thank you guys! I will definitely wait. :-)

Worth noting that peppers turn color because the chlorophyll starts to break down as the seeds mature. So when they turn color, they are basically just starting to rot, allowing the seeds to be released. Depending on what variety you have, they could turn many different colors. Yellow, orange or even purple.

Are you sure those are sweet peppers? They look like cayenne to me. Of course, I tend to think sweet peppers = bell peppers and bell peppers start out kind of round. I agree you can harvest your peppers any time and the plant will continue to produce until (in our area) it gets too cold.

Concur: And they do look like hot peppers, but possibly one of the frying peppers like Jimmy Nardello. In either event these are best ripe.

I was going to say ... those are very strange looking sweet peppers. Even banana peppers aren't that stringy looking. Maybe cayenne?

Cayenne would be my guess too. If you purchased these plants and they were labeled sweets I'd be willing to bet they were mis-labeled. Pick and bite into one and you will know for sure. ;-)

Dave

Took me a while to find the peppers in th photo. Certainly don't look sweet. That's why avoid buying plants like peppers. Shoppers pull out labels , read them and then stick them back in a pot.....any pot. Or the labels fall out and a store worker just puts it where they think it goes

I grow a sweet cayenne which looks just like this when unripe.

That sounds like the answer, sherm. I never associated the words "sweet" and "cayenne" before, but there IS a sweet (as in, no heat) variety of cayenne. So they were sold as "sweet" peppers, and they could really be that. For that matter, there are bell-shaped peppers that have a real kick. Oh, these sweet cayennes DO turn orange and red.

As mentioned you can indeed peppers anytime. IME the sooner you pick em the spicier they may be. Should you wait for them to color not only will they not be as spicy but that also signals the plant to stop producing peppers.

Meaning pick em green and get more peppers and spicier peppers.

I don't think that's right. Letting your peppers turn color won't shut off production. At least, it doesn't for me. They are solonaceae, just like tomatoes, and letting tomatoes turn red on the vine certainly doesn't shut off their production. Of course, in short growing seasons, the peppers may just get ripe when it's starting to get cool. Also, most chiles get slightly hotter as they ripen. They certainly get sweeter, which, on top of spiciness, makes a nice flavor.