I have an ornamental pepper from seed started last year. The peppers start purple, then turn red, eventually wrinkling when mature. I have peppers I cross pollinated that were still maturing as cold weather came so I had to bring the plant inside. The peppers were purple and suddenly started getting red but then wrinkled halfway and a month later haven't fully reddened. I am not sure if they are ripe to pick as I need their seeds fertile. Perhaps the inside environment affected the color?

My experience with peppers is that they ripen inside the same as outside. I never have peppers the first summer. I start them in the ground and transplant to pots in the fall.

It might be that your inside is too dry and they are drying before they mature. Take it back outside when nice weather returns and see if they still wrinkle too soon.

Or it just might be your plant. Seeds are never exact duplicates of their parent.

Daisy

Keith--

I grow 2 kinds of Ornamental Peppers every year. I plant them in big pots as well as in window boxes.
I have the purple one you have as well as the one called "Black Pearl".
This one is shiny black when the fruits grow on it. They last that way, pretty much, all summer.
VERY attractive! Like polished, black beads..

In fall they start ripening to red in both varieties. When it gets to be late fall--they will both mature to RED.
I would not harvest them before they are red. Let them be on the plants for as long as you can.
Yes! They will start looking all crinkled as they start drying out. This is perfectly normal and good.

You can start harvesting these when they are wrinkled. BUT--do not collect seeds until they dry out.
You can even save the wrinkled heads without removing the seeds. They will last a long time this way.

Now--a couple warnings:

--DO NOT eat these peppers!!!. They are deemed inedible! Way too hot for consumption!

--When and IF you DO collect the seeds--wear 2 pairs of vinyl (or Latex) gloves. The "hot" will go right through them.
It does not go away either--takes 2-3 days--so do not rub your eyes or lick your fingers. You will have to put up
with the "heat" for a few days. I do not know how this "heat" can be removed or washed way.

Here is the "Black Pearl" one--both in the shiny black stage--and then ripening to bright red.

I was not able to find a picture of the Purple one--but it is a dull, medium purple for the growing
season and then it also ripens to red.

Hope this helps you, Gita

gitagal said:Keith--

I grow 2 kinds of Ornamental Peppers every year. I plant them in big pots as well as in window boxes.
I have the purple one you have as well as the one called "Black Pearl".
This one is shiny black when the fruits grow on it. They last that way, pretty much, all summer.
VERY attractive! Like polished, black beads..

In fall they start ripening to red in both varieties. When it gets to be late fall--they will both mature to RED.
I would not harvest them before they are red. Let them be on the plants for as long as you can.
Yes! They will start looking all crinkled as they start drying out. This is perfectly normal and good.

You can start harvesting these when they are wrinkled. BUT--do not collect seeds until they dry out.
You can even save the wrinkled heads without removing the seeds. They will last a long time this way.

Now--a couple warnings:

--DO NOT eat these peppers!!!. They are deemed inedible! Way too hot for consumption!

--When and IF you DO collect the seeds--wear 2 pairs of vinyl (or Latex) gloves. The "hot" will go right through them.
It does not go away either--takes 2-3 days--so do not rub your eyes or lick your fingers. You will have to put up
with the "heat" for a few days. I do not know how this "heat" can be removed or washed way.

Here is the "Black Pearl" one--both in the shiny black stage--and then ripening to bright red.

I was not able to find a picture of the Purple one--but it is a dull, medium purple for the growing
season and then it also ripens to red.

Hope this helps you, Gita

My pepper is a hybrid I created by cross pollination. I don't doubt it's hot, but I handle them barehanded and got juice and it did nothing to my hands. But I know not to rub my eyes or mouth lol.

I had people ask if they were edible and I always said I'm not sure but I think they are hot.
I have cross pollinated these with bell peppers, we'll see the result of those this year 😄

If this is your own hybrid, it is going to be a combination of the two parent plants: an ornamental hot pepper and a bell pepper. You don't know what the peppers are going to look like. If you started with hybrids to create your hybrid, you have added additional layers - the parentage of the parents and grandparents.

Ahhhh.....!

Daisy

If this is your own hybrid, it is going to be a combination of the two parent plants: an ornamental hot pepper and a bell pepper. You don't know what the peppers are going to look like. If you started with hybrids to create your hybrid, you have added additional layers - the parentage of the parents and grandparents.

Ahhhh.....!

Daisy

To answer the original question if seeds were mature, yes they were! Color aside as indoors there was less humidity, when peppers wrinkle after turning color that usually is a sign seeds are mature.