I don't know how long you consider an unusually long time. It can take them about 2-3 weeks to make the entire color change. Are you growing Feher Ozon? It seems kinda stubborn about coloring up in our worst summer heat and I think that it colors up faster once the cooler temperatures arrive in early to mid-September.

Oh. Okay. Sorry I wasn't more specific. I know the first fruit was well over 3 weeks and it never turned before I broke it off. That was in May and June. I'll be patient.

I'm think it was one of yours. Not positive.

Well, if it was in May and June, I found that everything in my garden (including peppers and tomatoes) was as slow as a snail when it came to coloring up. I attributed that to the constant cool, cloudy, rainy weather. As soon as we heated up more, the tomatoes and peppers began to color up more quickly----at least until the rain completely stopped after early July and the rain completely stopped falling. Then, everything got sluggish again, more so because of all the extreme heat than the dryness. With all the strange weather we've had this spring and summer, I've seen a lot of unusual plant behavior this year. My Feher Ozon peppers produced a lot in the May/June period, then slowed down throughout late July and early August, and they really haven't perked up very much yet but I think they will put out a heavy round of blooms in September and will form fruit that we'll be harvesting in October and November. At least that is how it usually goes here. You can use your paprika peppers at any stage, but when I am going to dehydrate them and grind them into powder, I like to wait for them to turn fully red.

If a freeze is coming this autumn and seems unavoidable, and you have a lot of peppers on the plants that haven't colored up yet, you can pull up the entire plant roots and all, shake off all the loose dirt, and hang up the plant or plants indoors in an area that doesn't freeze. Over the next few weeks, the peppers will continue to mature to their full color if they were far enough along in the growth process that they would have colored up anyway. You can pick them and use them as you please. I've had plants treated that way give us usable, freshly-picked peppers until well after Christmas. My uncle got me started on doing this by pulling up a jalapeno plant fully loaded with peppers, both green and red, and bringing it to me one Christmas. I was astonished and kept wondering why I didn't know you could do that. I've done it with both pepper plants and cherry tomato plants many times. Often I keep mine in the tornado shelter because it stays pretty warm in there even after cold weather has arrived, but I've also kept them in the potting shed, unheated greenhouse and garage. Once or twice I've brought pepper plants inside the house, but my cherry tomato plants are usually too big for me to bring them into the house.

While I'm happy it's doing well in dappled shade in thew new bed, now I realize it might be slowing it down. I'm definitely keeping seed. This is one tough pepper plant. I cannot imagine how well it would be doing with more sun!

I look forward to putting your suggestion for harvesting to use. All told I've had a pretty productive year despite all the changes and set backs.

Aaaand they're turning. Quite pretty, actually.

I think they are very pretty, but then I think all peppers are pretty. I've kept the garden watered well enough that we have peppers coming our of our ears, and maturing to all sorts of lovely shades of red, orange and gold. Looking at them the other day, I realized that a lot of peppers mature to sort of autumn-like colors. They only thing about letting peppers mature to their full color is that you have to harvest them and use them promptly once they are their full mature color because their shelf life is very short. That's why a lot of folks harvest various peppers green---because their shelf life green is significantly longer. (Of course it is----they aren't ripe when green so they wouldn't go bad quickly!) I don't think I've ever met a pepper I didn't like, though I've met a few that are much too hot for me to eat. I think a bowl of mature peppers sitting on the kitchen counter is just as pretty as a bowl of apples, oranges, lemons or limes.

It's all so lovely! Even my bell pepper plant that turned into yellow banana pepper plant has just been absolutely delightful. The greatest thing is seeing everything grow and the growth patterns and finally understanding the support needs, leaf structure and stem thickness. It's like a whole bunch of gardening insecurity fell off and I can breathe a sigh of relief.

I ran out of paprika. Truth is, I didn't have a stocked spice cabinet over the summer because of the wishy washy move. I had a few basic spices and herbs in a bucket sitting in the cabinet ready to move. I take store-bought spices for granted, I see. And, sometimes, I don't use enough of spices, like Paprika, because it has no real flavor though it does serve its purpose as a thickening agent. But it takes a lot of it. This really helps me adjust for the next season.

Next year I want, at least, six of these paprika plants. I look forward to harvesting and drying these and trying them out. I ate the yellow paprika pepper that fell off. Very bitter, but a nice touch to a zesty sandwich. When my nanner peppers came in, those tasted better. So much fun trying everything out.

I have five tomatoes in my frig that I cannot use! So, this year I can say - despite everything - I harvested more than I really needed. Without all the insecurities and without the interruption of properties, next year should be really swell.

Always better next year, huh? LOL

I’m thank to be rereading all this. M My papri paprika peppers ar huge! they have to be at least 6-7 inches long and loaded, but they have stayed green for at least three weeks now. ill I’ll j just be patient.

As far as tasting, obviously you’ve never had smoked paprika, it it’s delicious!! I u use it in many dishes and especially in my homemade taco seasoning.