Pepper problem: No heat!

[Mike Cormack]

I need some advice for next year. I grew Jalapeno, Thai, Cayenne and 1 other hot pepper from Sarawak. None of them are spicy. They are growing fine, ranging from 16" to 24" tall with plenty of fruit. I grow them in raised beds, use alpaca poop fertilizer, consistently water them.

It's too late for this year. I want to investigate and prepare for next year. I don't know what I did wrong, but my assumption is the soil is broken. Either missing some nutrient, maybe the Ph is incorrect or something else? I'd appreciate any advice on how/what to investigate. Any pointers to good website on how to grow peppers?

thanks, Mike Portland, OR

[Greg Mortensen]

Peppers often need to be stressed to get good levels of heat. Let them wilt before you water them next time.

Regards, Greg

[DigitalVinyl]

I've read repeatedly that lots of moisture waters down flavor in many fruits, vegeatables and herbs. Specifically for peppers, it reduces heat. So the same variety grown in Mexico will be hotter than when grown in Portland. Back off on watering significantly. Wait longer, let the ground dry out, not just at the top but stick your finger in the soil and see if it is drying out at the roots. To compensate for higher moisture in your region you may want to shop around for the hotter seeds.

I'm >I need some advice for next year. I grew Jalapeno, Thai, Cayenne and 1 other

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email) Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound

1st Year Gardener

[Pam]

In our last fun filled episode, Fri, 12 Sep 2003 07:52:42 -0700, "Mike Cormack" proclaimed:

If your plants are healthy and producing peppers, there is nothing wrong with the soil. As a couple of people have already pointed out, the problem is more likely over-watering. It could also be that you're harvesting them too early, let a few get red if you haven't tried that already. And lastly, consider that there are scads of varieties of jalapeno and Cayenne peppers. (Thai peppers are just a variety of Cayenne.) The heat range goes from no heat all to pretty darn fiery. You might want to spend a little time investigating different pepper varieties before you plant next year.

I planted 4 Fish peppers this year, to give you an example of what too much water can do. They're an African-American jalapeno-type heirloom from the Chesapeake Bay area. The early peppers off all four plants were pretty wimpy, but I'm in what has, this year, been the Eastern Monsoon belt. Then it suddenly turned into a tradition Southern August around here. Hot, hot, hot, and the rain dried up for a few weeks. Suddenly my Fish peppers are something to brag about, nice and hot and yummy!

Pam

[Edward Roberts]

I put in 3 jalapeno plants this year which came out very tasty and plenty hot. I have to say that watering them too much does not dilute the taste cause I'm growing in a hydroponic system and I run my pumps

24/7. The chiles are still on the plants and are ripening to a deep red.

It's the membrane inside where the seeds are attached that give the pepper heat, not the seeds and not the skin. I think you may have picked up some milder version of jalapeno, or maybe just bad seed with no good genes.

For a real tasty wonderfully hot variety maybe you could try "Fresno" chiles. When they ripen a beautiful red they are one of the best varieties around, but the seeds may be difficult to find.

[DigitalVinyl]

Well I've got to assume that hydroponics isn't simply sticking a plant in a jar of water, so I would say there is a significant difference between overwatering a plant which can increase likelyhood of molds, disease and be inappropriate medium for some plants and running your pump 24/7.

Overly wet soil can reduce the amount of air available for the root to breath. It can also flush out nutrients. A plant that experiences the stress of a drought is going to undergo something slightly different than one with abundant water. That is where the difference likely is. I believe it affects many things in ways science simply hasn't bothered to explore appropriately. An interesting example is a friend who is raises honey bees. One year the honey came out incredibly light colored and better tasting than previous years/or since. That year had a big drought during the spring and summer. Since the hives had been there for years nothing around had significantly changed. I think the stress on the plants caused changes in the nectar gathered by the bees and showed up in the resultant honey. WHie there are always unseen factors and many changing variables, it would make sense that watering is going to affect fruit production in size, flavor and other factors.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email) Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound

1st Year Gardener

[Carol Hill]

how many varieties of peppers & how close to each other. the reason i ask is that 1 year i grew sweet and hot next to each other and ended up with hot sweet and sweet hot , i suspect they may have cross pollenated (if there is such a happening) anybody recall stuff of this nature?

[DigitalVinyl]

I grew three varieties on one trough container. They grew into eachother. Jalapeno - Anaheim - Cayenne. THe Jalapeno were fiery hot, the anaheim were nothing, and the cayennes were not as hot as expected. I think the jalapenos were just about as hot. Although I let the cayenne ripen to red, while the jalapenos were green. Ripening usually sweetens the flavor which can mask some of the heat. DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email) Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound

1st Year Gardener

[EV]

One year I planted japenos, cayenne and bell peppers. All of the were as hot or as sweet as they were supposed to be. I saved some seeds from the cayenne, planted them next year, and got a big surprise.

They had hybridized with the bell peppers. The hybrid plants all had different heat values. Some had big and fleshy and slightly hot peppers. Some were thin fleshed and pretty hot. The fruit of every plant was a bit different in appearance and fire. I kept the seeds of the one I liked best - a medium hot, relatively thick fleshed type. Unfortunately, it's offspring weren't very prolific. After that I went back to packaged seeds for cayenne.