When Should I Harvest Cayenne Peppers. Keep feeding plants with a high potash fertiliser to promote fresh flower growth and therefore more peppers. Cayenne peppers will be ready to harvest in about 70-80 days.
Peppers for drying and processing into ground cayenne pepper or making into hot sauce are harvested when fully red but still firm. This ensures that your plants focus energy on ripening the other peppers. Harvesting peppers Peppers are ready to pick from late summer.
They will continue to ripen but will often fall off the plant if left unpicked.
Simply clip the peppers from the plant gently. I like to let them turn red dry a bit on the plant and hopefully get some cold nights. Cayenne peppers typically require 70 days from germination to first harvest although they may take longer if your summer weather is cool. Use a sharp pair of gardening shears to snip the cayenne pepper at the top of the stem.
