Why aren't my chilis hot this year?

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Posted by David Rance on November 14, 2011, 6:10 pm
 
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It's a few years since I grew chili peppers but I did it again this
year: cayenne, jalapeno and anaheim. The hottest is supposed to be the
cayenne but, for some reason, they are not as hot as they should be. In
fact, they are quite mild - I can put a piece in my mouth and it doesn't
skin my tongue. I still have some dried cayenne chilis from a few years
ago and they are certainly hot. Growing conditions are exactly the same
in my conservatory.

Does anyone have any idea why this should be?

David

--
David Rance        writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk



Posted by nmm1 on November 15, 2011, 4:19 am
 
They've been wethered, actually :-)

Despite the common (Merkin?) misbelief that the key to heat is whether
they get enough water, the most common cause that I know of is lack
of warmth and/or sunlight - a FAR more common problem here.  Of course,
Jalapeno IS a mild chilli, anyway, and is usually eaten whole, seeds
and all.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Posted by David Rance on November 15, 2011, 11:26 am
 On Tue, 15 Nov 2011   Nick Maclaren wrote:


I know that jalapeno and anaheim are milder but my problem is that the
usually hot ones, cayenne, are not hot.

But is it lack of warmth? They are in a warm conservatory. By contrast
my fig tree has ripened fifty to a hundred figs this year and is still
continuing to do so. Although the tree is more than twenty years old it
has never produced more than two or three edible ones in previous years.
Is it not the late warm autumn?

David

--
David Rance        writing from Caversham, Reading, UK
http://rance.org.uk


Posted by echinosum on November 17, 2011, 5:17 am
 
'David Rance[_6_ Wrote:

My experience with pepper plants is that won't do much unless it is warm
enough, but once they are warm enough, it is light they crave.


I tried growing rocotos (Capsicum pubescens) this year.  Everything else
I grews was pretty crap, but the rocotos did stunningly well, and are
quite the hottest chillies I've ever grown.  They have a reputation of
being more cold tolerant than other chillies.  I grow my chillies
outside in containers against a sunny wall, so cooler than yours, but
maximising the light.




--
echinosum


Posted by David WE Roberts on November 15, 2011, 2:25 pm
 

errrr........
Perhaps I should point out that a wether is a castrated ram?
So unless someone has ripped the nuts off all the male chilis this is
probably not the answer ;-)

--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

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