Hi nurumkin,

I'm a novice myself when it comes to hydroponics but I have been growing peppers (mostly Hot) for a few years now in the garden. I've found that you can leave them on the plant for some time after they ripen... 1 - 2 weeks should be fine. Again, this is my experience in soil so I'm not sure about how long is ok in an ebb and flow system.

As for the early cross pollination, if your seeds you started with were "true", then you should get "true" fruit from your plants (i.e. Jalapeno plant = Jalapeno fruit and Bell plant = Bell fruit). Cross pollinated peppers only exhibit the results of the cross in their seeds. If you save some seeds for next years crop, thats when you'll see / taste the hybrid results.

If you have not already, tap into the good folks over in the Hot Pepper Forum. There are some very experienced and helpfull people over there (just like here). I'm still relying on them for advice every once in a while even after a number of years experience with peppers myself.

Bill