They will produce more if you pick fruits off the plant, whether fully ripen or at the green stage. They will continue to produce until the weather turns cold. I am in zone 7 and last year I picked peppers through October.

What Ikea said
I would just add, that if you let ANY plant ripen completely on the vine, they MAY conclude they have produced offspring and will then be less than enthusiastic about producing more,........to get the most bang for the buck with all plants .....including Peppers,.....pick and pick often, they will continue to produce ,trying to produce offspring.

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Awesome news. We have been picking when green because we'd been led to believe once they produce ripe vegetables they were done. Going to let them ripen up this year.
Thanks.
Great looking photos to.

You can pick them when the color "breaks" (the green starts to show the ripe color) and let them ripen off the plant. I wait until the pepper breaks color around 1/3 - 1/2 way, myself, for no other reason except the wait to fully ripen is a little quicker.

Also, peppers are not very receptive to ethylene so paper bagging them with apples/bananas to hasten ripening after picking doesn't do a whole lot.

nc-crn, how do you let peppers ripen off the plant? I thought they need to be stored in the fridge ones the fruits are picked to maintain freshness.

Ikea,
You have just shared "the dilemma"
One way, keeps them fresher longer, the other way allows them to Mature/Color, it's a juggling act... that is why he said
"I wait until the pepper breaks color around 1/3 - 1/2 way, myself, for no other reason except the wait to fully ripen is a little quicker. "

you don't have to wait as long, and if you haven't consumed them all by then, they can be put into the fridge.

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Yeah, the peppers will ripen more off the plant as long as the pepper has already broken color.

For best post-harvest ripening of a non-fully-ripe pepper you want to keep the pepper at 70-80 degrees out of direct sun with 90-95% humidity. The humidity part is unrealistic as heck for the home gardener. Ripening with the lower humidity leads to peppers getting soft as they ripen. That's the dance.

A couple of days on a table out of direct sun usually won't soften non-totally-ripe peppers too much (I live in a humid summer area, though). I throw them after the fridge when they're fully ripe or after 2-3 days, depending on how soft they're feeling. I like mine crisp.

To keep the crispness of peppers, the fridge is the best place. The ripening process slows to a near-crawl, though. The color you have is pretty much the color you'll still have a week later.

Well now, this forum amazes me at the wealth of knowledge here! I have been pondering this same problem, but had no idea that the peppers will continue to ripen after picked. My idea was to pick green peppers until I had all I wanted for the freezer, and then to allow the later ones to fully ripen. Of course, I have a very long growing season...

i grow for a living and the way i treat peppers is to allow them to go at least 3/4 way to full coloration on the vine- they ripen slowly off the vine and it saves me storing what is not really a high dollar crop.

heirloom tomatoes on the other hand i pull off the vine when the first hint of color shows... they will finish almost as quickly off the vine as on and their marketability is maximized by early harvest since they don't store well...