Pointers on How to Harvest Red Chili Properly

Get more out of Red chili by knowing how to harvest red chili properly.

Hand-picking to harvest red chili at the proper time for maximum color is the traditional way to harvest red chili. Watch out for the pods. Don’t let the pods dry up too much on the plant. The ideal condition is when pod moisture is about 65 to 80 percent. The basic thing on how to harvest red chili is to see when the succulent red pods have reached its red color.

When harvesting and storing red chili, it is vital to oven-dry them while making sure of that their clean and free of dust. Drying them in ovens exposes them less to dust and microbes. This reduces, if not eliminates, spoilage. After harvest, red chili stored in ovens prevents flies, birds, and other pests from harming them and cutting the chance of mold, mildew, or bacteria from spoiling them. Dryness makes for a better red chili quality, and this is a vital factor on how to harvest red chili favorably.

As soon as they’re harvested, rinse red chili well with clean water, take out stems, and immediately place in over for drying. Never apply too much heat when drying red chili. Heat lesser than 140 to 150 degrees should be used. When using electric ovens, provide a small opening on the oven door to serve as moisture vent. When using gas oven, close the oven door thoroughly. Moisture will be released through the gas exhaust duct. These are important details on how to harvest red chili and how to dry them.

Keep harvested red chili in air-tight containers after drying them properly. This prevents early spoilage through moist and molds.

For a modern way of effectively harvesting acres of red chili, some farmers use mechanical harvesters plowing through plots of red chili plants, pulling off the peppers systematically in the process. This saves time. Imagine this machine harvesting a total of 7 acres of red chili per day! Some farmers in New Mexico use this to harvest 80 percent of red chili there. One machine does the work of 40 to 50 red chili harvesters. This solves how to harvest red chili when few workers want the job and acres of red chili plants need to be harvested fast.

But there are some minus factors in using mechanized harvesters. One is that, mechanical harvesters don’t pick up red chili pieces that falls to the ground during harvest. Another is that chili plants get so stripped of leaves so that they dry up and die, unable to produce more chili after a round of harvest.