Re: [CH] Pepper Hottness/Growing Conditions
Dave Sacerdote (davesas@tiac.net)
Mon, 8 Feb 1999 10:12:32 -0500 (EST)
>Howdy All, I am new to the list and I am gearing up for this years growing
>season. I live in B.C. Canada.
Howdy back atcha, Ian, I'm sorta new on this list too, I live in Connecticut
USA.
>My wife and I grow jalapenos, habaneros,
>cayenne and chili peppers each year. The last year we grew jalapenos that
>failed to reach any degree of heat.
That is a problem I have noted with jalapenos in the last few years. Once
upon a time they were a consistent heat level (I'd say about a 4.5 or 5,
where a habanero is a 10) but lately I've had some pretty mild ones.
Fellow Chile-Head Rain will tell you that it is because the Pace company
bred a special strain of jalapenos for mildness so they could better regulate
the heat level of their popular and best-selling supermarket salsas, and
that the characteristic started jumping fields with with the pollinators.
Pace buys a lot of produce to fill the millions of jars of stuff they sell
and it what she says sounds like the real thing. It is not unheard of for
even nursery seed stock to become cross-bred or "contaminated". I swear that
is why Burpee has a "mixed hot pepper" pack that they sell...because they
just sweep the seeds up off the packing floor and can't tell one from
another (hell, I know *I* can't.).
>Anyway, last year these jalapenos failed to get hot like they usually do. We
>packed 50 or more peppers to the quart and canned some for the winter but
>these are so mild that I first suspected that they were a different pepper.
>My question is this; Is it possible or do jalapenos increase/decrease
>they're heat with climatic conditions??
It is said that the hotter the region, the hotter the pepper. I don't
really believe that is true, because here in New England I am able to grow
some kick-ass habaneros and red savinas. I think it's more likely that you
got some cross-pollinated seed.
===
Just as an aside, do you start your peppers indoors, or in a greenhouse?
I found that I had to start my hottest long-season peppers in the greenhouse
way back in March in order to get peppers by our first frost (in October.)
===
Dave Sacerdote
davesas@tiac.net
Resist or Serve.
"I am so mighty, I do not have to kill you all." -- Flaming Carrot
Visit Dave's New England Almanac: http://www.tiac.net/users/davesas