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Hi Graham
I currently grow 15 varieties of super-hot chillies (including the hottest dozen varieties in the world), have my own market stall selling my chilli products, as well as host an annual chilli-eating charity event...
The prime chilli season is just about to come to an end. From the time of flowering, they usually take about 30-40 days to ripen, but that slows down towards the end of the season due to the colder weather. Mine are still producing solidly, but it's a lot warmer here in Sydney than in Hobart...
If growing indoors, I recommend putting the plant outside whilst flowering to ensure they're pollinated... Or you could pollinate them artificially by tickling the inside of the flowers with your finger (this method is great for cross-pollinating to create new strains). In my experience, the first flowering of the plant will usually produce small, stunted chillies, removing these once ripened will encourage a second flowering very quickly.
The flowers usually drop off before the chilli grows, but with some varieties, the flower stays on and restricts the chilli growth, giving it distinctive shapes such as the 'scorpion tail' with Scorpion Chillies.
Depending on the variety, they may stay green for some weeks, then ripen suddenly, usually changing to a bruised-purple colour before going red (or their final colour depending on the variety).... Once they start to change from green, I usually stop watering them for a few days, which tends to increase the heat of the final chilli.
Hope it helps, feel free to drop me a pm if you need any more advice
Davin
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